Laser eye surgery

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[WeihrauchPower]

I only started wearing glasses earlier this year and agree they are a pain in the a**. They are fine whilst stalking but when you stop moving and ready for the shot the lack of air makes them steam up. Especially in the 99% humidity we've been having. I've been thinking about the laser treatment route as i really couldn't handle contacts, just another b***dy routine in the morning. So i'll be interested to see the replies to this one.

[NorfolkBoy]

Having worn specs since I was 8 I seriously considered this about 9 years ago, just couldn't get comfortable with the whole laser-in-the-eye thing. I ended up getting disposable contact lenses as a compromise. Made a huge difference with wet weather, swimming, getting cool shades etc, and my shooting even improved (a bit) cos my glasses were'nt always sliding down me nose

 

Edited. WP the "whole routine" with contacts takes mere seconds and if your lazy like me you can get the J&J Acuvue disposables which you can just chuck at the end of the day. Easy peasy.

[palombier]

I too am a spectacle wearer and was swayed some years ago by an acquaintance, a registrar at Moorfields eye hospital, he stated that he would not have the operation.

I'm still wearing glasses ,pain that they are sometimes.

 

P

[paulos]

I've worn glasses since I was 5, but recently started using contacts. I really recommend them, it's so nice not having to worry about specs sliding down your nose, fogging up, getting knocked off, looking nerdy etc. My shooting is a lot more comfortable now too, actually being able to make use of my peripheral vision and being able to wear whatever sunglasses I like. I've started to wonder about laser eye-surgery too so would be interested to hear of other people's experiences also. The only thing that worries me is the long term effects of the treatment and the possibility of everything going pear-shaped 10-20 years down the line.

[ferretmanabu]

Get continouse wear lenses and you only have to bother changing once a month.

[Dunkield]

I have worn lenses for 20 years, the only time it is a pain is if want to stay over somewhere and don't have my stuff with me.

My brother had his eyes lasered and apart from the discomfort for 24 hours he has never regretted it.

Your presecription has to have been the same for some time, otherwise there is risk that you will have to wear glasses/lenses as well in the future.

I would love to have it done, I know it works for most people I am just a bit nervous about having it done.

[Hunter]

Anyone seen the op for laser eye surgery? they cut the main lense off your eye before treatment, then stick it back after.. no wonder theres discomfort for 24hrs

 

Apart from that, I think I would do it if I needed glasses. The sight of my dad always loosing his glassing, or having 50 pairs, for reading, driving, flying etc..

[smokinbarrels]

Evening Gents,

I thought about lazer eye treatment, went for the checks and everything was going fine......until i listened to a programe on BBC radio 2. I soon changed my mind after the trouble that its caused other people. I use daily use contacts, pop them in and when your finished throw them away.....its great for shooting!!!

Regards Q

[paulos]

pop them in and when your finished throw them away.....its great for shooting!!!

 

being so small though, they are quite hard to hit

[simonp]

I too have gone down the disposable lens route. getting them in is easy, sometimes I have trouble getting the right one out, but generally its fine and well worth not having to bother with glasses when shooting.

 

The only times I have trouble are extended exposure to aircon - ie long car journeys or my office. I find my I can get some discomfort in the eyes if I have lenses in and need to blink often to soften them.

[ME]

Well, it seems that it is only me who HAS had it done.

 

I had it done in Jan 2006 by Ultralase (in Chelmsford). They are the most expensive at £995.00 per eye but who would go for the cheapest when it comes to seeing your children or being able to shoot again ? There are others like Optimax who are like £400.00 an eye and advertise on Ebay !!

 

I was about -2 in each eye, no great shakes but the pain of specs and contacts got me down. I had LasIk (as opposed to LasEk) they cut a flap in your cornea, laser a bit away and put the flap back.

