Optical Express

I had lasik wavefront with Interlase done a month ago now. Best Thing I've done so far. It's great to get up in the morning and see without glasses. All the team at Optical Express High Street Dundee are very helpful and look after you very well,right from the very start. Was put at ease and found out all i needed know from Graham , my Laser Consuller. Who walk me thru it all from consultation to the day I had Treatment. Professor Jan Venter MD and his team did a grand Job on the day also. The aftercare is superb! Kirsty my optiction is very thuro, checks every thing and check you're doing alright with your eyes. The treatment itself was painless and i was well instructed how to care for them after it was done. For the first week it felt like i had contacts in that needed taken out, however with the drops all was good. Well worth getting it done! A Big Thanks to all the team.

I have got my surgery booked in two weeks and I really would be interested to hear from anyone who had a prescription similar to mine. My prescription is: EYE SPH CYL AXIS R -6.00 -1.50 170 L -5.75 -1.25 178 I can't have lasik as my corneas are too thin. Anyone out with similar prescription who has had lasek wavefront. What was it like and what is your prescription now?

Fantastic , wish I had done it years ago! (RAF Halton)

Surgery in Leeds, Dr. Khan, 1st October 2007. Lasik/intralase/wavefront, both eyes, fairly light prescription. My experience so far. ===================== Is now 9 days since surgery. First, I have to point out that very little scares me, normally. I was fine with the whole laser thing up until the moment I actually arrived for surgery. At which point, I started bricking it. In surgery: ------------------------- Going into the surgery room - this I found hard - I have no complaints whatsoever about the staff or their reassurances, but I'm one of those people who doesn't believe much of what I'm told, so I was now exploring unknown territory and was hoping I hadn't made a spectacularly bad decision. I guess it's natural to feel that way, considering how precious your eyes are. I'd rather have bad eyesight than none at all. Anyway.. The scariest bit in surgery, I would say, is where the cornea is moved and you see two images seperate. That freaked me out a bit inside, but I managed to stay calm on the outside. The most uncomfortable bit is where the machine presses down on your eyeball while the laser does it's job - but it doesn't hurt. The surgery itself took (I'm not joking) about 5 minutes! After surgery, same day: -------------------------- At first you can see ok with just a little noticable light sensitivity, but I found this progressively gets worse over the next hour or two. Apparently I looked pretty dodgy coming home on the train from Leeds, sat there with my sunglasses on trying really hard NOT to look like I'd just been poked in both eyes with a chopstick. I was fully expecting the Metropolitan Police to turn up and pump me full of holes.. I was glad my partner was with me to hold my hand - when we got off the train I could only open my eyes for a fleeting glimpse of where I was walking, and then had to shut them again for 10-20 seconds. On reflection, we should have come in the car. After getting home I just wanted darkness and strangely, quiet. (Yes, noise irritated me at this point..) So I went upstairs and found some - even managed to get a 2 hour kip in despite feeling like I had grit in my eyes. After about 8 hours, I found I could mooch around the house with shades on. It was still helpful to keep the lights dimmed and take prolonged blinks, but the uncomfortableness was subsiding at this point. It was now more of an irritation, a bit like having smoke in your eyes. Day 1 -------------------------- After a good night's sleep, the next day was much better. The irritation was now very minor, just occasional dryness, soothed by a 2 second blink. Along with a little light-sensitiveness. At this point I could tell my sight was much sharper than it had been before the op. I still found it more comfortable to wear shades in bright daylight, but this wasn't really a big deal. So only one day after surgery, I was busy fixing new skirting boards in our living room. With safety goggles on, of course. After that.. -------------------------- For the next week or so, there isn't much to tell. My eyes became progressively better, light sensitivety subsided. The thing that was most noticable, was night driving - glare from headlights of oncoming traffic caused me to wear my shades for the first few days, but that has now dropped to levels that don't bother me. I was told that the glare would subside after the first few weeks, and my vision would also improve further once I stopped taking the eyedrops. After only 2 days of not taking the eyedrops, it does feel like it's improved; but I guess an eye test will verify that, so I'm just going to wait for the next one before making any bold announcements. In summary: ---------------------------- - The worst bit: In all honesty, the first 8 hours were the worst - not painful, but very uncomfortable. - Should I have been scared before surgery? No, but then I'm not a robot. These are my eyes we're talking about! - Would I do it again? Yes. Tips: ---------------------------- - Avoid using public transport to return home from surgery. - Take someone with you, to get you home in one piece. - Take a few (maybe 3?) days off work so you can bum around whilst the sensitivety subsides. - Enjoy the new view! In finishing, I'd like to say thanks to Dr. Khan for fixing my eyes. Also, I must thank Akbar and Nareece at Shipley Optical Express, who did their level best to explain the whole procedure fully and assure me it would all work out ok if I went ahead with it.

I went in to ask about the procedure, went into depth with what was undertaken. Also went in for Assessment to see if i was viable to have it done (99% of people are). A couple of weeks later, i went in to have it done on one eye. I was a quivering wreck. Within 20 minutes i had it done, and i was walking out the surgery with my dark glasses on. absolutley painless!!!! It is the best thing i have had done, I am so pleased with it, i have recommended friends to have it done if need be, and i also get paid for that to..... it's a win win situation.

