Ultralase

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 was treated just over a week ago at the Guildford clinic by Mr Perera. My sight was around -6/-7 in each eye and treatment was uncomfortable but not painful. My long sight is now great although my medium site needs to settle down (Ultralase put it down to my brain having to get used to my new vision). The glasses they provide don't help and in the few instances that I take them off my vision is great. Overall my vision is just about as good as it was with glasses before the op and you can't ask for anything more than that. Definitely recommended.

It's now 4 months since my surgery. I had my eyes tested the other day. left eye +0.50, right +0.25. This is well within the limits for driving. The optician was really impressed with my 'neat scars' on the eyes, and drew the location of them on a bit of paper for me. Apparently, the distortions in vision after refractive surgery can be caused by scar tissue forming on the suface of the eye, so thorough aftercare is essential, like no rubbing. My eyes are very healthy, and overall I can call the surgery a success. I would say that if you're considering refractive surgery do not forget how important the aftercare of your eyes are. Many thanks again to the younger Dr. Jory and the team at LCRS.

I had Lasik surgery with Matthew Starr at the Birmingham clinic on 27th February. I was very scared but felt I had done enough research over the last three years and believed I was doing the right thing. Although I feel that Ultralase is a bit conveyor beltish, on the day of the surgery I was the last appointmentof the day and felt as if I was the first.The staff were very thorough and very reassuring. In the morning before surgery, I had the opportunity to talk with the surgeon over the phone and found him to be extremely professional and he answered all my questions and my confidence in him soared.He carried out all the pre-surgery checks and again was patient and thorough over all my concerns. I did not feel at all rushed and still felt that I could have backed out of surgery right up to the last moment. I found the proceedure itself to be totally painless and was totally fascinated! I felt as if I was watching someone else having it done!It was also a lot easier to focus on the laser than I had imagined.Was slightly disconcerted to actually see the flap being drawn back. Did not expect that! but still no pain.Within about 15mins of the anaesthetic drops wearing off I had about 7 hours of constantly watering eyes, but I expected this. By the following morning this had stopped and I could see really well and apart from puffy eyes no pain or light sensitivity.I have driven at night and have no haloes or starbursts. I had 6/9 vision on the morning after surgery. My next appointment is on Tuesday and I am looking forward to knowing what my current prescription is. The only reasons for not giving 5 star is I have lost some of my near vision (although was warned of this possibility) although working on a computer is not a problem so long as the light is bright enough. The other reason is that I have some discomfort in my right eye which the optometrist at Ultralase says could be dryness and that I need to use the artificial tears. Hopefully these will both resolve themselves in time and I will give the fifth star.I highly recommend the surgeon Matthew Starr and am happy to recommend Ultralase to anybody. I would just say do your research as there are risks. I feel as if I have been waiting for this time of no lenses or glasses for the last 8 years and am looking forward to my first holiday without them.

I had my treatment over 2 weeks ago at Chester, unfortunately, my eyes bled somewhat causing my corneas to be swollen & inflammed (in particular the left). my prescription before hand was -3 and -1.75. Dr Koehler was very good and saw me for the 2 consecutive days after the treatment when the vision in my right eye was good but not the left, I was assured that this would improve but take a little longer due to the bleeding. However, a week later my vision had not improved but had deteriorated, worried I rang Ultralase who fitted me for later that day. The optometrist who saw me although pleasant and answered many of my questions failed to advise me of what was happening just that I was still short sighted and required spectacles, she wouldn't give me a prescription as my sight was still fluctuating. A few days later still worried as my sight was regressing further I contacted them again, this time I saw another optometrist Vicky Price, who was a dream, very thorough, very professional she said she was not unduly worried and that the tests showed I had severe dry eye which can cause short sightedness of 1- 2 dioptre and she did give me a prescription for spectacles for driving. I have another appointment to see Dr Koehler next week and hopefully he can offer further advice as to my long term prognosis. I feel my vision is there, as first thing in a morning my vision is clearer although not perfect, but then deteriorates as the day goes on. I do feel as if I have worried unnecessarily for 2-3 days because of someones insensitiveness. All sorts of thoughts were going through my mind - Had I an infection, had the flaps moved, There was no reason given, just I needed spectacles. Other things that bothered me were that after I had the procedure, children were playing in the recovery room throwing toys etc - having had a friend recovering from the procedure who had his sight damaged by a child jumping up at him I was very concerned. Also, there was no surgeon available for nearly 2 weeks to discuss my case with. Although as I said Vicky was very reassuring. I am still concerned at how long it will take for my eyes to recover form this dry eye syndrome - if anyone else has similar experiences I would like to hear from them.

