Ultralase

I just had second consultation at Ultralase Cardiff where they have offered LASEK not LASIK due to my cornea being too thin. I am absolutely terrified as they will only correct one eye at a time and I worry I will be so uncomfortable I won't return for the second eye. I also don't understand the pricing as Optimax charge £495 per eye whereas Ultralase charge £995 per eye. BIG difference! Another fear is that they will not say which surgeon will perform the surgery so I can't research their background. Any advise please contact as I am in limbo trying to decide.

Following the comments I made on 8th Jan, a guy presumably from Head Office (he quoted an 0113 telephone number) emailed me. One sentence said "Whilst we aim to match a person's best corrected visual acuity with treatment, there are many occasions upon which we do improve on it" I replied on the 12th indicating I was very surprised by this fact that my best corrected vision could be improved upon, couldn't find anything on the internet to back this up, and asked him for some supporting evidence. As yet he has not replied, so I don't know whether he's on holiday, or that fact is just a myth. Can anyone clarify

Booked in St Albans clinic for consultation on March 12th. Have found this website extremely helpful. Not worried about a little discomfort or pain as have given birth twice. NOTHING can be worse than that! Am encouraged by so many positive reports of Ultralase and if I am able to I will certainly request Dr Gupta performs the surgery. Will keep you posted. I used to dream that I had perfect vision and then would wake up to the reality of short sightedness. Perhaps the fulfilment of this dream might not be so far away after all? Really hope I'm a suitable candidate!

I'm due to have a consultation and surgery (provisionally booked) in the Leeds city centre clinic next week (11 and 13 February 2003) with Dr Gilbert Cohen. I'd love to hear any feedback from anyone who has used Ultralase in Leeds and particularly if Dr Cohen carried out the surgery. Many thanks.

I am concerned about latest comments on side effects of laser treatment. I am due to have surgery at Birmingham with Matthew Starr. His resume seems to be A1. Has anyone had any experiences of his surgery? Has anyone had treatment who has large pupils? It seems that a lot of the negative press at the moment relates to people that have larger than average pupil size. Would love to hear all comments please.

Jeanette I too am due to have surgery in Bham with Matthew Star on 27th Feb. (Have just tried to Email you but mail failed?)Pupil size was not mentioned but I was told I had lovely thick corneas which would heal well. Watchdog are doing a feature on their programme tonight. Should be worth watching

Jeannette/Karen (and anyone else) - if you remove SPAMPROOF from the end, you will have the right address to email each other - it's done as a protection from spam machines! Has anyone any experience Dr Joachim Koehler. It seems like everyone is hankering for Mr Gupta's services wherever they are in the country

I am looking into having LASIK surgery done on both eyes. I am short sighted and wonder if any one else has used the Newcastle Clinic? The Surgeon is Ms. Susanna Boytha and I would welcome any information on this clinic and their Surgeon. I have read alot of the comments and am concerned that quite a few people have suffered from halos/starburst at night. Does this eventually wear off? I wear glasses to drive and already suffer from glare at night. I do realise that each patient is different and that there can be complications. I do want perfect or very near perfect eyesight again and alot off people seem to have gotten that...... How long was it before you could drive and return to work?

I had laser surgery last may.My right eye is very good and the prescription is steady,but my left eye is gradually deteriorating.I was thinking about an enhancement but i am not sure about the risks involved in having it the second time.Does anybody have any info on this? cheers paul

I thought that I would add a few words to this site. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I had bilateral laser surgery performed at the Ultralase surgery in Guildford on Thursday 27th March 2003. The surgeon was Mr Sumith Perera. My prescription was R(-2) and L(-1.5) with slight astigmatism in the right. I chose Ultralase because I was very impressed with the professionalism of the staff and I felt that my eyes were in very safe and capable hands. My initial consultation was straight forward with tests for pupil dilation, corneal thickness, dry-eye, eye mapping and a conventional sight test. After the Optometrist had completed the tests I saw a Patient Advisor. Ostensibly, this is a sales person but they certainly do not push you, or did not push me. They implore you to ask as many questions as you like. They went through a list of possible outcomes and complications. Then, they left it with me and did not follow up, with pestering calls. So, after extensively researching the process, I booked for the operation. It took place four days ago, as I write this, and I am very pleased with the results. Before the procedure, the nurse sits with you and explains all the after care treatment. This was done clearly and in good depth. One point that the Ultralase after care document omitted was how to wash your hair to best avoid getting the eyes wet. Obviously you can do this by leaning backwards over a sink or bath, but it is a good idea to use Baby shampoo, like Johnsons, too. For those interested, I will describe the operation. As they said, it was very short and definitely painless. It was not the most pleasant experience that I have ever had but it is over very quickly. The major parts of the surgery are A) where they place a pressure ring on the eye to create the flap. This was on my eye for sixty seconds and for the last ten, it was pressing my eye uncomfortably. Then when it is taken off. Then B) you look into the laser’s red light and they deliver the bursts in several doses. Again not painful, but very odd. From there, they bathe the eye and replace the flap. Lastly, they re-test the equipment and then do the second eye. Immediately afterwards my vision was, as promised, blurry. This is not worrying though because you are expecting it. You can still see everyone around you, just not sharply. Post op, my eyes did not run, sting or feel very gritty. Big tip – get a late appointment and then you can just go to bed afterwards. The surgeon inspected my eyes one hour after the op and the right eye – which was operated upon first – was already driving test standard. The following day, both my eyes were 6/9, the line above “20/20” but I felt that this was something to do with me being tested later in the day. In the first couple of days your eyes are at their sharpest in the morning and less strong towards the end of the day. The after care is easy to follow. You will have some eye drops that need to administer for about a week, so long as there is no infection. The drops will leave small white flakes on your eyes but these come off easily in the manner described in the aftercare pack. When researching this procedure, you should acquaint your self with all the facts and statistics related to the treatment. Search the web for your surgeon. Find out your corneal thickness and pupil dilation – I found out that mine was quite large at 7.5mm and thus placed me at a slightly higher likelihood of “starbursts” and halos”. Read sites such as www.lasikdisaster.com to get a sense of perspective (the less pro arguments) and also to get some questions to ask your surgeon. All in all, though it is early days, I am very pleased with the treatment. I do have a question regarding the recovery period. I am interested to learn about how the eye "settles" post-treatment. Have people found that their vision improves between the "next day" post-op test and subsequent measurements, in the days, weeks or months that follow? Thanks, Paul