What's your experience of laser eye surgery?

[-]

webbo343@reddit

Probably the best thing I've spent a lot of money on besides my house.

After a short procedure, I instantly had clear vision.

You do get dry eyes for a while but they give you eye drops to help with it. I find my eyes are still more prone to dryness but this is a small price for the freedom to not have to wear glasses/contacts.

[-]

Next_Satisfaction501@reddit

Can I ask how bad the long term dry is? Like if you want so eye drops in can you forget about it or is it very noticeable?

[-]

webbo343@reddit

Good question. After about a month I've not had any real issues with dry eyes. I kept very to the routine in initial few days and after about a week the dryness faded pretty well. Maybe I'd use some drops once a day for a few weeks. Since then I've not had notable issues day to day. I do find if abroad and under air conditioning all day in a hotel room then they may get a little dry but hard to say this is because of eye surgery vs just being a natural reaction to the dry air. Some eye spray is usually sufficient. Haven't needed to get proper eye drops since that inital month.

Honestly, I have just forgotten I ever had glasses now. It's been 6years since my treatment.

[-]

Awero1@reddit

Happy to send £300 off optical express code if anyone needs! just dm me here or email lineemup1337@gmail.com your full name and email address and will send you a code :)

[-]

Awero1@reddit

Still referring if anyone needs!

[-]

Tricky-Ant5338@reddit

Hello! Watch out for a message from me please!

[-]

Awero1@reddit

Messaged you back! Still referring if anyone needs

[-]

LieQuirky3751@reddit

Had mine done in 2005. I'm 54 now, so I probably do need to get some glasses now to see the TV subtitles clearly. But generally still manage perfectly well, walking around town, being sporty etc.

However, as per others, the muddiness of my night vision was immediately apparent. I tend to avoid cycling at night now, and artificial lights and clearly viewing cinema screens have always been an issue. The ghosting and halo effect is real. In my circle of friends and family, there's not a single person that I know who hadn't experienced some nighttime issues but still are happy with the daytime experience and overall benefits.

[-]

FlowSure8817@reddit

Did you have LASEK or LASIK

[-]

magical_bergs@reddit

One of the best things I’ve ever done. About 6 years or so now through optical express.

I had Lasek and my friend had lasik at the same time.

Took a few mins per eye. I don’t like to think too much about the removal part but the laser was fine. Could see an improvement straight away which was amazing. About an hour later I was in quite a lot of pain and that lasted for about 2 days. They do give you numbing drops but they advised to use them sparingly as they can slow the healing process.

My friend was fine, he could see straight away and had no pain whatsoever.

I’m still 20/20 vision. No more contact lenses or glasses that I’d sit on and bend all the time. I do get dry eye from time to time but nothing major. 100% I’d do it again if I had the choice.

[-]

FlowSure8817@reddit

Is your friends vision still great

[-]

shinra_7@reddit

How long does clear vision last? Will you have to get it done again in the future?

[-]

opposing_force_@reddit

Brilliant, optical express fixed my eyesight, no longer have to wear glasses

[-]

Aggressive-Abroad459@reddit

Are you able to refer me through the refer a friend scheme?

[-]

Awero1@reddit

Presume you already had the surgeery by now! but I can if needed. just send your full name and email address via dm here or to lineemup1337@gmail.com and will send you £300 off code for optical express

[-]

Aggressive-Abroad459@reddit

I didn't since I got quoted 9k given that my eyes are so f*cked lol

[-]

FlowSure8817@reddit

Optimax is 1495 per eye no matter the prescription or astigmatism

[-]

CliffyGiro@reddit

Used optical express. Found them absolutely brilliant.

They do some significant discounts for NHS/Police/Ambulance and so on.

I’m not a squeamish person at all but I’ll be honest I did find the whole thing slightly scary and a little uncomfortable however it was over in a matter of second.

[-]

Mummy1133@reddit

Hi, I'm thinking of getting it done. But the thought of having my eye "sliced" terrifies me. I can't even put contact lenses in. Can you see while the procedure is being done? Is it painful? Thank you.

