Optimax

I would be rather cautious about using Optimax. I had a consultation with them in London (Dr Patel) last month. I was delighted to be told that I was an 'ideal candidate' for LASIK. However, taking advice from many of the posters on this and other sites, I sought second and third opinions. I have subsequently had (much more thorough) consultations with Boots and Ultralase who both told me in no uncertain terms that I was a poor candidate for LASIK, due to lack of corneal thickness. Both told me that they would refuse to carry out LASIK on me, and advised me that PRK or LASEK may be suitable, but that as they do not offer it I would have to look elsewhere. The Boots guy actually told me I'd be mad to even consider LASIK. Since then I have tried to contact Dr Patel by phone and email, asking him to look at my notes again and see if he still considers me suitable for LASIK, and also asking why he didn’t even discuss LASEK with me(Optimax does offer LASEK). Needless to say I have heard nothing. So, all in all, I'm not saying don’t consider Optimax, but I would advise EVERYONE to get at least a second opinion before going ahead with an irreversible, possibly life ruining operation. I feel very believed that I did. I would also stress that the testing at Optimax is not nearly as thorough as Boots - particularly with regard to measuring pupil size, which may explain some of the less than ideal results outlined by earlier posters.

Eyesight before treatment Left eye: -3.5 Right eye: -3.75 Slight astigmatism. I had bilateral LASEK treatment at the Leeds clinic on 19th December 2003 by Dr.Samuels. I had failed an eye test to get into the police so needed to get laser surgery to have any hope of getting in. So six weeks on, my eyesight is pretty much perfect. Am able to read the bottom and second to bottom lines of the eye chart with my left and right eye, respectively. This is better than 20/20 vision!! The treatment itself isn't the most pleasant thing i've ever done but it really wasn't too bad. I was in and out of the treatment room in about 10 to 15 mins and the pain through the treatment was practically non existent. As you may of read some people have quite a lot of pain afterwards while some have very little, unfortunately for me I was the prior!! I would echo an earlier comment on this site, go to the doctors prior to treatment and ask for some strong painkillers as the ones provided are only about as strong as over the counter painkillers. If you need to take them then you know they are there, if you have little pain then you have no worries!! Also remember to take sunglasses with you, especially if you have a long journey home. The worst of the pain eased after about 48 hours and after four days it had faded to just irritating dryness. This was helped by artificial tears which I used for about a week after the treatment. Small problems like slight dryness, gritiness and tiredness persisted for a couple of weeks, and they still feel gritty from time to time now, but with this treatment I think patience is the key. I'm starting to take my new eyesight for granted which I think shows how successful my treatment has been. I would certainly recommend this treatment and Optimax to anyone.

I had both my eyes done at the Advanced Laser eye Clinics Glasgow Branch on the 29th January 2004 by Dr. Kalognomas and have to say that I am really impressed. Apart from running behind schedule I can have no complaints. I found the staff very friendly although Dr. Kalognomas wasn't to talkative. My prescription was +3.75 in the left eye and +2.5 in the right, and 4 hours of having the operation I could read unaided. Although I decided to keep my eyes closed for the rest of the evening, but what a temptation. This morning I have had my first check up and everything looks fine, the right eye is just very slightly blurred and this will settle with time, but apart from that I can see very well. I have no discomfort although I still take the eye drops just in case. I have been told that there is a 30% - 40% chance of my eye sight diminishing to 1/3 - 2/3 of what it was because I was long (far) sighted, but I knew this before the procedure. All in all I cannot fault the clinic or staff in anyway, and would recommend anyone to have this done.

Left eye -1.25 and Right -1.00 with astigmatism The epi-Lasek operation was the easy part , I had both eye's done I could still see ok ,but I had plastic shields so seeing with them was not easy, pain was not bad at all ( bearable ) only had 20 seconds on each eye under the laser and had contact lens fitted. I came on the train that day so I would be returning the same way, I was told by one of the friendly and helpful staff the eye drops used at the operation would where off in 40 mins lucky the train only took 25 mins. Got home went straight to a darkened room and I mean dark and stayed there 2 days I keep my eyes closed most of the time..pain was like a slight headache, was ok on a night when the sun had gone down and the lights out. 2nd day still very sensitive to any light but no pain at all, 3rd day after care back at leeds and had contact lens removed vision a lot clearer now , watched TV with dark glasses on , eye'e a bit dry used eye drops. 4th day eye sight good but change's from day to day drove the car after 6 days no problem maybe because my eye sight was not too bad ( but not driving standard ) before the opp , hard to see close up eg : bad newspaper print and even smaller print. I went back too work 10 days later, eyes still changing slowly and i wished I had been off longer,not pain just hard focusing to see the mail I was sorting ( I work as a postman ) ok outside on delivery natural light is great and.working outside I can see every thing clear and sharp. ( excellant now well above driving standard) After the first week back at work eye's are excellent now with a slight dryness , still looking at every thing and everyone one in new light! 2 weeks I still feel like I am looking at the world with new eye's and can see things sharper and clearer than I could see before.(stopped using drops for dry eye's) I reckon it took 3 weeks to see absolutely clearly and too forget I had my eye's done it's now 6 weeks and have had no problems at all , I use reading glasses for small bad newspaper print but I would have to had because it's a age thing ( 45 years old ) I can still use the pc at home without glasses too. I did think straight after I had the operation I wished I had not, but I now know it was the best thing I have ever done and I now look at the world in a new and more interesting way.A very big thanks to all the great staff at Optimax Leeds and especially my wife dawn for helping and puting up with me during the 10 days i was at home. I read the lasek forum rom top to bottom and the words Every one is different and it takes time rings true.

