laser eye surgery

[TimberWolf]

The first thing I'd ask is the success rate of these operations. I suspect some people end up with worse eyesight, give me the odds!

A decent clinic will provide personal risk statistics on the consent form. For instance having a high prescription and thin corneas elevates the risk of a less than perfect outcome and other complications such as dry eye. The chances of blindness are almost nil though, since no one has ever been blinded by laser eye treatment AFAIK. Incidentally the chances of vision threatening complications due to contact lens wearing is reportedly much higher than with laser surgery. Very few clinics publish statistics, though Ultralase have their results independently verified, for what good that is to patients.

On my consent for example it gives the risk of infection as 1 in 1000 and permanent loss of best corrected vision at 1 in 300 (this includes night vision problems and should be taken with a pinch of salt). The chance of seeing 6 /12 (20/40) or better between 94% and 98% (depending on prescription).

Techniques and risks seem to improve with time.

[Frogstomp]

The worse your eyes, the lower the chance of success. My wife was -8.75 -9.0 and local surgeons were reluctant.

I was about -10 in both eyes and had them zapped back in November at Ultralase (Hammersmith). 6 months on and they've stabilised at about -1 so I'm still dependent on my glasses.. they could have cranked up the laser for the last bit of correction but this would have risked introducing heat distortion which would have been a bad thing.

Ultralase are undoubtedly 'not cheap' but their aftercare service is top notch - and I think that is what you should be paying your money for. If something did go wrong I was sure as hell I wanted the best possible care to sort it out!

Ultralase also now offer free retreatment for life (where suitable).. I'm planning on re-treating to finish my correction sometime before the end of the year..

Finally, go for the best treatment you can afford (eg. Intralase) - the trauma to your eyes should be significantly reduced resulting in improved healing times, less chance of infection and better results all round.

[diesel]

Timberwolf and Al, thanks for replies.

Yes i have been for consultations with Ultralase and Optical Express.

Found them both very good and helpful. Only thing is Ultralase is more than £1000 expensive than optical express. My local optical express (newcastle) has a "resident surgeon" whereas the ultralase does not. Hence, thought this was a plus point in case i need post operation help (hope not). But Ultralase seem keen to offer this lifetime gurantee. Notice no other provider does this including eye hospitals, so was not sure if this is just becuase people dont need re-treatment & afterrcare after 1year onwards.

They seem to be treating so many people, that it cant be that bad. I do sem-contact sports (martial arts) but been told that i am okay for LASIK as long as i allow time for eye to heal around 2-3 months before resuming training. I really looking to get this done mid July as that gives me the summer to recover before training season starts again.

If anyone has used a clinic in the north east i would be very welcome in hearing your experiences and views,
thanks.

[TimberWolf]

Timberwolf and Al, thanks for replies.

Yes i have been for consultations with Ultralase and Optical Express.

Found them both very good and helpful. Only thing is Ultralase is more than £1000 expensive than optical express. My local optical express (newcastle) has a "resident surgeon" whereas the ultralase does not. Hence, thought this was a plus point in case i need post operation help (hope not). But Ultralase seem keen to offer this lifetime gurantee. Notice no other provider does this including eye hospitals, so was not sure if this is just becuase people dont need re-treatment & afterrcare after 1year onwards.

They seem to be treating so many people, that it cant be that bad. I do sem-contact sports (martial arts) but been told that i am okay for LASIK as long as i allow time for eye to heal around 2-3 months before resuming training. I really looking to get this done mid July as that gives me the summer to recover before training season starts again.

If anyone has used a clinic in the north east i would be very welcome in hearing your experiences and views,
thanks.

I'd look more into LASEK if I were you, especially since you have an interest in contact sports. Why have a flap you don't need? With regard to the Ultralase lifetime guarantee, I recall feeling at little unsatisfied with it at the time, but don't recall why now. Perhaps it was something to do with it not covering issues such as dislodged flaps or something. Not that that kind of thing happens very often.

