Optical Express

Great all round.. after 3 weeks I dont use any eye drops and my eyesight is pretty well 40/20 in both eyes. The experience is now way near as bad as everyone says. The operation is done quickly , the only discomfort is the pressure on the eyeball which is not painful, just uncomfortable and only for a minute or two so DONT PANIC!! After the operation you can see straight away although the anti inflammatory drops make your eyesight a little milky and you are a little light sensitive. When the aenesthetic wars off I experienced grittiness in both eyes and although I lay in a dark room with my eyes closed and tried to slepp i found it too uncomfortable to drop off, however after a couple of hours I got bored and had some wine and some paracetamol with some dinner and very rapidly the grittiness disappeared! Couldnt sleep that night as I kept in peeing at the clock on my TV which got clearer and clearer throughtout the night and by dawn I could see perfectly! Great stuff...just be prepared for a bit of dry eye but using Blink drops keeps them good..! Good value for money and Mr Osama Giledi did a great job!

Consultation: Inverness Surgery: Inverness 15/11/06 I had a fairly high perscription so was slightly nervous before the surgery. The team at Optical Express were fantastic and very reassuring. The surgery was quick, efficient and a little weird and not too painful. Day 2 and I can see unaided which is fantastic. All in all I recommend this to anyone!

Following on from my recent posting...... Wow, what can I say. Absolutely fantastic from start to finish. I arrived for my appointment around a quarter of an hour early. The receptionist greeted me immediately and knew who I was without any introduction (impressive!) She looked after me straight away. I couldn't believe how many people were there waiting for the same thing as me! Abit of a production line going on I could have said however the service was very personable and one without fault. I took my OK Magazine expecting loads of waiting however there really was no time for reading! The wavefront scan was a bit frustrating, my left eye just wouldn't play ball however the surgeon, Mr Pauw (what a lovely man) was happy with the results and to my delight told me he would be performing the Lasik procedure. I had originally been recommended for Lasek and therefore was prepared for all kinds of trouble and discomfort so to hear I was up for Lasik was music to my ears! The op itself was a doddle. It lasted all of 10 mins max and the team who looked after me were fantastic. Abit of pressure is experienced when they actually cut the flap, and your vision goes very dull and dark but I was told this would happen and everything was explained to me at every stage, althought I do have to say, when they reclined me on the chair in the surgery,I thought I was going to fall off backwards!!! You guys who have had the surgery will know what I mean. The aftercare was also fab and everything was explained to me in great detail. What to do with the drops/dos and don't etc etc. I got home and went straight to bed as advised and as the anaesthetic wore off I really struggled to keep my eyes open. They were streaming and extremely sensitive (although not painful at all) so the best thing was to lie in a dark room with them shut. After the surgery you get three lots of drops to put in your eyes. Try putting them in in a dark room!!! Also you get some goggles to sleep in for one week - very sexy! I kept waking up through the night and each time I woke my eyes felt less and less sensitive. In the morning my one fear was that I wouldn't be able to open my eyes however they opened with no problem and I can only say I was amazed. I could actually read the alarm clock without squinting my eyes and climbing over my husband to get to it. No pain, no sensitivity, absolutely incredible. I went for my post op check at 9 o'clock that morning. The optom told me my sight was "phenominal", that I was at driving standard already and my vision would continue to improve for the next couple of weeks - wow, can it get any better?? If you are considering having laser eye surgery, all I can say is go for it. Optical Express have been fantastic from start to finish. The care and attention I have received from each member of staff I have dealt with has been incredible and although it is still early days I am absolutely delighted in every way. My sincerest thanks to everyone at Optical Express for a superb service.

Clinic Nottingham. Surgery on 19/09/06 Well what can I say? I moaned for the first couple of weeks because I couldn't see properly. It was like blinking over some grit with soap BUT the eyedrops were a blessing. It's now been over 6 weeks since my operation. I was expecting the wow factor on the day of the op but just had to be patient but now all I can say is that its absolutley fantastic. You've got to have it done WOW!! I had Lasek Wavefront (but I was a bit girlie!) A big, big thank you to everyone.

Having thought about laser surgery for the last few years, but thinking that it wouldn't be affordable, I saw the Optical Express advert on-line and thought that i'd take advantage of the free consultation. I went to the Meadowhall branch where they were all absolutely fantastic. I underwent the tests with the very lovely looking Paco, he said that I was a very good candidate for the surgery, shocked me with the price & passed me on to a wonderful lady by the name of Judy Kearney. She explained everything so well, including the 'wavefront' option. The cost of the procedure was a lot more than I thought I could afford, but they offer an interest-free credit option which made things a little easier. Before I left the shop, I was so convinced that this was the right thing for me that I had paid my deposit & was booked in for 2 weeks later. I work as a teacher and can't really take time off work, this is where Meadowhall & the Leeds clinics work so well. I had a Saturday appointment at Leeds for the treatment & a 24 hour follow-up appointment at Meadowhall on the Sunday. All was well and I was at work on Monday morning! The staff at Leeds looked after me so well, explaining everything very clearly and reasuring me all the way. The procedure itself, is painless. After several hours of really heavy eyelids, where i just felt that they were never going to open again, they opened and it was like MAGIC - I was all better and I could see perfectly. On the Sunday I went to see my optometrist, Naina Wadhera, who is has been wonderful. she is keeping a close eye on me & is very happy with my sight (better than 20/20!!!) This is the best thing that I have ever done for myself, worth every single penny and at only 36, i'm going to be enjoying my great new eyesight for many, many years to come. I unresevedly recommend this to anyone who feels unsure about going ahead with it. Get yourselves a consultation appointment at Meadowhall, they are second to none! Much gratitude to all the staff at both Meadowhall & Leeds, I owe you so much. Deborah Lagdon