 

The procedure lasted about 20 seconds each eye, I am a total wimp with injections, dentists etc and I can honestly say that it was nothing to worry about, more in your mind, I have had dentists appointments which were much worse. If you speak to anyone who has had it done most say that the worse bit is the SMELL - a bit like burning bacon !! B) I could see better straight afterwards and my eyes felt a bit gritty for a couple of weeks afterwards but that was the worst thing I can say. I got a small infection a few weeks after, I was given an immediate appointment (on a Saturday afternoon) and given antibiotics - Ultralase are very professional and the benefit was that they were 15 minutes away - most of the others companies are in London or in major cities which isnt very convenient for the check-ups and in case of a problem.

 

I do find driving at night a little more tricky since the procedure (glare and halos) but nothing too serious - the positives totally outweigh the negatives. Ultralase do another prodecure called Wavefront for £1500.00 an eye which is supposed to stop this happening. If you have the extra grand I would suggest going for the Wavefront especially if you do a lot of night driving. I also find that my eyes are much more sensitive to sunlight since the procedure so in the summer I am sure to have my sunglasses with me.

 

I had a guy buy a car from me recently who was an optician. He told me that the only real reservation from an opticians point of view is that there isnt a lot of history (earliest procedures in the 1980's) so no-one can tell what the long term side effects may be. In my opinion, glasses and contacts were a pain and I wasnt waiting till I was too old to have it done before someone made that decision.

 

The best bit for me is that before I could only go without or wear crappy prescription sunglasses but now I have two pairs of Oakleys and a pair or Raybans.

:yp:

 

My advice is GO FOR IT !

[Mungler]

He didn't have it done at all.

 

He just binned his porn collection and packed it in, if you know what I mean.

[ME]

He didn't have it done at all.

 

He just binned his porn collection and packed it in, if you know what I mean.

 

Mung, imagine my surprise when your missus sent me the photos of her and her "rampant rabbit" - at first I thought she had taken up shooting...

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[ferretmanabu]

Continuous wear lenses can be put in and left there for a whole month without removing them so you can sleep in them. They don't dry out but if sometimes they get a bit dry, I just put a drop of solution straight into the eye and it sorts it out. Have a word with your optician. They really are the next best option after laser surgery. I considered laser surgery but my optician friends tell me that it hasn't been around long enough to really evaluate what the long term effects are. Who knows what is going to happen to all the people who've had it done in the next 20 or so years. Plus some employers like the armed forces won't accept you if you've had it done.

[bobt]

I was talking to an eye doc at a party, he said look around the hospital and ask yourself how many doctors wear glasses?

 

they dont trust the op.

[john faul]

hi john my uncle got one of his eyes done it then mather hospital in dublin. he is a builder and because he was short sighted he couldnt see if a wall was straight or not, so he got talking to a specialist. the specialist said it is easier to treat someone who is short sighted rather than long sighted. he is very pleased with the result and is not sure if hell get the other one done or not as he can see fine now close and far away objects

[Guest stiv24]

John,

 

I wouldn't hesitate...... I have had glasses and contacts for twenty years and I admit the disposable contacts are great imagine not having to bother with them again, being out in the rain with no problems, being able to see first thing in the morning, for me its a no brainer.

 

Ok, so you will need to return to reading glasses as you get older but enjoy the freedom until then. I am long sighted and I have had the consultation for suitability and unfortunately my perscription is borderline so i cant have conventional laser surgery.

 

The only option for me would be to have a lens implanted. Similar to lasik (i think) where a flap is cut but instead of a laser reshaping the eye I would need a permenant lens is implanted. Two problems there, the first is its £2200 per eye and the second is I would have to go to London or Birmingham to have it done.

 

If I was short sighted, how I wish! I would have had it done already.

 

Good Luck

[Dunkield]

Stuart, what kind of lenses are you using now? I've not had my prescription checked in a while but it was relatively stable at -4.75 in each eye the last three times I had it checked. Get reminded by a certain lamping partner from time to time to get my eyes checked....

 

John,

Get them checked, I have a normal (specs) eye test and a contact lens checkup every year.

I use monthly's Pro Clear compatibles, they are ultra high mosture content as I work in an air conditioned office staring at a monitor all day - the worst possible environment for lenses. I also use Oxysept fluid which isn't cheap but IMHO is the best.

