Laser Eye Surgery

Got it done back in March this year as a 40th b'day present to myself. I was -6.75 in each eye, went for the full laser flap wavefront jingo voodoo, am now 20/20, night vision is as good as I can ever remember it being with contact lenses. Although I now view half the world through a fine green grid with scrolling data for targets/objectives and nav to the left of the viewing field.

I upgraded my daily contact lenses to another daily contact lense set, and i can now sleep in them, which tricks me into thinking I can see perfect in the morning.

I'm happy with that, still waiting on the long term affects before I take the plunge.
yup.
useful post.com

Nice to hear some results from people with -6 and worse.

still waiting on the long term affects before I take the plunge.
yup.
useful post.com

It's been around for a fair old while now though, the only difference from when it first started to today is that the technology has come along in leaps and bounds and success rates are excellent. I can honestly say it was money well spent as far as I'm concerned. I'd been wearing glasses since about 7 years old, so to now not have anything to faff around with is really quite incredible.

What's the after-care like? Do you have to use eye drops all the time? If yes, how long for?

used eye drops for a month I think? initially several times a day, then down to twice a day or so. the fact that I can't remember there being much aftercare is a good sign I suppose.

if you do it in the UK there are regular check ups after the surgery to reassure you that all is well. included in the initial price of course.

you need to have someone take you home after the surgery and look after you for a bit. you won't be in any real pain, but most people feel like keeping their eyes closed as they are a bit sore. I had a mate pick me up and then I had some soup ready on the stove to heat up. I went to bed early and the next day I could see fine. you'll be off work for two days I think.

Coolios - input appreciated guys, quite sure I'll take the plunge and I'll be sure to report back

Reading a thread on opticians/glasses made me want to ask about laser eye surgery...UTFS and here I am...anyone got any further input since last October? Am seriously thinking about getting this done.

me too - literally last night was looking at these guys after recommendations from 2 guys at work that have nothing but good things to say. There's even a draw to win a free treatment!

http://uk.opticalexpress.com/

guy who sits behind me had it done... raves about it. No longer needs to wear specs. Without them, he looks like a lemur.

if it takes two minutes why does it cost 2 grand?

surely the future is to get rid of glasses all together and just have these mahines in hospitals to zap when needed

It's the R&D.

The first operation costs them $500,000,000. Every operation afterwards is a piece of piss. But yet they need to recoup the cost of that first one still.

Anyone know what the long term prognosis is like? As far as I understand it's a relatively new proceedure. How does it stand up over time? I mean do you have to have it done in another 10 years as your eyes naturally deteriorate? Also you do hear some scare stories of scaring affecting vision - is this bullshit put about by glasses manufacturers?

Also what is with the price? A while back I lived with a girl who had it done said it cost maybe £400 each eye. It seems a lot loss - did she perhaps fget it done on the cheap which might mean more dodgy/dangerous?

me too - literally last night was looking at these guys after recommendations from 2 guys at work that have nothing but good things to say. There's even a draw to win a free treatment!

http://uk.opticalexpress.com/

I was looking at that site recently too. Everyone seems very positive about the procedure these days and it looks like the technology and skillsets of the doctors has got to a stage where issues like halos around bright lights in darkness can be eliminated (at a cost), and mistakes...well, they must happen occasionally but can't say I've heard of much.

Scarring did used to affect more people, nowadays it affects very few indeed. Scarring is actually key to the process, they cut with a laser, it scars and the scar itself forms the new layer that changes the shape slightly and therefore corrects the vision.

Everything I've heard says that it used to leave halo effects on some people, and that now the systems have evolved and it's almost flawless and where it isn't it's repeatable so it's easy enough to correct.

I'm still kinda chicken about it though. Do you smell it? Do you have to be conscious? What happens if you blink?

I'm all about the simple questions, I can buy the science more than I can buy sitting there having my eyes lasered.

Anyone know what the long term prognosis is like? As far as I understand it's a relatively new proceedure. How does it stand up over time? I mean do you have to have it done in another 10 years as your eyes naturally deteriorate? Also you do hear some scare stories of scaring affecting vision - is this bullshit put about by glasses manufacturers?

Also what is with the price? A while back I lived with a girl who had it done said it cost maybe £400 each eye. It seems a lot loss - did she perhaps fget it done on the cheap which might mean more dodgy/dangerous?

The procedure has actually been around since like the 60s or something...maybe earlier.

And as Velocio says there is a huge initial cost to recoup. Plus the equipment and training is still very expensive, staff costs blah blah. I am really thinking that a few grand for 20/20 vision for the rest of my life is really worth it, considering spending on contacts and glasses.

