Optical Express

Wish I did this years ago. Got the procedure done 1 week ago. Could see clearly 24 hours later. The contact lens bandage stayed in for 5 days. I experienced no pain during or after the surgery., only the feeling you get when your conact lenses have been in for too long. The eye drps provided helped with this. As soon as the contact bandage came out ive felt no dryness at all. The staff at the Silverburn branch of Optical Express have been fantastc from the first consultation and the after care has been superb. The only thing I would say is that when the surgeon checked my eyes immediately before going in for the surgery, he tried to sell up to Intralase by implying that I was just within the range of lasek being succesful. Ive been in sales for 20 years and recognised the selling tecnique! My eye sight is now better than it was with Glasses or contact lenses.

I had my procedure at Optical Express in Milton Keynes and can recommend them wholeheartedly (provided you are satisfied and comfortable with the risks). All the staff have been wonderful, particularly Trevor (optometrist) and my surgeon Mr. Stefan Klopper. There is quite a lot of information around but I thought it would be a good idea to share with you a couple of things I came to discover after surgery which I hadn't read on the web or seen on the many videos available on YouTube. As many have already said, while the surgery isn't painful, it was bit uncomfortable, I felt a lot of pressure on my eyes as they were secured just prior to the lasers doing their work. The operation lasts 10-15 minutes, it's all over very quickly. After the operation I immediately noticed an improvement in my eyesight; for some folks with high prescription I imagine the difference can be quite stunning. Once the local anaesthetic wore off, I found that my eyes became very heavy, light sensitive and streaming with tears. About an hour later, the pain sensation I experienced was about the same level as a severe toothache (definitely not as mild as peeling onions!); I realise this isn't the same for everybody. I couldn't lie down for the first 4 hours, preferring to sit upright to manage my pain. I found myself feeling very thirsty, drinking a lot of water during that time. If I had to go through the process again I would take a stronger pain-killer than paracetamol, maybe something with codeine in it. After 4-5 hours I was able to rest properly for a couple of hours before venturing a peep without the protective goggles they provide. It's important to realise that while some people are claiming excellent vision literally after the surgery, your experience may be different. Especially if you have a moderate prescription and have a very high level of expectation. In my case, I had some reservations at the one week check up. It appeared to me that one eye gave me slightly better vision than the other (despite both having the same prescription pre-op and having the same treatment). I was having a little difficulty focusing and maintaining a perfect sharp image in various light conditions with a little blurring in one of my eyes. Despite that I was able to read the eye chart at better than 20/20 (which did little to reassure me!) The optometerist tried to reassure and said my eyes were still healing and seemed confident asking me to visit again in a week. I continued to stick to the regime of instilling eye drops meticulously (I had completed my course of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory and continued with the artificial tears). Over the next weeks I noticed improvements in my vision every 3-4 days; after applying artificial tears I noticed my eyes find it much easier to focus and obtain a very sharp image in different ambient light conditions. Now in my third week and my eyes are much more settled and I'm very happy with the outcome!! 20/10 apparently!! The optometrist confirmed my observations and said that what I was experiencing is normal particularly if you like I have a 'high tear break-up' (i.e. your tears don't stay for long before breaking up and disappearing). Over the coming months the nerves around the flap will continue to heal and hopefully my tear production will hopefully be back to normal (which is essential for the best vision). In the meantime the optometerist has supplied me with Celluvisc eye drops for dry eyes which only need to be instilled four times a day. They seem to do the trick very nicely!! All in all I've had a very good experience, and I hope my post has emphasized the importance of patient after-care which has been excellent at Optical Express - Milton Keynes branch.

I am delighted with my vision following intralase Lasik surgery

It was a small price to pay to have perfect vision without having the inconvience of glasses and contacts. It was a very quick procedure and didn't hurt. I took a couple of paracetamol a couple of hours after the surgery as my eyes were feeling slightly uncomfortable. The following day I really did feel back to normal. A year on I now take my 'new' vision for granted.

Thanks to all the staff in Edinburgh and Glasgow Optical Express particularly Raymond McMillan my optometrist and Susanna Boytha my surgeon. Am now one week post op and could see better than 20/20 at my first check up (one day post op). The procedure is brief and not painful at all. Post op recovery was very quick with my vision good enough on the night of the op to watch TV and read. Just great not having to fiddle with lenses and glasses. Wish I'd done it years ago. My advice if you are contemplating surgery is to go for it. You will not believe the difference

I only had surgery to the eye that that the worst short-sightedness, the other was the better reader, now have mono vision which works perfect. Took a while for the brain to realise what was happening. One of the better things I have ever done

The location of the clinic in Inverness is ideal for me as I thought I would need to go to Aberdeen or Glasgow. I was apprehensive the night before but the procedure was quick and the results the next day were amazing! The price was a little more than expected but worth every penny!

Everything was done in Inverness. The treatment was quick and efficient and it has changed my life for the better. I noticed a difference a few hours after the procedure after a short nap.