[diesel]

I'd look more into LASEK if I were you, especially since you have an interest in contact sports. Why have a flap you don't need? With regard to the Ultralase lifetime guarantee, I recall feeling at little unsatisfied with it at the time, but don't recall why now. Perhaps it was something to do with it not covering issues such as dislodged flaps or something. Not that that kind of thing happens very often.

Timberwolf, thanks for reply.

I have done loads of net research and talked to a few people who train martial arts and had LAS. They all gone for LASEK. LASEK seems to be preferred choice if one is doing a sport which involves frequent head blows e.g. boxing and prof. rugby. They say after about 5-6mths the flap has made a very secure adhesion to the eye that i will take a severe blow to the eye to dislodge, which is likley to cause other eye damage too. With intralase these days it has reported that flaps have few complications and improved healing than with the blade approach.

I have spoken to 2 clinics and a surgeon who said LASIK is fine. But i am not 100% decided it has to LASIK. I just was not happy with the thought of the longer healing time with LASEK and wearing those contact lenses for several days post op.

thanks again

[TimberWolf]

Timberwolf, thanks for reply.

I have done loads of net research and talked to a few people who train martial arts and had LAS. They all gone for LASEK. LASEK seems to be preferred choice if one is doing a sport which involves frequent head blows e.g. boxing and prof. rugby. They say after about 5-6mths the flap has made a very secure adhesion to the eye that i will take a severe blow to the eye to dislodge, which is likley to cause other eye damage too. With intralase these days it has reported that flaps have few complications and improved healing than with the blade approach.

I have spoken to 2 clinics and a surgeon who said LASIK is fine. But i am not 100% decided it has to LASIK. I just was not happy with the thought of the longer healing time with LASEK and wearing those contact lenses for several days post op.

thanks again

The only LASIK flap trauma research I saw months ago involved high energy trauma, not high momentum, e.g. a thumb in the eye. Without wishing to be alarmist (since LASIK has many plus points too) the LASIK flap never really heals in a conventional sense. I can dig up references if you like. It heals well enough for most purposes, but I'm dubious about being fit for contact sport. Even with the minimal healing occurring after LASIK, greatest strength isn't achieved for 3 years after surgery. You also effectively loose more of the structural strength of the eye, since even laser clinics aren't allowed to use that in their calculations.

On these and other issues, you might want to take a quick gander at these articles:

LASIK versis LASEK, etc
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasek.htm

Monovision
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasik-monovision.htm

Comanagement
http://www.usaeyes.org/lasik/faq/lasik-comanagement.htm

With regard to co-management I had two different surgeons, the second for a re-treatment. It was okay though.

[tay]

The wife had LASEK 2 weeks ago.. she was -6.5 in both eyes IIRC.

Went fine, and now she has 20/20

She went to Optical Express in Harley Street, biggest bonus is that they free chocolate bars and SKY tv in the waiting room for me. Bonus!

They seem to have pretty good aftercare, and the surgeon was one of the worlds guru's in it. Venter I think his surname was. Another bonus is that they are pretty strict on who they will treat and while we were waiting, saw 2 people get full refunds as the surgeon decided they were not suitable for treatment. The wife was tricky as she had large pupils and highish prescription, but it turned out great.

[G8_Summit]

been quoted prices from £2900 to £3900.

This can't be right - I've seen adverts on TV quoting £395 per eye.

[TimberWolf]

This can't be right - I've seen adverts on TV quoting £395 per eye.

That's only to get in the front door.

[Lockhouse]

Scares the willies out of me, I'd rather just continue to pop my glasses on, it's not too hard I hardly ever miss nowadays.

Eyesight is so important, Im not keen to mess about with it based on the advice of those that profit from the procedure.

WHS

My parents both had their lenses replaced in their late 60's due to cataracts - I'll hang on until then thanks.