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Laser Eye Treatment: Good idea or not?
Pamthehound
Posts: 5,333 Forum Member
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HI all Ive worn glasses all of my life and my best friend just got Laser Eye surgery with brilliant results and she has been coaxing me to follow suit. Ive been told it has pitfalls and not always suitable for all people. My friend has also said she had to sign "a hefty disclaimer document" which in my opinion she really signed away all her legal rights .
Im also unsure if getting rid of my glasses will change me!! as hardly anybody recognises me when I dont were them , in a stupid sort of way they are part of my personality and looks.
My family says No, my best friend says yes and most others just say fully investigate it first.
The company Im thinking of using is a well known high street name Opaliase , I would also be interested on what people think of them ( or anybody else)
Im also unsure if getting rid of my glasses will change me!! as hardly anybody recognises me when I dont were them , in a stupid sort of way they are part of my personality and looks.
My family says No, my best friend says yes and most others just say fully investigate it first.
The company Im thinking of using is a well known high street name Opaliase , I would also be interested on what people think of them ( or anybody else)
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My eyesight wasn't terrible to begin with (-1.5 IIRC) and it cost me around £1800 with ultralase.
I would recommend having it done if you really dislike wearing glasses or contacts (as I did) - I know some people are nervous at the thought of having their eyeballs lasered, or don't mind glasses/lenses. It's worth booking a consultation to get a quote and go from there IMO.
Your friend signed a consent form, which would have outlined all potential complications. She was signing to say she understood it all and that she had been warned about them. This is standard with any surgical procedure. There are potential complications with everything surgical - it's just a fact of life. If you aren't willing or able to understand and accept that without thinking you would deserve legal recourse if you suffered one of them, then you shouldn't go ahead with it.
There are dangers of complications with any medical procedure, people have to sign agreement to having operations in hospitals as standard procedure. You would need to see exactly what you are agreeing to. If it says they bear no responsibility whatsoever if for example you're left with a badly damaged eye then it would be up to you to decide whether you would agree to that. Maybe you could ask your friend just what sort of things the disclaimer covered, if there was anything that she felt they should accept 'blame' (not the right word really) for but she decided to go ahead anyway.
If I had the money I'd get it done but it's not important enough for me to, say, get a loan to have it done. It won't change who you are, just what you look like.
BTW I've never heard of Opaliase so maybe only in certain areas of the country?
It is not often understood that even if you get laser correction, you may still need glasses eg for reading (especially if you have bad astigmatism).
I have worn specs most of my life, and it is so second nature, I would not risk the surgery (but I am getting on a bit).
A good adage is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Its not like when I was young, and specs dominated your face (although that seems to be fashionable at the moment).
I have appalling eye sight with astigmatism. I wear toric contacts all the time and change into my glasses when I get home from work. Recently I had an eye infection so of course couldnt wear my lenses, wearing my glasses all the time made me bad tempered, they kept slipping down my face as I have quite a sweaty face a lot of the time, it makes me disoriented because you see the frame out the corner of your eye all the time. I hate the fact that I cant just fall asleep with my lenses in or that my eyes get a bit more tired in lesnes than my glasses
Even doing housework around the house, say if I m cleaning the toilet or under the sink or something where you need to bend down and put your head on the side, my glasses really get in the way and slip down or up (if your head is upside down) and no its not because they dont fit right, they do but thats the nature of glasses. Im also funny about my sunglasses on, off , on, off, so I cant wear sun glasses if I have my glasses on and neither can I have reflections or whatnot because Im so changeable as to when I want them on or not.
But, Im just not brave enough and knowing my luck would have to wear glasses after anyway due to my sight.
Snap!
I don't wear contacts as I hate the thought of sticking things in my eyes & I'm fed up wearing glasses. There's been a few people I've spoken to who've had it done & said it's one of the best things they've done but I'm still not brave enough. One of these days I'll get there!
I'm a wuss when it comes to anything going near my eyes though so I don't think I'd have the courage to keep them wide open while a laser is burning through them:(
They use a little metal hingmy to keep your eye open. It's basically 2 pieces of thin wire on a sprung hinge - one end goes under your top eyelid and the other on your bottom and it stops you from blinking (a bit like in a clockwork orange!)
You are given anaesthetic drops in your eyes beforehand and the lasering takes no more than 30 seconds per eye. You really don't feel a thing.
Do some research and have a consultation so you can make an informed decision. I remember my friend crying with joy after her procedure, she loved being able to wake up and see normally, not having to have achy eyes with contacts, or wear clumpy specs.
Do what's best for you imo.
However, an acquaintance experienced eye dryness for years after he had the treatment. He said it wasn't painful. Just inconvenient. I haven't seen him for a while, so I don't know if it was ever resolved.
