Optical Express

I've just got home, having had Lasik at the Shaftsebury Avenue branch yesterday. The actual op was painless (although the smell was pretty gross) but after the drops wore off I had a lot of pain (for about 4 hours afterwards). I had elected to stay overnight in a nearby hotel to save journeying to home and back the next day for the check-up. I was glad of this when the pain kicked in. After the op I stumbled to my room, lay down and slept. Things got clearer from then on and were very good this morning. My vision is still not quite as good as it used to be with my glasses on (although better than they expected it to be), especially the close stuff which used to be fine without my glasses. They say that this will improve throughout the week. The anti-biotic and anti-inflammatory post op drops are quite painful (two lots 4 times a day for a week) and you can taste them - not nice. All in all I'm very pleased so far, safe in the knowledge it should keep improving. I am a little nervous about my 1 week check up at which they should know if it was too short or too long a 'burn' (I found it really hard to decide which choice was clearest each time in the pre-op checks), but would be happy to have it again for a correction if necessary as it was far less painful than I expected. Everyone else I saw had also had a positive experience, although pain levels and vision the next day varied a lot.

I has LASIK in both eyes at the Glasgow Optical Express clinic on Saturday 31st July. I had my check up on the day after and then again on Thursday 5th August and my eyes are now better than 20/20. I was -7 in my left eye and -3 in my right and I am so pleased now as I can see better than I could with my contact lenses. The procedure wasn't sore or even uncomfortable it was just slightly unpleasant. My eyes were streaming afterwards so I went home to sleep and when I woke up 4 hours later they were not even sore and I could see perfectly. My eyes have been slightly dry but they are getting better every day and it is certainly worth that minor inconvenience for the results. The only critisism I would have was the waiting about on the day of my surgery. My appointment was at 11.30 and I did not get taken until 2.30 so there was a lot of sitting aboout, which didn't help my nerves, although I was given a valium. My aftercare appointment at Edinburgh was excellent though with no waiting at all. I would definately recommend this to anyone who is thinking about it the results are so much better than I ever thought they would be.

Completely painless procedure, would definately recommend it. Wish i'd done it sooner. I now have 20/20 vision, having worn glasses for 20 years.Very good after care arrangements in place. Only problem was 2 hour delay from appointment time for surgery until surgery done , with no explanation.

I had Lasik done last Thursday 6th August 2004. I am pleased to say that I m very happy with the treatment and I have not experienced any problems. The staff at the Milton Keynes branch were very good and I would reccomend the treatment to anyone. I have so far only had my 1st follow up appointment so hopefully things will continue to go as planned.

I have considered laser surgery ever since using lenses has become irritating – the thought of having to wear glasses permanently is a frightening prospect, as I hate them. I live in Norway where the procedure is a lot more expensive than Optical Express’s offer at the moment, so decided to combine a Summer holiday over there with the surgery. I planned the trip well in advance and booked both the consultation and a Lasik operation (having –6 as my prescription I had concluded Lasik was my only option) at the same time so as to ensure I would have enough time to have my check-ups before flying back to Norway again. Consultation on the Monday (12th) went very well and I was impressed with the service I got from the two who performed all the tests. Also, the long chat with Laura about all the pros and cons was very professional too, helped particularly by the fact that she too had undergone correction a couple of years ago and had personal experience. Must admit the pupil-dilating eye drops were weird and I had big problems reading the train timetable at Piccadilly when travelling home (literally had to have my nose on the board to decipher anything close to!). Anyway, conclusion from the consultation was that I was suitable for both procedures and booked in on the Friday. Friday comes and they first perform a couple of tests (prescription check and eyeball scan, the latter of which had not been taken before) before I was called in to see Mr. Aziz for the first time. He first said that the result from the tear-production test they had taken on the Monday showed that I had a rather dry left eye, and because of that he highly recommended that I consider having Lasek rather than Lasik as dry eyes was a bigger side-effect of Lasik. I was actually equally suitable for both and that he had successfully performed Lasek up to -7 so my -6 wouldn't be a problem. I was then sent out again to reconsider which procedure to take and also to repeat the eyeball scan for my left eye as he wasn’t completely happy with the results so far. Back in again 10 mins later I was ready to say that I would consider Lasek when he told me that he had seen another problem in my left eye - the scan of the curvature showed that it stuck out slightly under the pupil which could possibly indicate a serious condition (which I can't remember what he called it) caused by a weakness in the cornea which becomes worse over time. Laser treatment in such cases is very dangerous (since it weakens the cornea even more) and he could not operate based on the info. he had. However, he said that there was a 90% chance that it wasn't this condition but that the scanner they had was not good enough to be conclusive and that I would have to have a scan on their better machine which would give conclusive results - "go and make a new appointment and we will take it from there". So, very disappointed, I went back to the reception and said that I needed an "Orb Scan". “Ok”, she said, "when can you go to London?". What!!!! A small detail Mr. Aziz had omitted to mention was that the only Orb Scan machine they had was at their Shaftesbury Ave. clinic. So at that point I decided to give up since time was running out (considering that I needed at least a week after any op. to have my check-up). I then thought that if this was a serious condition I really should check it out as soon as possible. They booked an appointment for the scan the following Wednesday and at the same time booked in an operation with the London doctor so that they could do it immediately if shown to be OK. All check-ups would then be done in Manchester. I arrived at the clinic 8:45 for my 9:00 appointment and the scan was done by 8:55! I then saw Mr. Giledi almost straight away. His conclusion was that I did not have the serious condition Mr. Aziz was worried about but that 15 years of contact-lenses had deformed my left cornea (not helped by being dry) so that 2 weeks without lenses hadn't been enough to normalise the shape. My right eye was perfectly OK. I should therefore go without lenses even longer before he could calculate the right correction to perform. "Come back in two weeks time and we can check you again!". So since that wasn't possible, I have now decided to wait until a later trip over, probably round Christmas, and in the meantime be a good girl and not use my lenses as much to see if it gets better. I have since heard of a colleague of a friend who had checks every month for almost seven months before his eyes had stabilised enough to be operated, so 2 weeks was probably a bit short. Must say though that I have been very impressed with Optical Express throughout the experience, from the receptionists to the surgeons. They have been exceedingly thorough and professional, have done all they can to accommodate my lack of availability for appointments and even gave me special eye drops to help my dry eye. All for nothing - I have been refunded the whole amount I paid upfront so I hope their offer of £600 per eye doesn't go up before I get round to doing it (as I still intend to do if/when my eye is suitable again). In the meantime, it's back to the specs and lenses (which I delighted in putting back in on leaving the London clinic) and time to reconsider Lasek again, (which may be the best alternative now having found out about my dry eye).

