Ultralase

"I had been wearing reading glasses for only two years. I do a lot of travelling with my job and it is a real nuisance always remembering to pack my reading glasses. On an aeroplane it is a nightmare, as I always have to get my reading glasses that are stored away in the locker above. I heard about a new procedure that allows those who require reading glasses to literally throw them away. I went for a consultation at the Hammersmith clinic of Ultralase. I was found suitable and then booked my treatment. The procedure itself was simple and short. Everything was explained to me before and the information provided was very thorough. I felt relaxed throughout the treatment and there was no pain or discomfort at all. I find a trip to the dentist much worse! I had my treatment at 1pm and by the evening I was out at the theatre! I can now read the menu in restaurants - before I would have had to put my reading glasses on. I now read more than I use to. To me it seems that I require less light now, as everything seems a lot clearer than it once was. For those who hate wearing glasses and cannot get use to them, Ultra-RF is a straightforward procedure with excellent results."

Dear Alf, I am the Customer Services Manager for Ultralase and please find below a reply to your query to which I hope you find useful. LASEK - With more experience of the procedure in our clinics now, and a review of current thinking worldwide, we are now seeing the potential of LASEK, particularly in conjunction with wavefront-guided treatment. Because of the faster recovery time and slightly more comfortable nature of LASIK over LASEK, we would always suggest that a patient is treated with LASIK where it was indicated, however. We are currently gathering evidence from our clinics on the outcomes of wavefront LASIK and LASEK treatments. In time, once independently audited, these figures will be made available in our clinics. Kind regards Julie McMurrough Ultralase - Customer Services Manager

Vanessa…. Re your recent posting. Could you fill me ( & other Lasik-eyes readers?) in on your full detailed prescription? I had a consultation at Ultralase Tottenham Ct Rd about a year and a half ago. They said I was borderline for Lasik because of about -6.5 prescription in both eyes and about 500-520 microns corneas. However at that time they said may be able to treat soon as they were installing Wavefront Lasik. Shows you how things change quickly in that there was no mention of Lasek or the newer Wavefront Lasek. I also had a consultation with Accuvision who said that could Lasik me because their newer (then?) laser removes less tissue per dioptre of correction. I have since become interested in Lasek and it and PRK seem to be having an increase in popularity (despite longer recovery). However it is difficult to find good sources of info on Lasek. Any suggestions on references would be appreciated. It seemed a year or so ago most clinics only used PRK/Lasek for lower prescriptions up to about -3 however I wonder if that view is now changing? I have read postings on Dr O'Brart - St Thomas's area of this site that suggest much higher prescriptions are good candidates for Lasek/PRK. Who do you know of currently performing Lasek with Wavefront? As I said I find good references hard to find. One I would suggest to other readers interested in Lasik, Lasek, PRK is the bulletin board of Chicago Laser Centres at http://www.lasikprk.com/VisionPlaceIII/bb/bbNOW.htm

I now have better vision than I had when wearing glasses or contact lenses. Waking up and being able to see has been the most fantastic feeling. I can't describe enough how wonderful this treatment has been.

Hi.. I am the Customer Services Manager at Ultralase. In answer to Vincent's query: it looks as though your prescription is within our treatment parameters for long-sightedness. though we would assess your eyesight in detail at your consultation. You can check out testimonials from over 1,000 treated Ultralase patients on www.TheGiftOfSight.com - click on "search" and enter your prescription details to pull up examples of patients with prescriptions similar to your own. Answering Vanessa's query: new Ultra-WaveFront equipment is to be installed into our Tottenham Court Road clinic this week (it is already available at Hammersmith and at most other Ultralase clinics). Note that whilst many patients may benefit significant from Ultra-WaveFront treatment, for others the difference over standard LASIK or LASEK could be marginal. We would only recommend patients for WaveFront assessments if the benefit were likely to be worthwhile. WaveFront assessments are free of charge and can be booked by calling the Ultralase Contact Centre on freephone 0808 144 20 20.

Have had the consultation so far at the Tottenham Court Road clinic and was found to have thinner corneas and slightly larger pupils. However, only LASEK was suggested, not WAVE-front LASEK as I would expect having read up on this since. They have offered another appointment for a WAVE-front consultation at the Hammersmith clinic where they have the equipment. The surgeon looked at my file and thought that although my pupils are larger it's only 6.9 and I have no current night vision problems. For those of you who have had WAVE-front LASEK, what were the indications that made the surgeon decide on this rather than plain LASEK ??

Hi …Reading through all the comments with interest , however everybody seems to be short-sighted. Has anyone with long sight had the procedure done? I have a consultation with Ultralase in Birmingham next month.....very scared.....think I may need valium !!!!!!! My prescription is right eye +3.25 -025 105........left eye+4.50 -050 70........don't know if they will be able to help me , just want rid of the reading glasses.......old age doesn't come alone!!!!!!!! By the way I am 42

I had treatment at Ultralase in Leeds on 1st October 2003 and was delighted. I had Lasik for a prescription of -1.50 and -2.50 and the morning after treatment could see 6/4 with both eyes. There was no pain at all and only discomfort due to light sensitivity for a couple of hours after the lasering itself. I would recommend it to anyone and Ultralase were fantastic in every way.

I had bilateral wavefront lasek at St Albans with Vinod Gupta on 16 October 2003 for -3.5/-4.0 myopia. I had been assessed last year for conventional lasik, but although the clinic were prepared to undertake the surgery, I decided not to proceed due to the risk of glare/halo problems with largish 6.5mm pupils and thin corneas meaning retreatment would not be possible. When I heard that wavefront lasek could address these issues I was reassessed and decided to proceed. On the day everything seemed well organised and professional. I experienced very little discomfort during the proceedure or since, though I was very sensitive to light for a few hours. When the laser was firing I found it difficult to keep my eye still and the laser was stopped a couple of times, however Mr Gupta said that the proceedure had gone very well and I was able to leave after 30 minutes in the recovery room. Since then my eyesight has been pretty good though it is a little unstable and varies through the day. I seemed a bit longsighted at first, but 1 week after treatment I can view my computer monitor without problems. My right eye is healing faster than the left so I have a slight imbalance which is improving daily. Night driving is OK, I don't have a problem with halos though car headlights seem very much brighter than when I wore glasses. I was aware from the outset that the healing time for lasek was longer than for lasik so am not disheartened that some problems remain at the end of week 1. I am able to function without glasses for the first time in 20 years and feel confident that my vision will have improved further at my 1 month check up.

Treated with Ultra-WaveFront on 25/3/03 at Ultralase St Albans. My presciption details were as follows: Left Eye: -5.00 Right Eye: - 5.50 Amazing!! I wish I'd had it done years ago. All the staff were friendly and helpful, and the treatment great. The difference to my life is beyond expectations. Being able to see is fantastic and I'd highly recommend Ultralase.