I had Lasik surgery at Bluewater on 13/12/2006. My surgeon was Wayne Crewe-Brown, a truly excellent surgeon. I debated for a huge period of time before having the surgery, but decided it was right for me and went for it. Had the consultation at Chelmsford, that was all fine. Having previously spoken to my regular optician, I had decided that there was no benefit to me having Wavefront and decided to go for the standard treatment, which was accepted immediately without any hard sell from my laser counsellor. I also decided to have a microkeratome make the flap, rather than intralase, purely based on cost, and had no problems there either. The procedure itself is a little like a conveyer belt, but quick and fairly painless. Mr Crewe Brown came and introduced himself, then took me through for a quick eye check and to answer any questions (had about 2 minutes in the room, but didn't have any questions). Then had to wait for about 10 minutes with some other people waiting for surgery, i was VERY worried at this point! My name was called and I was asked to lay in the chair and relax. I could hear the laser nurses preparing and the surgeon was talking to me explaining what was going to happen. Some drops were put in my right eye first, and a shield put over my left eye (which I had to keep open underneath the shield, found that quite hard to do). The clip was then put in place, probably the most uncomfortable bit about the whole thing, but with barely any pain. The microkeratome is then put on your eye, which then creates a vacuum so that you are unable to move your eye while the flap is created. Everything goes completely black and you hear a noise like a dentist drill. The flap is done! Surgeon then moves the flap out of the way, starts the laser (which makes a loud clicking noise and smells like burning hair) and then puts the flap back. Laser only took about 10 seconds and you can't feel it at all. As soon as the flap was back in place I could see much better than before, but was still fairly blurred. When I was finished one of the laser nurses talked me through which drops to use and how often, then I could go. Due to traffic I got home 4 hours later, and the journey was horrendous, but I just kept my eyes closed and it wasn't too outrageous, just felt gritty. When I got home I went straight to bed and the next day my vision was near perfect. Its fluctuated a bit over the past few days, but now seems to have settled to what I judge to be 20/20 (certainly as good as when wearing my glasses before surgery). If you thinking about doing this but are worried, my only advice is - DO IT!

Had my eyes done in Jan 06...this year. For the first 2 weeks my left eye healed pretty quickly but my right eye took around a month. After this my eyes were fine...I became really light sensitive but I am soooo happy with my two little eyes. The actual procedure and everything was kind of kool. If ur in IT then just image ur monitor after a 20 hour stint and u will have a very good idea of how it feels. Everything went well and so I think if you can then go to the clinic and get ur eyes done. I am more than happy. ...o... PS: My only regret? My glasses use to be shield when I wanted to hide something from my eyes....now I see EVERYTHING:-)

Good and friendly service in Belfast quick procedure and excellent results. I should have done it years ago. Thanks y'all. Bref

I had standard Lasek on 22nd December 2006 at the Milton Keynes clinic. I was R -4.25 and L -4.5. The actual surgery itself was very quick and there was no pain, just a little uncomfortable with lots going on around me. The surgeon was excellent and kept me informed all the way through with what he was doing. Anyone that is worried about the surgery itself - don't be it really is less traumatic than the dentists! I was lucky and didn't have anyone ahead of me so I was in and out of the clinic within 40 minutes which included the final tests, the surgery, and post-op advice. As soon as I got up from the operating chair, I could see almost perfectly with a little blurring, but most of that felt because my eyes were watering. I felt no pain and only had very little discomfort. For the rest of the day, and the following day my eyes felt absolutely fine, and vision kept staying stable for longer and longer. By my 24hour post-op check-up I had 20/20 in my left eye and my right eye wasn't far off. Christmas eve (2 days after op) was the only day that I had a very painful left eye (burning feeling), and it actually hurt more to shut it than to keep it open. Taking plenty of pain killer eye drops and Nurofen helped me get through the day and by Christmas morning the pain had pretty much gone. Since then my right eye has felt very stable, and my left eye has fluctuated slightly but its vision has always been very good. Over the last few days my left eye has seemed to have settled down and is more often than not as good as my right. At my 2 week post-op check-up I had 6/5 in my left and 6/4 in my right, that's one line better than 20/20 for my left and two lines better (the bottom line!!) for my right. I feel that the left eye will catch up soon. In summary... I would recommend Lasek to anyone (especially as it has less long term complications than Lasik) and the pain really isn't that bad, and you do still get that WOW factor afterwards it justs takes a few days to settle down. I can't fault Optical Express in any way and the whole experience has been fantastic!

Had my surgery on 12th Jan felt bit crappy afterwards but this cleared after 2/3 hours could see really well by that night. Had post op on 13th and found that I had better than 20/20 vision no discomfort, and you would not be able to tell that any treatment had been carried out. Christopher Gascoigne optometrist and Rodney Blumfield surgeon along with Sarah King of the Oxford branch were absolutely FANTASTIC as were all the staff present. Please contact me if you require any further information.