Don't they use these to stop you blinking?

[URL="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/images/clockwork_big.jpg"][/URL]

I'm still kinda chicken about it though. Do you smell it? Do you have to be conscious? What happens if you blink?

Pretty sure you're conscious for the op. But yeah, do they just rely on you to look in one direction? I am pretty sure I read about anaesthetic drops for the eyes, I wonder if these work to immobilise it.

I had my procedure with Ultralase back in 2004, had no problems at all. My night vision was always good. So I was very concerned about the halos around lights at night, and blurry vision when looking at computer screens. But I haven't had any problems at all.

Though I was warned that one of the possible issues is that my near sight might potentially get worse quicker. E.g. late 30s as opposed to 40s which is natural as the shape of your cornea changes, meaning that you need reading glasses sooner. Which I can live with when I get to that age.

Getting the treatment is truely life changing, especially if you have been wearing glasses for about 10 years like I had been. Plus I hated contact lens, was never comfortable with putting them in and all the hassle associated with them.

I'm still kinda chicken about it though. Do you smell it? Do you have to be conscious? What happens if you blink?

You smell it immediately! And it smells of burning hair - which it pretty much is, since the laser is burning away the protein of the surface of your eyeball...

Not sure if you have to be conscious, but then if you weren't you'd miss out on all the fun.

You can't blink as they put these clamps on your eyes. That was the most uncomfortable bit for me, as they have to really ram them onto your eye - and that is what gives you the bloodshot eyes afterwards, which is actually bruising. The 'laser machine' is then lowered down to connect to this clamp, and that's what keeps your eye steady so that the laser can work its magic. The thought of what would happen if the laser went off track was enough for me to accept that discomfort.

I'm very happy with mine. Splashed out on the top-drawer wavefront elite voodoo GPS version as well, and don't regret it (3 yrs interest free...). My left eye is not perfect, but plenty good enough for everyday, and since I went through Ultralase I have a lifetime warranty, which will cover retreatment. They won't do this for 12 months though, as your eyes need to really settle before they go through that again.

And yes, anaesthetic drops so you don't feel anything 'cutting'. Just the clamp being applied and then that wonderful odour...

BTW I was -8 and -6. Now -0.5 and -0.2 or so, but the left eye should improve especially if I get it 'topped up'.

And as Velocio says there is a huge initial cost to recoup. Plus the equipment and training is still very expensive, staff costs blah blah. I am really thinking that a few grand for 20/20 vision for the rest of my life is really worth it, considering spending on contacts and glasses.

From the research I did I couldn't see a huge amount of difference between the various companies that offer it, APART from the fact that the cheaper ones don't offer any warranty or aftercare. I was very very happy to spend more for that lifetime warranty.

On the ulralase website they have this widget where you put in what you spend annually on contacts/glasses, and your DOB, then it tells you how much you will save over your lifetime. I was about £18K!

http://www.ultralase.com/vites/landing-cost-calc?media_id=rh_cost_calc

I'm long-sighted +2 or 3 in both eyes, i.e. the surface of my eyes is too flat, which means blasting bits off the cornea with lasers isn't going to help. (At the moment i can still focus pretty close, but they are also astigmatic, particularly my right, and i'd love to fix that.)

As i understand it, the thing that gets worse with age is that the lens itself gets stiffer, so it gets harder for the muscles around it to flex it to focus.

I read somewhere that cataract surgery is steadily getting better: Initially they just replaced the clouded lens with a solid one (my gran had that done and had to have lots of different sets of glassed for focusing at different distances), but now they are starting to use more flexible replacement lenses so people retain some ability to focus for themselves. I'm hoping that by the time my lenses get too stiff for me to focus, the cataract treatment will have advanced enough to be viable as a general sight-correction procedure even for people without cataracts.

Be glad they don't use a diamond cutter to make the initial flap anymore.

It's the R&D.

The first operation costs them $500,000,000. Every operation afterwards is a piece of piss. But yet they need to recoup the cost of that first one still.

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Why didn't they just cancel the first one if it cost so much

I was one of the first people to get this done in the UK. Had it done at Morefields, reduced rate as it was part of a study, £500 per eye I think. 15 years on no problems expect slight halo effect around street lights at night.

It hurt like hell for two weeks and then I hated the sun for a year and had to wear dark sunnies on bright days, I still wear glasses for driving to give 20/20, wonder if it was really worth it. I hear the new wavefront thing is excellent.

Will never forget the smell of my own burning eyeball like hair burning and the nurse stroking my hand as the redeye cuts away - never again, no ta.