Lazer Eye Treatment

[Al Yupright]

But what happens when they go round the back of your eyeball    

[ChrisG]

Are you saying you can keep the little feckers in day and night for a month ???

Yep, you wear them 24x7, put them in at the start of the month then dont take em out again until a month later.

[Willow]

I am the owner of Optimax and I hate to see waste in my clinics. The aim is to utilize empty appointments which would otherwise be wasted. You are welcome to ask me any questions about treatment. I had laser treatment 14 years ago, my wife 12 years ago and my son 3 years ago, all in my own clinic.

I have no connection with Optimax, this was a public service announcement.

PS Do you think that if the NHS was run like this there would be no waiting lists?

I wore contact lenses for about 15 years before having my eyes lasered with Optimax nearly 3 years ago and can honestly say it's the best thing I've ever done.  

It didn't really hurt as such afterwards - the feeling was more like when you chop onions and your eyes won't stop watering. That lasted about 48 hours after which everything was fine. After 2 weeks I had 20/20 vision and still have. Fabulous!

It cost me £860 (including the initial consulation fee) although I didn't go through e-bay! I thoroughly agree with Fat Albert that you don't necessarily have to pay more to get good service. I could have paid 3 - 4 times as much elsewhere but you can't improve on 20/20 vision.

[v7slr]

Ive considered it several times but always shied away having seen the op done on TV etc.

v7slr, have you tried monthly day/night lenses? They have far less water content in them than most daily disposable or monthly lenses you take out each night (I guess so they dont dry out so much when you're asleep) so may be better when driving the car? I use Specsavers ones for £17 a month, and apart from the current couple of months where hayfever means my eyes get quite irritated anyway, they are absolutely brilliant, you can totally forget you have them in for a complete month and I often only remember to change them because Ive set a reminder on my phone. Also I used to be quite susceptable to eye infections when using normal lenses but since Ive converted to the day night ones I dont think Ive had one, so better for overall eye health Id say.

I've tried a few different contacts through the years, but none that you leave in overnight. I must admit that it all seems wrong to me, insofar as my optician has always warned me about infections through leaving them in for too long. I know these are designed for this, so I suppose I ought to go and have a chat with him. It may just be the solution I need.

I have to confess that on one occasion I went on holiday for a bank hol weekend without the contact lens solutions, and in those days I didn't even own a pair of glasses, so I had to sleep in them and in the morning peel them off my eyes and wash them out under the tap.

Don't anyone tell me what a bad idea this was. I know, I know, and I was young at the time.  

[Al Yupright]

I had a friend at Uni who never got round to ordering new contact lenses (prefering to spend the money on beer) and so wore the same daily lenses for about 3 months...

Only he lost one of them, so was wearing just one!!!

The soles of his shoes were also coming away from the uppers about 50% of the way round, so his feet would make a surprise entrance at any time...

[chrisbin]

i was thinking about it too but i wimped out and decided to go for contacts instead, still a pain in the  

.....aren't they suppose to go in your eyes........  

[Fat Albert]

Incidentally, I have worn permanent wear contact lenses since 1982 You have no idea what it meant to me the first morning I woke up next to a woman and was able to see her face

I clean the lenses 3 times a year (yup, once every four months). A pair lasts about 18 months to 2 years. Apart from that they stay in my eyes 24/7 unless I accidentally dislodge one or choose to remove them. I drive, fly and swim (with care) with them.

I tried hard and soft day wear lenses but could neither get on with them nor could I avoid causing problems putting them in and out. At 53 I now need reading glasses in poor light.

Should you detect a note of cynicism regarding the 'advice' of manufacturers and practioners who make money out of selling lots and lots of unnecessary lenses, solutions and other aftercare products you would not be mistaken. Ladderless stockings could have been on the market 60 years ago! My contract costs me £90 per year which includes a bi-annual check up and a discount off replacement lenses (£50).

In short, I don't need laser surgery, however, if I was in my 20s again I wouldn't hesitate.

[ehasler]

I've been thinking about this for a while, as I don't really get on with contacts, especially after one dried up and started to fall out in the middle of a go-kart race!

3 people who I've known for a number of years have had this done during the last 5 years, and all 3 say it's the best thing they ever did. I also know several other people through work who have had it done, and again they were all very positive about it. There are some scare stories out there though, and I'm still in two minds about whether I want to take the risk. The chance of anything bad happening is very low, but the consequences of it going wrong are pretty serious!

From what I've read, the dryness is caused by the nerve endings being damaged during surgery, so the brain doesn't know the eye is dry. These take a while to repair (6-12 months I believe), so you may suffer from dryness for this length of time.

There are several types of surgery, and the cost/pain/recovery time/effectiveness vary between them, and not all types are suitable for everyone but a good clinic will explain all this and examine your eyes first before giving you the options.

Two places that have been recommended to me are:

http://www.optimax.co.uk

http://my.ultralase-eye-surgery.co.uk/

Just one point about eye specialists who haven't had the treatment themselves. Laser surgery is normally recommended for people under 45 or so, and so any specialist who is older than this wouldn't really be suitable anyway.

Also, while there are obviously risks associated with eye surgery, there are also risks with wearing contact lenses, and it is possible to harm your eyes by wearing contacts long-term.

[ChrisG]

I've tried a few different contacts through the years, but none that you leave in overnight. I must admit that it all seems wrong to me, insofar as my optician has always warned me about infections through leaving them in for too long. I know these are designed for this, so I suppose I ought to go and have a chat with him. It may just be the solution I need.

I have to confess that on one occasion I went on holiday for a bank hol weekend without the contact lens solutions, and in those days I didn't even own a pair of glasses, so I had to sleep in them and in the morning peel them off my eyes and wash them out under the tap.

Don't anyone tell me what a bad idea this was. I know, I know, and I was young at the time.  

Yep I have also slept in normal lenses in the past once or twice, and woken up with them welded to my eyes and tried rinsing them in tap water (doesnt work at all as there's no salt in the water). Not a great idea I know.

These ones are made differently though so they dont dry out, the first few days they still feel a bit different for the first few seconds when you wake up but now I dont notice them at all. Also they are very good at letting oxygen through to your eyes and they're supposedly quite a healthy in comparison to a lot of lenses, and I found this news article yesterday which was quite interesting.

Specsavers will give you a free month's trial I think, they did with me anyway.