I had my treatment at Optical Express in Southampton. I have worn glasses / contacts for 17 years, for the last 2 years I have suffered from a series of eye problems caused by contact lense wear & so have been wearing my glasses 80% of the time. I was -3.5 in each eye with -1 astigmatism. I have always thought about laser eye surgery but I am really squeamish & because of the problems I have had with contacts, & being allergic to just about anything that goes near my eye I felt nervous about playing around with my sight. However a girl at work had Laser Eye surgery & after seeing her go through the procedure I decided to go for a consultation. I was delighted when they told me I could have the procedure done, but also left with a big decision to make! After talking to people, I found lots of people who knew people that had had it done, & every review I read was really positive & so I made the decision to go for it!! I was really anxious the few days before surgery and nearly backed out!!! However I had absolutely nothing to worry about, although a little uncomfortable & scary the surgery was painless and over in max 15 mins. As soon as I opened my eyes I could see the difference, I couldn't stop staring at all the posters I could now read!!! My eyes streamed all the way home, but when I got in I slept for an hour & when I woke my vision was even clearer. I slept again later on in the day but by the evening I was watching TV and texting everyone & anyone to tell them about my new eyes!!! I took painkillers throughout the day but by the evening these were no longer required, I had absolutely no pain at any time. The next day I went for my post op and already had better than 20/20 vision!!! Amazing!! I have been for my weekly check up and still better than 20/20 vision and all healing nicely. I have some night glare but I believe this is normal to experience for sometime until my eyes have settled. Also I bruise quite easily & have a big red patch on each eye but this is fading everyday and does not hurt, I have been told this is just burst blood vessels from the suction ring, again perfectly normal, everyone has differing degrees of bruising. Other than that there is no sign that anything has been done, & I am still absolutely amazed at how quick the recovery time is. I am over the moon with my news eyes & cannot stop staring at everything & everyone!!! I would add that the branch in Southampton is very busy and I was kept waiting for a long time for a couple of my appointments, the later in the day the appointment, the longer they seem to be behind! I would suggest morning appointments as my surgery was booked in for 9.30 & I was out by 11.15 so no hanging around that day, thank goodness!! Thank you to all the staff at Optical Express in Southampton, despite the waiting times they were all so friendly & were very apologetic if they were running behind. Big thanks to Alison my counsellor and Dr Joanne McGrath my surgeon & all the nurses that reassured me during surgery!! If your thinking about having laser eye surgery I would highly recommend Optical Express, go for it's, it's changed my life!!!

I had my surgery carried out at the Birmingham City Centre branch on 6/6/08 which was 4 weeks after my initial assessment. The décor and facilities are very clean and modern and all the shop floor staff / receptionists are very pleasant and friendly. On the day of my initial assessment I received a text reminder of my appointment time and was seen within 15mins of my appointment time on arrival. The 1st session was with a 'counsellor' , then a whole raft of tests with the opthamologist. My only downside to the whole experience was 1) finding out that the advertised £395 / eye depended on having a (very) low prescription. 2) both the counsellor and the opthamologist seemed a little too pushy in recommending the most expensive treatments (wavefront with laser created flap - which was £2500). I had already set myself a budget and looking at research on the internet did not feel that this treatment offered any major advantages over standard lasik given my prescription of -2.25 & -2.5. I decide to 'roll the dice' and opted for the std lasik treatment on interest free credit. On the day of my surgery I arrived to find 4 other people waiting to have surgery (2 of whom were 2 hrs past their appt time), but in fairness the appointment did say to allow 3-4 hrs for the visit. Whilst waiting I saw 3 people come out fo surgery and all of them seemed to be happy with the way things had gone. I was seen about 30 mins after my appt time and my surgeon was Mr Alex George. He was a pleasant man, and answered a few last minute questions before I signed the consent form. prior to and during the surgey he talked to me about my hobby (motorcycles) which helped me to relax. The surgery itself took just over 10 minutes and was totally pain free. It would be a push to say there was even mild discomfort. (I didn't smell any 'burning' either as reported on other reviews) The actual laser was 17sec Lt eye and 20 sec Rt eye. Following surgery I waited in a darkened room for about 15mins where I received my post op medication / instructions. Then Mr George had a look to see if the flaps were still in position and was discharged. My wife took me home and I took some paracetamol and went to bed (4:30pm). I did have some mild discomfort (grittiness)in my Rt eye and both eyes watered quite a lot for the next 3 hours which I was told to expect. The Lt eye was totally pain free. At 7:30pm I got up and listened to some music whilst keeping my eyes closed most of the time. 10:30pm bedtime (accompanied by howls of laughter from my wife at my 'Biggles' goggles). Next morning I woke pain free and the slight smokiness had cleared. I could tell right away that my vision was better than it had been with glasses / contact lenses. I attended my next day appt at 9:40am (seen promptly / on time) and after reading the chart was amazed that I had better than 20/20 vision in both eyes less than 18 hrs after surgery. 1 week on and there have been no complications of any type, only slightly dry eyes on a morning which are remedied immediately by the lubricant drops. I do have a very small amount of glare when it is really bright outdoors and there are small halos at night, but I was told to expect this and it can take up to 6 months to settle to it's final condition, and to be honest I think I am making a point of looking for them. Overall, at this point I am extremely satisfied and like many others wish I had taken the plunge earlier. I will post an update following my 1 month visit. If anyone has any specific questions, please email me at kevin-sibley@supanet.com and I will do my best to answer them honestly (without my new rose tinted outlook).