[-]

Elkaraine@reddit

I literally went through it yesterday. Optical Express for LASIK with Idesign. So I'm not going to lie, for the first eye it was quite terrifying. I was aware of the full procedure and everything went perfectly. I'm still recovering now even as I'm typing this. Genuinely though there is no actual pain during the procedure, it's very uncomfortable and not pleasant but it's just a matter of how calm you remain. What made it scary is the temporary loss of vision as they create the flap if you're having the LASIK. You need to place total confidence in the surgeon and the team doing it. But it's literally over in a few minutes. I'd say the whole process is around 2 minutes per eye and that's it done you're going home.

[-]

AbhorrantApparition@reddit

When I told the guy I'd seen the operation in a video he said "that was a bad idea!" Haha

[-]

JarJarBinksSucks@reddit

Can I ask how much it cost? I’m currently on the fence. I haven’t started looking yet. A ballpark figure to get an idea

[-]

adamneigeroc@reddit

This varies wildly based on your prescription. The worse your eyes are the more it costs, by thousands.

[-]

JarJarBinksSucks@reddit

Thank you. I’m probably fucked then

[-]

Comfortable-Use5648@reddit

Not necessarily. My vision was -9 ish and it was £4k . They didn't charge by prescription. The consultant was one of the best.

[-]

JarJarBinksSucks@reddit

4K for both eyes?

[-]

miceri74@reddit

Well, it would be odd having one 4k and the other 1080P right?

[-]

JarJarBinksSucks@reddit

I hate my phone. It “corrects” it

[-]

Comfortable-Use5648@reddit

Yep, £2 each.

[-]

Thandoscovia@reddit

Assuming you have two eyes, then yes

[-]

CliffyGiro@reddit

Think it cost about £1500. Probably a bit more expensive now. It was four years ago when I got it done.

[-]

JarJarBinksSucks@reddit

Thank you

[-]

artofenvy@reddit

Wow, how quick is the actual procedure?

[-]

cmdrxander@reddit

I had it about 10 years ago so don’t remember every detail, but I was in the room for less than 10 minutes.

Each eye was two stages. One where your eye is cut by the first laser, then a technician steps in and “opens” the flap from the front of your eye, then they put you back under the second laser and it works for about 30 seconds. Then repeat with the other eye.

One eye did take a bit longer because I triggered the safety shut off by not looking straight.

[-]

CliffyGiro@reddit

Between two and three minutes.

[-]

Kaballis@reddit

Did mine also with optical express back in 2014, and it was lasek I believe. The surgery lasted around 1 min per eye and I recall the smell of burnt eggs and instant clarity. The recovery took around 2 weeks and that time was quite bad if I’m being honest, it was like having an onion permanently shoved in each eyeball and I couldn’t take the patches off in the first week so the boredom was intense. The process may have improved since then and I wish I did it sooner, can’t recommend it enough if you can afford it.

[-]

JarJarBinksSucks@reddit

How much did it cost you?

[-]

cmdrxander@reddit

Mine cost £2600 in 2013. Prescription was about -2.5 with mild astigmatism, if I remember correctly.

[-]

BeautifulRose_@reddit

How are your eyes now? Still happy with having done the procedure? Sorry for reviving an old comment

[-]

cmdrxander@reddit

Hi! No worries. Still good, I had them checked a couple of months ago and they’re 20:20. For extra context they were better than 20:20 after the procedure so they’ve gradually worsened in the 12 years since but not by much!

I still think it’s probably the best thing I’ve ever spent money on but the recovery is no joke!

[-]

BeautifulRose_@reddit

That's amazing! I'm so happy for you :) I'm about to turn 24 and will probably get the procedure done when I'm 25 or 26, I'm just quite worried I'll be one of the few unlucky ones who has something go horribly wrong!

It's very high risk and very high reward, I just want to get it now but I want to try and make sure my eyes have stopped getting worse before forking out all of that money

[-]

cmdrxander@reddit

What was your quote, if you don’t mind me asking? I got mine done when I was 19

[-]

BeautifulRose_@reddit

Sorry if I gave the impression that I have had a quote, I haven't been for a proper consultation yet. I spoke to someone at Specsavers who ran me through some basic details and as far as I remember, I'm pretty sure they said it could be something like £3k per eye so £6k in total

[-]

cmdrxander@reddit

Yeah that sounds possible depending on how strong your current prescription is. Worth shopping around too. I went with optical express and I was happy with their price and service!

