Laser Eye Treatment

[sweetheart]

Hi peeps. Has anyone as yet undergone laser treatment to improve eyesight? Did it work? How much did it cost? Who did it? Would you recommend it?

[Quizmonster]

Boots have recently decided to close their laser eye treatment centres after one type of instrument in particular was found to be creating sight problems for patients.

Personally, I think you'd be mad to risk your eyesight, though I'm sure someone will be along here shortly to tell you he/she had laser treatment and it was wonderful! Even if the odds against problems are 500 to 1, is it worth it? You ccould be "the one".

[slimjim]

Risking damage to your eyes is a big deal and I totally agree. But, I have had laser surgery and am so glad that I did. I wore glasses for 15 years and now I never need to (except sunglasses sometimes). As a biker, this has really helped as getting glasses on under a helmet was never easy. I paid �595 per eye 15 months ago.

[el duerino]

I have had it done and it is wonderful. No more messing around, near perfect eyesight for around a grand (on special offer no less), no hassle. I was fully aware that there are risks and still had it done age 21. Everything has risks, you're more likely to get killed in the car on the way there than suffer serious complications. Best money I ever spent. Did it with Optimax.

[smudge]

What were the reasons for you having it done el duerino - was it long/short sightedness?

[undercovers]

best thing i ever bought myself, had it done 5 or 6 years ago, fantastic !

[sft42]

Another one to have had it done and as I am a biker like Slimjim it's made life much easier with no more misting glasses or squeezing them under your lid...I also play badminton and football and it helps in that regard also, I wouldn't say it changed my life but it certainly made things a lot easier.

I also went to Optimax and had the both eyes at once for just under �1000. They were very professional and took loads of time to reassure me of the procedure. It only takes around 15 minutes but does take around 4 days to heal and another 3 or 4 days before your back to 100%. The success rate is very good with 97% of peoples first treatment being all they require and of the remaining 3% after retreatment only 5% of those are unable to get the prescription to better than driving test standard....I now personally have better than 20/20 vision. They can repair defects for both long and short sightedness but not reading defects in the eye.

I would recommend it if you have an active lifestyle, have a quite large prescription (plus or minus 3 dioptres) or you constantly lose/break your specs...otherwise perhaps not....IF you do decide to go ahead then go with Optimax or a similar dedicated company...Boots and other opticians do it as an afterthought, not good.

[Tha-Flash]

I'd get it done if I could but I can't really afford that much. How do they do it, do they cut your eye or something or do they burn the lens a bit?

[Quizmonster]

I told you, Sweet, that they would appear, didn't I? And good luck to 'em...for them it worked.

Here are a few phrases extracted from the BUPA web-page about laser eye-treatment "...in many cases...risk of complication...most people are not affected...cannot be guaranteed...the vision may actually deteriorate." Does that fill you with confidence?

It also states that "5 - 10% of people do not achieve their desired result."

El Duerino suggests above that you are more likely to get killed in a car-crash on your way to the optician's than to suffer serious complications once you get there. That doesn't seem very likely to me, but what the hey...you might just be one of the one-in-about-ten who obtains no improvement.

The reason you probably won't find anyone appearing here to tell you that their treatment was a disaster is because they can't read your question!

[smudge]

sft42, I'm a 'young' 57 & had perfect eyesight up until the mid 90's. Using computers from 1985 & with the ageing process, my eyesight is nowhere near as good as it was. I need glasses for reading, writing, computer work & driving etc., so do you think I would benefit from Laser eye surgery too, or is this something only the optician could tell me?

[smudge]

Hi Quizmonster, our posts crossed & I've just read your comments. Thank you for the info, I think I'll leave well alone, as I value the eyesight I do have!

[el duerino]

hmmm quizmonster why exactly are you so against laser eye surgery? Any operation has risks. What would happen if they guaranteed you perfect eyesight . . .? 5-10% refers to people achieving their desired level of vision, not complications, please read literature properly before quoting it. Are you short sighted or do you wear glasses? Have you been scared off the op? I could easily tell Sweet that there are always people afraid to embrace technology who inevitable appear on these questions. Honestly, you could be the one hit by lightning so never go out in a storm, you could be run over, never go out, its a very negative and unrealistic approach to life. THOUSANDS of peopl have now had it done and are very happy. A small percentage of those, as in any operation that involves risk, will be unlucky. You can minimise the risk by asking about particular hospitals and doctors performing the ops. You can be a play it safe jane with big glasses or enjoy a lifetime of perfect vision for a small risk; it depends what type of person you are. But please dont let rabid anti babble from quizmonster put you off, at least get in touch with a proper company and let them discuss it with you.