Day 4 yesterday. Vision slightly better than day 3, but left much better than right. Haziness still persists. Evening/night is not great as discomfort increases [mainly dryness discomfort] and vision worsens specially with blurriness. I am still happy with the outcome as my refractive error was very high to start with, and now I don`t have to search for my specs in the morning.

Newcastle upon Tyne - October 4th 2007. Standard Lasik. Booked through the Metro Centre store and treatment carried out at Newcastle branch. My first appointment was cancelled and put back a day, not to worry - I arrived for my appointment at 11.00am the following day. I'll try and describe each part as accurately as I can. Checked in with receptionist then had a wait of around 30 mins before a nurse took me in to have some checks of my prescription etc, all pretty straightforward. A further wait of around 25 mins then I was called in to see the consultant, Mr. Lorimer Esselaar. He checked my eyes again and asked if I had any questions, a nice man. My final wait was around 20 mins then another nurse called me in to the procedure room (theatre). I was asked to put on a hair mask and to lie on the bed (which I can only describe as a flat dentist chair). There were all sorts of checks going on and the nurses informed me that they were testing the laser etc. My nerves started getting the better of me here and I felt a bit tense. Although I had done loads of research and had an idea what to expect I still felt a little uneasy. One of the four nurses/assistants in the room applied some cleaning stuff to my eyes which was nice and cool. Then some drops were put into my eyes (anesthetic I presume). My right eye was first to be done so a patch was placed over my left eye for the time being. I was then placed under the laser machine and Mr. Esselaar talked through the procedure as it was happening. First I had to concentrate on a flickering orange light in the machine above my head, then heard a buzzing noise. I was told my vision would go dark/blurred at this point and think this must have been the corneal flap being created. I could vaguely make out a pair of tweezers or similar to peel back the flap. I was then told a clamp would be placed over my eye and my vision would move about a bit. This is the part that felt most uncomfortable - a sort of silicon / plastic clamp was placed onto my eyeball and then a vacuum was applied to hold the eyeball in place. I must say this is one of the most unnatural sensations you can have, I felt myself squirming a bit but composed myself as knew it wasn't long to go! Another nurse started counting down from 17 and this was the laser firing, didn't feel anything although it was quite tricky to concentrate on the flashing orange light as it seemed to be moving about. Thankfully there was an iris tracking sensor so even if I did move my eye the laser would still be accurate. One the laser was finished a solution was squirted into my eye and the flap put back in place. I could see a small 'spatula' spreading the flap into place which was a bit surreal... Right eye done, same procedure for the left, seemed a bit quicker (maybe because I knew what to expect!). I was then asked to sit up (relief) and was taken through to the aftercare room where I was told the do's and don’ts and given my drops. My partner took me home (about a 20 min. drive) through which I kept my eyes closed. At this stage the anesthetic was starting to wear off and my vision was blurred. I got home, took some painkillers and went straight to bed. My left eye was really sore, but my right seemed okay. I managed to grab a few hours sleep through all the eyes watering and wearing the night goggles. Woke up early evening and eyes felt ok (apart from having a headache), went back to bed around 9pm and woke up Friday morning feeling fine, right eye perfect, left eye about 5% blurred, but still visually okay. Went for my post-op 24hr check up and told I now have better than 20/20 vision. Corneal flaps healing fine and was told that the blurring is perfectly normal; this will correct itself over the coming days/weeks. Getting used to putting the drops in correctly and at the right time is important, I like having the 'Blink' eye drops in the fridge so they are nice and cool when they go in. Back to work the day after and although I still have a little blurring in my left eye I am very happy with the results. It will probably take a week or so for the fact that I'm not wearing contact lenses or glasses sink in - looking forward to the weekly check up now to see how I'm doing.

So glad I had the surgery. It is fantastic to wake up in the morning and not have to reach for your glasses. staff have been extremely helpful and the after care has been excellent. I thoroughly recommend it.

I had my surgery - intralase wavefront LASIK on Saturday [29/9]. Procedure: I was stressed prior to it, hence could not focus on the red beam for my first[right] eye. left was fine. Intralase for the flap was uneventful. I was concerned at the end of the procedure whether my right eye was treated completely. Day 1 - went for check up. I could see clearly with both eyes open, but vision was excellent in the left eye, and blurred/hazy/not too clear in the right. At the visit I was told that I had driving vision, and both flaps were fine, incidentally the 1st day visit is to check the flaps. Today is day 2, vision is similar to day 1. Better in the left than the right. The hazines/blurring persits. Pain was present on surgery day and day 1, but minimal on day 2. Will be going for my 1 week visit on Saturday. I have been assured by the clinic councellor that vision will improve with time.

I had surgery at milton keynes in June 2007, 3 months later and i have better than 20/20 vision. This was probably the scariest thing i have ever done equalled with the best! No more specs no more contact lenses i think 2 words sum this experience up: LIFE CHANGING! The staff at Optical Express in Milton Keynes were great, although there was a very long wait on the day of surgery so make sure you take a good mag or book!. Anyone considering surgery should at least go and see if you are suitable, taking the plunge to go that far eased my concerns and convinced me it was the best thing to do. Good Luck!