[-]

Kaballis@reddit

I think it was about £3k back then, can’t really remember. I was given the option to pay back in installments.

[-]

CompetitiveEgg4508@reddit

Be careful of some of the clinics, my laser eye surgery with Optegra was terrible. It has left me with a paralysed eye because they botched the surgery. Later I found the industry is unregulated so there are many ruthless companies that will take your money and leave you high and dry. Optegra were the worst.

[-]

espionage64@reddit

I used Optical Express 3 years ago and had Lasik i-design. It was brilliant. I watched lots of youtube videos before hand as a lot of people have documented their experience. I found mine roughly in line with that, day of surgery started with scans, then a chat with the surgeon about risks, then the surgery which took less than 10 mins in the room. It was amazing as results are pretty instant but eyes are v sore and sensitive. I had some slight dry eyes for a few months and used drops but haven’t had any issues since and have perfect vision. Definitely recommend. I joined a subreddit here and have a detailed post about my experience in my history if that’s handy. Happy to answer any specific questions.

[-]

Aggressive-Abroad459@reddit

Are you able to refer me as they have a scheme?

[-]

Tripsel2@reddit

Mine went back to original prescription within a year. Now I just have the bad side effects for the rest of my life which are halos at night.

[-]

flyingovermelb@reddit

Who did you use for your treatment?

[-]

Ismays@reddit

To add to an earlier comment, it’s not uncommon to find driving at night very difficult or even impossible following vision correction surgery. And yet you could still have great results reading the chart in the opticians. So bear that in mind looking at statistics around 20/20 vision achieved - it’s not the whole story.

There are websites about both of these providers called (provider name) ruined my life. There are some shocking stories on there.

I didn’t have laser surgery, I had a different procedure that then had to be reversed. I can no longer drive at night which is hugely inconvenient, especially at this time of year. I’ve also now got double vision that I didn’t have before.

I know there are probably millions of people worldwide that have laser/vision correction surgery with no problems, but you simply can’t know if you’re going to be one of the unlucky minority.

[-]

Organic_Chemist9678@reddit

I have a serious eye condition and the surgery I have to attend is full of people with messed up laser surgery.

It's skewed obviously because it's the clinic that treats them but it puts me right off.

None of my eye surgeons have had laser eye surgery, take from that whatever you want.

[-]

blanco408@reddit

That’s actually a good indicator of its trustworthiness.

[-]

blanco408@reddit

It’s experiences like this that keep me away from laser eye surgery. Wearing glasses are a small price to pay for good vision compared to the risk of losing it completely or damaging it further. Thanks for sharing and good luck!

[-]

JarJarBinksSucks@reddit

Sorry that happened. Thanks for sharing

[-]

AbhorrantApparition@reddit

Take sunglasses, go in winter, not the summer like I did 🤦‍♂️, the light really hurts for the first day, maybe try and get a later appointment so you can go sleep as soon as you get home. Get some audio books or non visual stuff to do

[-]

GreenKeys9@reddit

I had it done with optical express about 12 years ago, think I paid £1600 for both eyes. Only took about 2/3 minutes per eye, I still have 20/20 now all these years later 👀 definitely recommend.

[-]

strawbebbymilkshake@reddit

They wouldn’t give me the surgery as my corneas are too thin. So I guess my impression is good in that they weren’t willing to blind me!

[-]

Scottydoesntknooow@reddit

I went with a private clinic in Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, and I’ve got to say my experience was fantastic and it’s probably the best thing I have ever done.

The procedure was done in about half an hour from start to finish, and I could see clearly the very same day.

You need to apply eye drops and you’ll be a bit sensitive to light for the next few days, but other than that I’ve had absolutely no issues and would fully recommend it to anyone and everyone.

TL;DR - Best thing I have ever done. Go for it.

[-]

I_am_Relic@reddit

My wife had it and now likes to be called "eagle eyes". It worked for her and apparently there is only a slight sensitivity to light.

For me.... Its a case of "if its not broke, dont fix it". But i guess my fears are: it going tits up and i end up blind, and having my eyelids clamped open ("clockwork orange style"). I'm biased because i get the heeby jeebies when it comes to eye related stuff.

[-]

mizlurksalot@reddit

I had LASIK 2 years ago. One eye sees close for reading , the other distance. Happy with the results except for the now chronically dry eyes. Would do it again though!