I had Lasik Surgery on both eyes on Thursday 29th July 2004, at Optical Express Shaftsbury Ave London. I was not at all nervous, but was worried that I should be! The procedure was unpleasant and I was thinking about telling them not to do the 2nd eye but by the time I’d made up my mind my eye was taped up and I was back under the machine! I went off to the recovery room feeling a little strange. I couldn't see much as everything was very blurry. There were other patients in there and they all said they felt great. I must be a drama queen! I had a problem keeping my eyes open, it was much more comfortable keeping them shut. My eyes were streaming and very sore. Not a pain as such more like being constantly blinded by the sun, that feeling when you can't open your eyes but you keep fighting to try. I was given some extra drops and this helped temporarily. I went home and had a sleep as I was instructed. The streaming came and went at intervals for the rest of that night. I went to bed early and when I got up I could see as well as if I had my glasses on (except of course I didn't). I had no discharge or eye straining. I went for my aftercare appointment and I'm pleased to say that my vision is better than 20/20 (I never believed it would even work!). I am overjoyed with the results and I can't wait to go on holiday with just my designer sunglasses!! I would highly recommend this to anyone that is suitable. All that was 4 days ago and I have no dry eyes or any other problems so far (touch wood!). The only time I think about my glasses is when I keep trying to put them on in the mornings. Good luck to everyone that bites the bullet and goes for it. If I were asked if I would do it again, my answer would definitely be YES, it’s worth every penny.

I had LASIK on my left eye on Friday, in the Manchester clinic. I don't know why I didn't have it done years ago. Its AMAZING. Totally painless, slightly uncomfortable, probably no worse than getting a scale and polish at the dentist. Within 3-4 hours my sight was improved so much that I was driving my family demented by reading everything I could...wine bottles, buses passing, vehicle reg's, if I could see it I read it out. I still look for my glasses first thing in the morning and I can't get out of the habit of trying to push them up my nose (not literally) but I can honestly say.....GO For It! The staff and Mr Aziz were great, put me at ease, talked me through every stage of the surgery, held my hand when I was nervous, even gave me a valium to stop the shakes (rendered the legs usless though. I passed the one day check up with flying colours, 20 20 vision. Only down side is, they recommend you don't fly for up to 3 months after surgery which is a bit of a bummer because we were planning to go abroad but, as far as I'm concerned it can wait, my eyes are more important.

Its like theres a party in my eyes - and everyone's invited! I had LASEK surgery in Glasgow with Dr Suzanna Boytha in Glasgow, and proceeding to surgery was the best decision i have ever made. Procedure is painless. Thanks to the team (Suzy B, Joe, Fiona, Caroline, Tracy) and Optical Express. I still try to take my spex off at night after turning off the TV - and each time i find they're not there, i smile - Fantastic.

Hi, I'm thinking of having surgery at the Southampton clinic, does anyone have any experience of clinic/surgeons?

I am just in the stages of contemplating Lasik at the Manchester clinic. Has anyone any info about their experience there. I am a little nervous and am trying to pluck up courage to book a consultation