I had thought of having laser eye surgery some years ago, but tales of severe pain for up to a week afterwards put me off. This was of coarse the old PRK treatment. On reading about the LASIK treatment just before Christmas I thought I'll have to investigate. I found the information on this website extremely helpful and decided that Ultralase were undoubtedly the best in the business. I contacted the call-centre on a Tuesday and was able to have a consultation at the Cardiff centre on the Friday. I was impressed by the thoroughness of the tests and full explanation of the procedure as well as the potential risks involved. I was able to book an appointment for the following Monday for surgery under Mr Paul Cherry. Mr Cherry was extremely professional and I was further reassured by learning that he had performed over 5000 treatments (a claim I doubt many surgeons from Ultralase competitors could make). The surgery was painless and though my vision was slightly blurry at first, the following day I had 20/20 vision (Fantastic!!!). I still had difficulty reading small text but was assured that over the next few weeks this would improve. It is now just over a month since surgery and my eyesight is near perfect. I would, and have, strongly recommend Ultralase to anyone. Why anyone would want to continue to wear glasses or contact lenses when a quick, painless procedure could restore their sight is baffling. Many thanks to all the staff at the Cardiff centre (Friendly, helpful and professional).

I was due to have surgery at the Birmingham clinic under Matthew Starr. Unfortunately we did not go ahead due to a possible complication in my medical history, hopefully after obtaining previous records I will be able to go ahead. Despite not being able to proceed, I would like to promote Ultralase, the staff at the Birmingham clinic and Matthew Starr himself. I felt that the staff were very helpful, particularly Barbara Adams (patient advisor) and have every confidence in Matthew Starr. He was not there just to take my money, he was there to give me the best possible result without causing any further medical complications. Although very upset at being turned away on my surgery day, it gave me all the confidence in the world for him. I hope to be able to obtain further information and continue, and if so, I will certainly be booking in with Matthew. I am so surprised that I couldn't find any info on Matthew when doing my research. With this in mind I thought this would be helpful to anyone who has been booked in with him. Good luck to all (I am so jealous on those who have been able to have treatment) Jeanette

I had laser eye surgery at the Manchester clinic approximately 2 weeks ago performed by Mr Koehler. I was very short-sighted with a prescription of -7.5 in my left eye and -6.5 in my right eye. I also had an astigmatism. After my initial consultation with the optometrist and a secondary follow-up appointment with the surgeon it was deemed that my corneas were thick enough to be operated on (even though Boots said my prescription was too severe for treatment). I then went ahead with the treatment. The procedure was practically painless with only minor discomfort in the few hours after the treatment. However life after the operation can be a bit of a chore for a couple of weeks, with drops, protective glasses and eye shields at night-time, and a constant fear of getting anything in your eye; I would definitely suggest to people considering the treatment to get a couple of days off work particularly if you use a computer heavily. 2 weeks after the treatment my vision has improved considerably. The vision in my right eye is perfect. I have had some complications with my left eye. Basically there are some cells on the surface of my eye which haven't rejoined properly making my vision from this eye slightly blurry, although I have been told that this should only be temporary. I do suffer from minor glare when driving at night, particularly when my eyes are tired. However, given my prescription prior to treatment I am very happy the results at this stage. My impression of the Manchester Ultralase team has been good. They all seem very professional. I was not pressured into the treatment and the dangers of the treatment were also fully explained to me by the surgeon. I found the surgeon who performed my treatment, Mr Koehler, to be extremely professional and indeed an expert in this field. The only thing I would say negatively is that the clinic can seem a little short-staffed at times; from my visits it seems that there are only 2 optometrists and one surgeon (Mr Koehler) who only works at the Manchester clinic on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and at the Chester clinic the rest of the time. For instance on my last appointment I was unable to see the optometrist who has been dealing with me from the start (Paul) as he was too busy. I therefore had to see another optometrist who knew nothing about me or the complications I had had so far. I will post another update in a couple of weeks with regards to my left eye. Feel free to email me.