[-]

Doc_Sithicus@reddit

Worked great for about 12 years now back to wearing glasses. I have no regrets.

[-]

HubbyWifey8389@reddit

I had mine done 19 years ago and still going strong. Used Optimax.

[-]

p3t3y5@reddit

I was optimax right at the start think it was 1998! Still no glasses and no complaints!

[-]

TraditionalCow220@reddit

LASEK at Optimax 6 years ago, I was about -6 in each eye with an additional -2 astigmatism. I'm back to about -1.5 now because my eyes slightly change every year (always have done since I was a kid.)

Honestly the recovery was very painful and my vision didn't get really sharp for about 3-4 months.They were surprised I experienced so much pain so I think I was just unlucky. I couldn't wear contacts because my eyes were too sensitive so at least it's reset my vision a bit.

I still need glasses but I can get them really cheap online now.

[-]

Jose_out@reddit

I had it about 10 years ago. Went with whoever were the market leaders at the time. Think it was £4k ish.

Remember first night was painful, but woke up with pretty much perfect vision. Certainly within a day or two it was perfect. Has been ever since.

Eyes were bloodshot for a week or so after, but overall an incredibly easy operation and quick recovery.

[-]

_JC_84_@reddit

Mine lasted 10 years. Back to my original prescription now.

[-]

cmdrxander@reddit

As a counter, I’ve had mine for just over 10 years and my sight is still great. Sorry about yours.

Would you get it done again? I’ve thought this before and it’s a tough question.

[-]

GoodGollyTea@reddit

From what I've read, costs around £1500 nowadays, would you think £150 a year worth it?

[-]

manic47@reddit

Had Lasek years ago to correct short sightedness, I think it was around £3 on interest free credit.

Took the dearer option of having the entire procedure done using laser, rather than a scalpel being used to cut the access to the lens as I’m a coward…

Had perfect vision straight away, no real pain at all to note, other than my eyes were dry and seemed to need drops for a few years.

Prescription is still great for driving, watching TV etc. but reading close up I get the usual age-related strain.

I’d do it again in a flash, kind of wished I’d done it earlier.

[-]

Comfortable-Use5648@reddit

I've had LASIK. It was excellent, changed my life. Highly recommend.

[-]

boobiemilo@reddit

A friend of mine had it done. I shit you not it was the most life changing thing for him he went from being a big glasses geek type to a total Hot stud adonis literally within a month the confidence it gave him being able to see was astronomical. With regard to the procedure and the outcome it appeared to be very straight forward he has perfect vision now and never had a problem.

[-]

Temporary-Pirate-80@reddit

Depending on your prescription, have a look at Ortho-K (nightlenses.com) as an non-invasive, reversible alternative to Laser/LASIK.

[-]

BuBBles_the_pyro@reddit

was great for me, cost I think £3k, got it done a few years ago.

best thing I ever did, being able to see all the time without getting headaches because you dont have your glasses on is great. I have a slight side effect of bright lights glaring, but its not life changingly bad, if anything it tells me I need to have a drink as its worse when im dehydrated.

the actual procedure was 20mins in and out, but yeah it then stings like you have had onions in your eyes for hours. and you have to hydrate your eyes for a a month or 2 afterwards.

[-]

adamneigeroc@reddit

Surgery itself is quick, but horrific, you’re awake and can kind of tell someone is cutting your eyes open, then the smell is awful. I could see well enough post surgery to order an Uber to take me home.

Main downside my night vision got worse afterwards, which is apparently a really common side effect but no one mentioned it before. Healing feels like you have sand in your eyes for like a month which is shite, eye drops for most of a year.

My eyes have got worse over time, maybe up to -0.5 in each eye now after 10 years. Probs go back to glasses in 5 years or so at this rate.

Was £3300 about 10 years ago, and they did interest free credit over 3 years so pretty affordable, with optical express.

Was it worth it? Probably. I hated the inconvenience of glasses and the only contact lenses I could tolerate comfort wise were really expensive, and a hassle.

[-]

Murky-Item-6391@reddit

Imagine being forced to keep your eyes open as someone roasts/melts/scrapes your eyeball. If you ever wondered what your own cooked eye would smell like, go get them lasered.