Optical Express

Consultation~ Inverness Treatment~ Wavefront Lasik (Inverness) I had been considering having this treatment for the past two years- but due to my cowardly nature I had procrastinated until now! On the day I was filled with anxiety and trepidation but was really pleasantly surprised by the whole procedure. The team were fantasic, especially Gemma who held my hand throughout! I only wish that I had undergone this correction years ago, if I can do it, you can too! ('',)

11 days after surgery still struggling to focus reading is ok but distance is out of focus getting a bit worried hope it comes clear soon. lasik wavefront surgery cant drive yet had to get temporary glasses.

Hi, I am booked in with the Oxford branch of Optical Express for my Lasek treatment on the 2nd of March. I have been reading all of the reviews on this site and still can not decide if I should cancel and just continue to wear glasses, yes I am very scared about the op, do I really want to risk my sight? on the other hand it would be great not having to wear glasses ( tried contact lenses and they would not sit properly, so no good ). My surgeon is Steffan Klopper, has anyone out there got any words of advice?

Had wavefront lasik surgery 4weeks ago. Staff made me feel comfortable. When going to see surgeon on operation day they advised me that they had a new machine (intralase) where the laser cut the flap instead of the scalpel all for only £300 per eye instead of £600. Said I was under no pressure to have it but they would recommend it less that 0.5% chance of flap not being created properly etc. Felt that this was wrong, you are already nervous before surgery as it is. The surgery itself was very uncomfortable. After placing the suction cap on my right eye and then the machine pushing down the suction cap popped off. The sugeon was full of apologies and again placed the suction cap back on my eye. Again the suction cap came off when pressure was placed on it. The sugeon wasn't happy and asked for new suction cap. By this time I was getting quite upset and wondered if i was doing the right thing. Thankfully the third time of trying everything went fine and surgery proceeded. I must admit i thought my eye was going to explode with the pressure of the machine but it is over very quickly. Afterwards my eyes watered profusely (as expected) and I found it very hard to keep them open. Unfortunately for me on the day of surgery it was a very sunny day and even though i left with dark glasses on, the sensitivity to light was quite unbearable. I came home and took some painkillers and tried to sleep but found i couldn't but laying in a dark room did help. I went back the following day to be told that i had better than 20/20 vision and everything looked good. It took several weeks for the discomfort to stop. Four weeks on though i am still waiting for that WOW feeling! My eyes are still very dry (can happen) and yes i can see in the distance but not a sharp picture which is the point of having sugery. And the last few days i feel that my eyesight has regressed slightly, have become slightly bloodshot, my distance vision has suffered and the soreness is back but not to the same level. Am due to go back in two days time so will see what they have got to say.

Attracted by the "£395 per eye" advert I went for a consultation. The price rose to c£2400, and despite initially talking about a 10% discount there was not one available at the end. Have since spoken to Ultralase and have a quote of c£1600 for the same treatment. Although everyone was really nice, and i was happy with the consultation, I think its probably worth shopping around before signing up with this lot.

Consultation & After Care: Southampton Surgery: Harley Street Date: 22-2-2007 Surgeon: Michael Jeffrey Procedure: Wavefront Lasik with Intralase Previous Prescription: -2.00, -2.25 with very mild astigmatism I had my consultation at Southampton and found the staff very helpful and friendly. I was told I was a good candidate. I experienced no hard sell, whatsoever. I was told I was suitable for Lasik and that I could choose to have wavefront or not. Naturally, they recommended it as it is the newest technology and reduces some of the complications but they said it was up to me. They were very patient answering my many questions. The one negative is they are a bit slow at returning phone calls. I wanted to have Intralase but the Southampton branch phoned to say there was a problem with the installation of the machine so I could either have intralase at Reading or surgery at Southampton using the keratome. I researched the Reading clinic and was very unhappy with their Healthcare Commission report so I set about researching the various OE clinic and settled on the Harley Street branch. Changing the booking was no problem at all. The Harley Street clinic is a lot more spacious than the Southampton one and also it is purely a laser clinic, not an opticians. The reception staff were extremely attentive, taking my coat and offering us tea or coffee (in cups and saucers - no paper cups!!!). I was in the clinic a total of 1hr 45mins so waiting wasn't as bad as I expected. My one complaint and it is quite serious is that no-one told me what was happening during the procedure and I had to ask for reassurance on a couple of occasions. I found the pressure during the intralase was actually painful but the excimer laser was totally painless. I had no watering eyes, no stinging and only slight scratchiness and only needed to close my eyes for an hour or so. I've had my 24hour check up and I can read the bottom line of the chart without my glasses - better than 20/20 vision. The healing process has only just started so I'm not getting over excited but it's a good place to start from. One word of caution - I would seriously recommend against anyone booking in advance to have surgery on the same day as the consultation. You need time to research the clinic, the surgeon and the complications. You can't make an informed decision about signing the consent form when you've only just seen it for the first time.

Now over 4 moths since I had Wavefront Lasik, and checkups have all been very positive. Totally forget about the fact that I used to wear glasses now as it seems like a distant memory! There is a very slight residual prescription left, but it is very slight and I have better than 20:20 vision, so it's all good!!!!!

I had intralase wavefront 4 weeks ago. I was -7.0 and -6.75 with slight astigmatism. I am delighted with results. 20/16 in one eye, less in the other but together better than 20/20. The intralase was uncomfortable but not painful as such; wavefront laser painless. I had no post operative pain at all, just some watering for a few hours afterwards. I wore the goggles for a week at night in bed, did all the drops religiously, didn't rub and basically followed alll the instructions. So far so good - fingers crossed that it continues. I go back in 2 months and will post again.

Though't I'd give it time before I posted and it may help others who are a bit dispondant and please email me direct if you are in the same position I was. Attended Newcastle last July (note that I was longsighted so not the normal shortsight problem) Was told that my prescription was quite small but they could do it - had the lasik wavefront and the day after - fantastic. THEN my eyes started to get worse at the mid and near end - distance was excellent. After numerous appointments I went last month and I was offered a retreatment. The surgeon was only wanting to treat my right eye which I accepted. On the day of the Op I asked the surgeon to treat my right eye by overcorrection - the risk was mine!!! That done and the day after was great - after 5 days the right eye has dropped back a little but can still read and use my laptop without too much problem and my distance through my left eye is as good as ever - middle distance is good. My thought are - I expect the right eye to drop back a little and it take a little time from my brain to adjust - I have a "pulling" feeling in my right treated eye, like having new glasses. I return to work tomorrow so we will see but all in all I think the correction was worthwhile. My thoughts on the staff at Newcastle - always feel welcome and how does the lady on reception always know my name - I can't be that bad a patient am I? General advise is - do some reasearch and go for the best clinic you feel at home with - forget about the price you pay, in 10 years you won't remember what it cost !!!

Had my surgery 6 weeks ago. Can I see better post-surgery without glasses then I could pre-surgery without glasses? Without doubt, but that wouldn't have been difficult as I couldn't see much past an arms length away without my glasses. Can I see as clearly post-surgery without my glasses as I could pre-surgery with my glass? Unfortunately NO (and surely this is the whole point or having the surgery?). My sight is no where near as clear as it was with my glasses. The staff keep telling me at each check up that fluctuations can occur up to 12 weeks post-surgery but my sight is not getting any better. At my 6 week check yesterday I asked at what point somebody actually admits to me that it hasn't worked and I was told if nothing changes by 10-12 weeks, I will be referred back to the surgical team! At the moment, I could not honestly say that I would recommend it to anyone else and I wish that I had never had the surgery - so far it has been a complete waste of money.