best thing i've had done in a long time. Could see from the moment i sat up on the theatre table and life has just got better. The staff at Ultralase, Cardiff were excellent and extremely helpful. They made me feel relaxed throughout the whole process; from my assessment visit right through to my check-up visits. I would recommend them to anyone who wanted this pain-free surgery done. I was driving my car the next day, how cool is that.

Please see below complaint re Cardiff clinic. Dear Sirs I wish to complain about your Cardiff Centre. I was booked there today for a consultation to assess my suitability for Lasik. I had already been tested by another company and had been found suitable but given the positive feedback on lasik-eyes.co.uk I decided to go to Ultralase and intended to have the laser surgery next week. I would point out that I live in Pembrokeshire and the journey is 2.5 hrs each way to Cardiff. Upon being tested at your Cardiff clinic your optician, Yvonne, advised me that the prescription in my right eye was different from the one I had brought from my optician and the eye was .75 of a dioptre better than prescribed and that my right eye was -3.5 not -4.25. I was amazed by this as my prescription had been stable for 11 years, the prescription I had on me was only a year old and I had also been tested only two weeks previously by Maxivision and again the right eye had been -4.25. I asked how this could happen as I did not know that eyes just got better on their own! She didn't really answer this and only stressed that I had more than enough corneal thickness to do a second operation if they got it wrong the first time - great! I was advised to not proceed any further today and to have my eyes tested again when I got home and then return to Ultralase at a later date and repeat the tests. I was then moved on to the patient advisor. The patient advisor was a charming and helpful lady who suggested that I try a local optician in Cardiff who might be able to see me sooner (getting an opticians appointment in Pembrokeshire can take several weeks). On her advice I went to the local Specsavers and was quickly seen for a full eye test. I was lucky enough to be seen by a Dr Momdal an opthalmic surgeon who was visiting the practice. He gave me a thorough examination and again my right eye tested at -4.25. I was now rather concerned, not just for myself but for the fact that maybe there was an inadvertent fault with Ultralase's testing procedure so I hurried back to the clinic to tell them. When I returned to the clinic I again saw Yvonne. I was very surprised at her attitude on this occassion. Her only response to my new confirmation of my prescription was to tell me to leave and come back another time and try again. I pointed out that I lived in Pembrokeshire and it was a five hour round trip. She refused to test me further using relaxant eye drops and insisted that she stood by her prescription despite there now being three pieces of evidence to the contrary. I repeatedly asked if she could offer some explanation as to why or how such a difference could occur and could she reassure me in any way as I was now very unconfident about using Ultralase. She had no interest in either explaining or reassuring me and only again said she stood by her findings. My husband and I were frankly amazed at her attitude, her lack of interest in the patient and her inability to offer reassurance to a client of your company. Whilst I fully appreciate that one has to stand by ones professional reputation I was and remain concerned that a professional will not even consider that there is an error when all evidence points to that being the case and I can not bring myself to place myself in the hands of a company that would condone this sort of behaviour. Quite frankly if there is a possibility you are wrong then you investigate and make amends, you do not dogedly and arrogantly adopt a position that is of harm to your client. I am now left in the position of having my trust in the whole procedure put under severe strain and I do not know who to believe. How many more eye tests will I need to confirm if my prescription in -3.5 or -4.25? I think that if your optician had taken the 15 minutes necessary to test me again this afternoon instead of sending me on my way I would have felt more inclined to trust your company. As it is I feel that I would be better served by a company that was less arrogant, more empathetic to clients who travel hundreds of miles to see you and more willing to discuss issues rather than refuse to deal with them. I sincerely hope you will be looking into this matter. In the mean time I will be posting my review of your Cardiff centre on the lasik-eyes web site. Kind regards