[dunganick]

i know of two people who have been partially blinded through having laser eye surgery done, that was enough there and then to put me off

 

My mum used to be an optician and i would have to do it with her locked in a cage apparently or over her dead body

[ME]

Ferretmanabu, continious wear lenses are a new thing to me. Do you use them, can you leave them in for a solid month? More info on those would be appreciated. I left in my daily disposables (twice) overnight (drunk...) and they were a pure torture to remove as they'd dried out and stuck to my eye....

 

My brother wears the continuous lens, he likes them but I cant undertstand how they aren't bad for your eyes - i.e. they cant breathe.

 

 

Louisvalentine, Lasik Wavefront was the option I was looking at. Like you I would not skimp on such a thing, just save up and do a proper job. Do you find contrast at night to be an issue? I do a lot of lamping and a lot of night driving too!

 

So those would really be my main two concerns, negatively effecting night vision and the relative lack of history of the procedure. If anyone else has more contributions they'd be welcomed. Especially those who have had the procedure done

 

John, (speccy four eyes )

 

Not everyone can have LasIk, it depends on the thickness of your corneas. I was borderline and didnt want to have LasEk as I heard it was more painful and a longer recovery.

 

The night vision thing is just glare from bright lights and orange or red halos from street lights or the rear lights on cars. In hindsight I would have had the Wavefront done, not because it bothers me but because it is the latest technology and I have to drive slower at night (I drive fast normally).

 

The rest of the spin and terror stories are just made up by opticians who see their livelihood going down the pan.

 

I spent hours on the Ultralase forums asking questions of other people who have had it done, if you have any second thoughts try on there.

 

I have just come back from playing Badminton tonight - no glasses slipping down my nose, no fiddling around putting lenses in before I played, no steamed up glasses as I walked in to the warm building...you get the point...

 

Since I had it done, so has a friend and my sister in law - both Ultralase and both really happy. My wife is now getting fed up with her glasses and has all but booked the consultation to see if she can have it done.

 

Have it done mate !

 

Matt (LV)

[john faul]

to get it done in the mather its 2000 euros per eye

[ME]

i know of two people who have been partially blinded through having laser eye surgery done, that was enough there and then to put me off

 

My mum used to be an optician and i would have to do it with her locked in a cage apparently or over her dead body

 

Nick,

 

I only knew one person who had even had it done before I did, l still dont know anyone who has had a bad experience but I guess it may happen.

 

I dont know the stats now but when I had it done I looked them up and was statistically reassured otherwise I wouldnt have had it done.

 

We all know people who have had road accidents, it doesnt mean I am gonna give up driving...

 

LV

[Swanky Doodle Pigeon]

I had epi-Lasek in Feb 2006 after wearing glasses for 18 years (I'm 38). It was the best money I've ever spent. I was only -1.75 and -1.5 however I can't stand wearing glasses and my eyes get too dry wearing contacts for anything longer than agame of 5-a-side. But the worst thing - the very very worst thing about wearing glasses is when you go in the pub on a cold night, they steam up when you walk in the door and everybody laughs.:-)

In epi-Lasek they don't actually slice your cornea as in Lasik. They put alcohol on which softens the cornea before laser treatment. The whole things takes 15 minutes. It is more painful and has a longer recovery period (about a week but you can see OK after 24 hours). Aparrently the cornea never properly heals from lasik treatment so they recommend epi-lasek for people who play contact sports or are in the armed forces or police.

 

I can undertand being wary though. I'd been thinking about getting this done for years and waiting for a new proceedure or breakthrough. But at the end of the day I realised people (including me) will always be paranoid about their sight and if I didn't do it now I probably never would.

 

My eyesight is still perfect. I get no proglems with night vision. It's just like being 15 again.

 

I would recommend going somewhere like Ultralase as they map your eyes for free as part of the consultation before you decide to go ahead. Optimax are very good but they charge you £60 for the mapping (in 2006 anyway) before they find out whether you are suitable or not. Ultralase have an online forum which was very helpful to me when I was investigating the proceedures.

 

 

Matt