Two years on from the procedure, and yes it was a comprehensive success, but I cannot help but wonder if I would have been better off keeping the 3 grand for something else, and just sticking with glasses/contact lenses. Dry eyes, especially at night, are a side effect I still suffer from, although to be fair the same applies if I wear a pair of lenses for 12 hours straight.
OP, go for a free consult, but do not feel forced or coerced into giving a deposit or signing for anything else until you have researched whether you think you would benefit yourself from LASIK.
Your eyesight is broken though and laser surgery would fix it.
I had it done a few years back and it's one of the best things I've ever done
Anyway, see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1334246/Tempted-laser-eye-surgery-Its-risks.html
The are a number of things going on. Firstly, there are risks to any surgery, so I'd suggest going for a consultation first with a properly qualified medical consultant and not a salesperson. There also might be consequences such as a middle aged person with myopia getting treated but finding out that, although they can see clearly in the distance, they find they now need reading glasses because of the onset of presbyopia. These things, along with complications and side effects, should all be discussed at a consultation.
My strong advice would be DO NOT go to any of the bargain basement chains offering cheaper treatment but to go to a clinic that's attached to an NHS hospital or that is a private clinic of good repute (Accuvision, Grange, etc.) although the costs will be greater. The bargain basement chains have ruined people's eyesight and they then try and worm their way out of helping their patients who then have to go to the NHS to get things sorted out.
Eyesight surgery can change someone's life for the better but it must be done with the highest level of professionalism and aftercare. You might find this site of interest: http://www.lasik-eyes.co.uk
Laser treatment is also not a permanent solution. Over the years, I have seen many patients that regress - they start to slowly become shortsighted again and require spectacles..not to the extent of their original precription but still just bear in mind it does not make you spectacle free forever.
As previous comments have suggested, any surgical procedure has an associated risk. You must be prepared to accept this if you go ahead with it.
If you hate wearing glasses and contact lenses, there is an alternative now known as eyedream lenses...these are revolutionary gas permeable lenses that you sleep in and take out in the morning and can see the whole day without lenses or glasses!!! you have none of the problems such as dry eye etc that can sometimes be associated with soft lens daily wear...worth looking into.
I'm very worried about any treatment I might need for my eyesight which is worsening I don't know how I will be able to consent to any risks.
My wife had laser surgery 9 years ago and it has been brilliant for her. I wish it would work for me as well.
I don't think it's vanity just to want to look like most other people. Vanity is perhaps botox or other cosmetic surgery, to attempt to artificially improve what nature gave you. Glassesare actually an artificial alteration of what nature gave you in terms of your face, and I don't think it's vain at all to want people to see you instead of a pair of plastic goggles. There are still some people who make ridiculous judgements on people based on their wearing of glasses, encouraged by sitcom and other writers who still use glasses as a short cut to 'geek', 'wallflower' or 'sexy secretary' amongst other stereotypes. I'd love to get away from all that
As for todays fashionable glasses, aren't they awful? It feels like we're going backwards!
That's really interesting, I wonder if the same applies to Clarivu? That's the lens replacement operation that is advertised by Ruth from This Morning, and seems similar to the treatment offered on the NHS for cataracts. If you have it done just for eyesight correction though, it's over £4000 an eye!
My prescription is -8.75 & -8.50 and it does feel like my eyes have gone a lot worse recently for both distance and near sight. I haven't had a laser consultation yet but it has been suggested to me that laser treatment wouldn't be ideal - I'm 45 and age does seem to be a factor in this as well. This is part of the reason I've been looking at Clarivu also the idea that it will ensure that I don't have cataracts in the future. My nanna and great aunt both had cataracts and now I'm worried my mum has one as well, she struggles to cope with the change between indoor light and sunshine. If cataracts run in families, it might be an investment. My optician said it was just about age but it seems a strange coincidence my three closest older female relations on my mum's side have all had problems.
Clarivu is desperately expensive though, and I realise that I'd have to wear reading specs but I do sometimes get so desperate not to wear glasses all the time, I'd saddle myself with that debt for it.
My vision for close work, i.e. reading is perfect.
I can't see three feet ahead of where I'm standing, though. I wear very strong glasses to allow me to see distance.
Personally, I'm going to stick with me specs. I don't mind whipping them off and on when needed, and besides, I like some of the quirky frames that I've managed to find.
I have to admit that I'm a bit of a wuss, too, and I don't want someone mucking about with my eyes.
I think it must be better for your eyes than constantly putting lenses in and out, and I hated being dependent on glasses. I was badly short sighted and broke them once, and lost them in the sea swimming on another occasion. The feeling of helplessness was awful. No problems with the laser treatment, and in the long run it will be a saving on prescription glasses.
Plus there's the expense, if I had it done I'd want one of the top ones which I cannot afford right now. I might consider it in the future when the prices start to come down and technology gets more advanced.
I don't really mind wearing glasses though, I feel like they've become a part of me now. The only time I do is when I go swimming which isn't very often.