I have made an appointment today for consultation and treatment at optimax-manchester. My prescription is -7.00 and -6.5. From what I have read I will probably be having Lasik, is there anyone who has had this for a high prescription and if so, what were the results and would you recommend it?

Heya, There's a posting in Optimax's forum saying: "During the conversation, I was led to believe that I will have to provide my own eyesight test for them to work off, whereas I was expecting that Optimax would do an eye test during the consultation, which would then be used to calibrate the Laser." Which is complete nonsense and would misguide people... they just want an old test to check things havn't changed since. Just thought you'd like to know etc, iain, post-LASEK and using a PC again ::)

Hi, I had lasik surgery on 16th of January at the Glasgow optimax with Dr Anwar. I had a very high prescription of -10 in both eyes, however by the day following surgery my eyes were already driving standard. Hopefullly they should improve even more over the next month. My main side effect has been the brightness of lights in the dark, with a "halo" being emitted from them. I expected this to some degree though, since my pupils were very large (about 8.5mm). It doesn't prevent me from driving at night though, which was my main concern, and hopefully this will also improve with time. The only other slight problem I have had is my eyes becoming rather dry after sleeping, or when they have been shut for a while. However, this is easily relieved by applying some artificial tear drops. Overall, I am very pleased with the results.

My name is Joanne and I had bi-lateral Lasek in November of last year. Both eyes were -3.5 but because of my age, i had monovision done which means i will never need reading glasses or distance glasses. The first couple of weeks were a little worrying as my sight didn't appear as clear as i had hoped but the key is PATIENCE! The healing process takes time and now, 2 months later, my eyesight is fantastic and i am thrilled. My right eye is now 20-20! and my left is -2 which is perfect for reading tiny print so i now have the best of both worlds. I would highly recommend Optimax (i had my treatment with Dr Islam at the Ipswich clinic) and lasek treatment in general - the best money i have ever spent! PS I am 42 years old.

I had lasik surgery @ Optimax London clinic on 4th Dec 2003 as of today 18th January 2004 my vision is still hazy and black writing looks greyish. And when watching TV there is no sharpness in vision at all.I can only read 4th line on eye test chart with my left eye and 2nd line on righy eye and even on eye test chart alphabets looks greyish and cloudy. I see slight improvement in vision in my left eye with refraction test with various lenses but i still get no sharpness in vision and in right eye even with various lenses i seee no improvement.They also made me read through pin hole with various lenses and i even strugle to see in my right eye through pin hole with various lenses.I have been to clinic four times since surgery and seen Surgeon every time as I am worried. Dr says my recovery is very slow.I saw him last on 5th January 04.I am not suffering from dry eyes symptom or any other symptoms. Has any body had similar symptoms in past and if so please let me know as I am getting extremely worried.

I gave a call to Optimax to ask about LASEK. During the conversation, I was led to believe that I will have to provide my own eyesight test for them to work off, whereas I was expecting that Optimax would do an eye test during the consultation, which would then be used to calibrate the Laser. The pre-surgery consultation was apparently to check if my eyes could biologically be able to withstand the surgery (i.e corneal thickness etc) not specifically to do an eye test. This sounds very odd to me. Do these people really expect and trust a third party opticians report to make potentially lifetime changes to their clients eyes??!! I backed straight away from making an appointment. I have sent an email to Optimax and haven’t received a reply in almost a week. I am fully aware that they require an opticians test over a period of two years to see if my eye sight is stable, but this sounded downright odd. Can someone confirm if this is true? – do they really use 3rd party eye tests to set their surgery up, rather than do it themselves, or was it simply a mis-communication (and subsequently a loss of communication via email)?