Laser Eye Surgery

[Octavius]

 

Does it hurt?  How long for?  And is it worth it?  I am short-sighted and people tell me when I get into my 40's (not that far off!) my eyes will start to deteriorate anyway.

 

[Ammy]

This is something that I have also considered, but have now decided that its definitely something that I don't want to do. The most important factor in this was my own optician telling me that it was not really a good idea- she gave me a few scare stories.

Plus the literature that I read on the topic wasn't particularly encouraging- ie that having surgery won't neccessarily make your eyesight better, in some cases there has been such a small change that the patient still needs to wear glasses, and of course, as with any surgery there is a chance that things could go horribly wrong. The fact that each eye costs at the very least �500 and there was no guarentee of an improvement I decided it wasn't worth bothering.

[El D]

I have had it and like 99.9% of people who do not comprise a scare story am over the moon and would recommend it to anyone. Put a price on your eyesight? Although your advancing age is a factor. . .

[Beswad]

I think laser eye surgery started 15 years ago in Britian. I waited 11 years before I had PRK on my eyes and I can tell you it's worth every penny.

I can only speak from my experiences with PRK. Your eyes are tested in various method after the intial consultation. During the surgery you are given anaesthetic drop into one eye then you stare into a green light, then a few pulses of laser is fired into your eye-your done! It only takes 15sec.

You are given some paracetamol, sleeping pills and antiseptic drops to take home. After the anaesthtic wears off, your eyes will feel like it has a grit, it will feel quite sore and your treated eye's vision will be blurred for one week. You will see the difference after 2 weeks or so. If everything goes well your second eye is treated in the same way after 6 weeks time.

 

Get your eyes assess first by the surgery to see if theres a chance you'll get your normal vision back after surgery. They wont make a hard sell to you.

Ammy asking your optician's opinon on Laser Eye surgery is like asking Burger King if their burger is better than Mcdonalds (or vice versa). You'll get an unbias opinon if you consulted your GP.

With every kind of surgery there are risks.

[Quizmonster]

Click http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Search/Question63825-3.asp?Page=1&SearchText=laser for an earlier thread on the topic here in AnswerBank. You'll see, if you go there, that I think you'd be mad to consider it, but hey!...each to his own. Think how many opticians you may have met who still wear specs! And bear in mind that those opticians without specs might well be wearing contact lenses!

[amarillis]

I had laser surgery to correct my vision about 8 years ago and have never regretted it for a moment. It didn't hurt at all, and as Starscream said it just felt like there was a piece of grit in my eye for a couple of days afterward. The surgeon gives you anaesthetic and antibiotic drops to use in the week following the surgery. I had both my eyes done at the same time and my vision improved from being virtually unable to see more than a metre in front of me to having 20/20 vision within a week of the operation. I haven't had to wear glasses or contacts for the past 8 years, and my surgeon said that the onset of 'age-related deterioration' would probably have a later onset too - I will wait to see if that is the case!

[Ammy]

In reply to Starscream, I didn't actually bring this up with my optician, she bought up the topic to me. Also this is a service that her clinic actually offered, so the mere fact she is telling me not to do it (of her own accord) says something. Doesn't it? Using your example its actually the equivilant(sp?) of McDonalds telling me not to buy their burgers.

I'm not saying that Octavius shouldn't get laser surgery done, all I'm doing is giving my opinon and stating some of the facts as provided to me and the reasons I would not get it done. Obviously there are people that it has worked for, I'm just saying that I personally could not weigh up the high price with an outcome that might not be the one that I expect.

[Octavius]

Thanks for all the opinions, although I am still none the wiser!  When i said worth it I didn't mean financially, I meant in terms of my advancing years.

 

 

[El D]

Think of how many patients opticians would lose if they had laser surgery . . .

 

As for your age, there is no guarantee your eyes will degenerate in your 40's- they might be fine until your 60's, in which case you have 25 odd years of spec/contact free living to enjoy.

[stevie21]

I've had this done in just one eye and it hurt like hell. I was in absolute bloody agony for a couple of days afterwards. Now, a few years later, that one eye is almost back to the same level of short-sightendness as it was pre-op.

I don't really regret it as that's the chance you take - I knew beforehand that it wasn't guaranteed to be 100% successful.

Best of luck with whatever you do.

[jellyyellie]

Wait.

If your eye sight isn't deteriorating don't worry about it until it does.  It may never.  You should probably talk to your optomitrist though.  You might alos want to look into surgeries other than laser.  When I was 9 moths I had surgery to reroute muscles, or something like that (it was omething with moving muscles....) and now, 15 years later, I have been out of glasses for 3 years. (although I do only have 1/3 of my depth perseption.  Not sure if that's becuase of the surgery though.)

Good Luck, whatever you decide to do!

[Marsh]

The February 2005 edition of Which? has an article on laser eye surgery providers.  I think anyone considering eye surgery should read this article and ask the clinic questions before making a final decision.  Your local public library should have a copy.