[Quizmonster]

You appear to have missed my point entirely, El Duerino. All I'm saying is exactly what you're saying...that there is a risk. You call it (quote) "a small risk", but in my view there is no such thing as a small risk when one's sight is the stake you're throwing into the pot. You're right, of course, that there are risks in just about any of life's activities. What I am querying is whether or not risking one's sight for usually totally unnecessary reasons is a bridge too far. For me, it is; for you, it clearly isn't.

Many people have the treatment for reasons of vanity...specs are a put-off, in other words. However, specs and contact lenses are vastly less likely to result in destroying your eyesight than boiling your eyeballs in a laser-beam!

Re the quote, I simply stated it and am at a loss as to how you conclude that I've misread it. It says 5 - 10% of people will receive no benefit whatever...end of story. It's equally beyond dispute that other people's sight has been destroyed by the procedure.

Re your point about not going out in storms...I don't! D'you know why? Because that's sensible and - if I advised other people not to go out in storms - I'd consider that plain common sense and not "rabid anti babble".

Everyone is free to take the risks they choose to take and I would defend that freedom to the death, as they say. However, if someone asks whether a risk is to be recommended, as the questioner here did, I feel free to say what I think. Whether that disagrees with what you think is an irrelevance to me...as indeed what I think should be to you, rather than a source of critical comment.

[el duerino]

the only reason I felt compelled to impart a critical comment was that I think it is unnnecesarily alarmist about the risks of laser eye surgery, and I would hate for sweetheart to miss out on what has been one of the most positive actions I and hundreds of thousands of people around the world have taken. Dont live your life in cotton wool as some do sweetheart.

[Quizmonster]

On Page 3 of �The Times' of Wed Sep 15, there were two articles about laser eye treatment partly brought about by Boots' decision to close its laser centres, but not solely about Boots. Here's a selection of quotes from the articles...

Article 1

a) failing to win public confidence in the procedure...b) lawsuits questioning the reliability of the lasers...c) multibillion lawsuits filed in America...d) a Boots employee brought a negligence claim after a procedure left her with permanently damaged sight...e) lasers started malfunctioning, causing wildly erratic results...f) surgeons have linked the machines to a range of adverse effects (including) erroneous removal of eye tissue...g) the performance of these machines has necessitated tens of thousands of patients to have their eyes redone, often multiple times...h) ophthalmologists have received poor or erratic results...i) widespread malfunctioning.

Article 2

(This article related to a British woman who had had the procedure)...

a) she will have to endure pain and discomfort for the rest of her life...b) problems caused by foreign debris that found its way under a flap cut in her cornea during the procedure...c) three years on, the problem is ongoing...d) the damage could not be corrected...e) her MEP is pushing for greater safeguards in the European Parliament...f) complaints against the British laser eye surgery industry have tripled in six years.

Anyone who believes the above represents "a small risk" is certainly entitled to do so but will have to forgive my non-agreement And - if I truly am talking "rabid anti babble" - then I'm in good company, as the articles make clear. Make your own mind up, Sweet; as has been said...it has worked just fine for loads of people. There I'll leave it.

[el duerino]

article 1 : boots were rubbish - fair enough. article 2: some woman got unlucky - fair enough Article 3: the vast majority of people who have this procedure are unbelievably happy with the results. Oh wait, Im sorry no news in that item. skip that one. . . you never answered my question - do you wear glasses quizmonster?

[Quizmonster]

I said: "I'll leave it there" last time, but - since you ask a specific question - I'll respond. I do so also because, apart from the question, you totally avoid the facts by referring solely to Boots and to one woman, when both I and the two articles made it abundantly clear that we were referring to many laser-centres and to thousands of such cases. Always best to consider the whole truth. I did, as you must agree, if you read the final two lines of my last response. There, I was happy to acknowledge your case that many people are delighted with their treatment. All I'm doing is putting the case for the thousands who aren't.

Yes, I do wear specs and have done since the age of seven...I'm now 67. Of all people, therefore, you'd imagine I'd have been among the first to opt for lasering. I think I've made it clear why I wasn't.

This time, I really will leave it there. You might consider doing so, too...we've presented our cases. Sweet can now decide for herself.

[el duerino]

Indeed. But merely because you are too scared to have the op does not make it unsafe. End

[Kay]

My eye specialists explanation of Lazer Eye Surgery was....Imagine cutting a slice from a cake,you get crumbs! Unlike cake crumbs, one cant"Brush away" the debri that LES leaves.I wanted it done but took my specialists advice.

[el duerino]

your specialist who prescribes you glasses/contacts? how neutral of them . . .

[Kay]

NO ED it was the eye specialist at the eye hospital!!