a few questions about laser eye surgery

shamblertine

what happens during the initial consultation, do they poke and prod your eyes?
how long does the surgery typically last for, and what specific surgery did you have and what exactly did the surgery involve?
how long does your eyesight need to be the same for before you can have the surgery, is it 2 years or something?
any help is much appreciated.

Dangerous One

I had my surgery in Optilase in June, during the inital consultation the optician did an eye test, scan using a laser of some sort and then touched the surface of my eye with an instrument to measure the cornea thickness (weird but not sore). I had Lasek surgery done on both eyes & it took about half an hour for surgery in total, including scrub in, ect. Hope that's some help, I'm a believer, I think it's a fantastic proceedure, but there is risks so everyone has to decide for themselves.

BC

I think the consultation may depend on where you get it done. I had my surgery recently so this is all fairly fresh in my head!

My consultation & surgery was with the Mater private.
The consultation lasted about 2 hours and I wasn't able to see properly for about 2 hours after that again. They did a number of tests such as checking the size of my pupils (can indicate if you'll have night vision issues post surgery), checking the dryness of my eyes, thickness of cornea etc. One of the tests involves putting drops in my eyes and that blurred my vision for a couple of hours afterwards. I was told about this beforehand though. None of it hurts.

As for the actual surgery - I got Lasek done. The surgery itself takes less than 10 mins per eye and i was in the hospital for about an hour and a half or so in total. When i got there some of the tests from the consultation were repeated to ensure the results were the same. Then I was given the anesthetic drops to numb the eye, along with a difene (anti inflammatory) and a valium. About 10 mins after the drops were put in i was brought into the surgery room. Once the clamp is put on your eye you don't really know whats going on, although the doctor talked me through the whole thing. I thought the clamp would be the worst part but i didn't really feel it at all. The room is darkened and there is a thing above the bed (like the light in a dentists surgery) that has two lights on it. I was told to concentrate on the red light for the duration. It takes them a couple of minutes to prepare the eye and then the actual laser goes for about 4 or 5 minutes. It isn't painful at all. Afterwards they rinse your eye with a load of water which was probably the worst part as the water went everywhere! Then the protective contact lens is put in.

I was then brought back to the waiting room to just sit and wait for a bit. After about 20 mins they brought me back to the consultation room to check that the eye was looking okay and that the contact lens was properly in place. I was given drops to take every hour (while i'm awake) for 24 hours. I was given normal eye drops to take when the eye was annoying me. I was also given 'emergency' drops that i could take if the pain got too bad. These were the anesthetic drops again. I also got 2 nights worth of sleeping tablets.

I had to go for a check up the next morning and another check up on day 3. At the check up on day 3 they took out the contact lens.

The surgery itself isn't painful but with lasek the recovery is sore. I was in pain for about 2/3 days and then it was 'uncomfortable' for about a week afterwards. It took 6 or 7 weeks to get full vision but i was able to see well enough to be able to drive after about 2 or 3 weeks.

bsquadron

Post surgery, is there any noticable evidence of having undergone laser eye surgery? For example if you had an eye test 1/2 years afterwards could an optician tell during the test that you had laser eye surgery? Any small scaring etc?

mazza

bsquadron wrote: »

Post surgery, is there any noticable evidence of having undergone laser eye surgery? For example if you had an eye test 1/2 years afterwards could an optician tell during the test that you had laser eye surgery? Any small scaring etc?

I had Lasik done and at the final post-op appointment the optician said I should mention the fact that I had Laser surgery when getting eye tests in the future.

He then said that whoever is carrying out the eye test would actually see this for themselves anyway due to the small scars left towards the bottom of the eye where they cut and lift the flap before the laser being used.

Obviously scarring like this is so slight that you can't see it yourself in the mirror, let alone that other people would be able to see it!

One side point work mentioning is that the cut is extremely fine - half the width of a hair, if I correctly remember how they described it to me . There was no sight of a blade during the surgery or any cutting sensation or pain. A lot of fiddling round near my eye, but that was it...

EdgarAllenPoo

A friend of mine had it done a few months ago and was given some kind of protective goggles that he had to wear for about a week after the surgery, is that normal?

Jip

Did he get lasik ? If so they're just to wear for the first evening and then for sleeping for a week of two afterwards. He didn't wear them all the time did he ?

EdgarAllenPoo

I don't think so, I'd hope not.

I just filled in an online thing to check my suitablilty for laser eye surgery on ultralase.com, I know that's no definite indication but it said I'm suitable for non laser treatment.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing and what might that treatment be?

mazza

GDM wrote: »

A friend of mine had it done a few months ago and was given some kind of protective goggles that he had to wear for about a week after the surgery, is that normal?

AFAIK - but I'm open to correction - the situation is:

LasIK (where the flap is cut prior to laser) you wear see thru protective eye covers for the first day and in bed for the first few nights in case you rub your eyes and move the flap. You are meant to not return to work for 3 days after surgery.

LasEK (where the surface of the eye is rubbed off gently prior to laser) you do have to wear some kind of protective eye covers / googles for a week I think, but am less clear as I had IK. You are meant to not return to work for 5 days after surgery.

you*ess*bee

I had the LASEK surgery done last July. I had a 6month check up in December. The optician said he couldnt even tell there was surgery done to my eyes. It just depends on the type of surgery you get. With the Lasik, they cut a flap on the top of your cornea which has to reheal. And with Lasek, they put a few drops on the top of your cornea that dissolve the first layer. This then regrows after a few weeks. The Lasek surgery is far more expensive with a longer recovery rate, but the results are amazing!

The eye goggles are just to protect your eyes while sleeping, to make sure you dont rub them or something.

In the consultation they do alot of tests on your eyes, but none are painful. Alot are just done with the machine that you look into. Another one is the puff of air on your eye, anyone whos ever been to the optician should have had this done, and the final is checking how thick your cornea is. This is where they decide if you are suitable for Lasik or Lasek. They put in a few numbing drops and gently touch a tiny scanner on your eye to determine the thickness of your cornea. None of it hurts, and your up close vision is just slighty blurred for a few hours.

I was amazed at how great my vision turned out to be. I never knew this is how people see! I had the Lasek wavefront surgery and it cost 3100 euro. But true to the old saying...you get what you pay for. And im delighted!

BC

mazza wrote: »

AFAIK - but I'm open to correction - the situation is:
LasEK (where the surface of the eye is rubbed off gently prior to laser) you do have to wear some kind of protective eye covers / googles for a week I think, but am less clear as I had IK. You are meant to not return to work for 5 days after surgery.

I got lasEK and didn't have to wear goggles. Surgeon said they are a waste of time for lasek.

alansweeney100

I'm goin for a consultation with optical express tomorrow. They said I won't b able to drive afterwards, are they just civering themselves or will I really not be able to drive, cause i'll have to get three buses other wise

FastFullBack

alansweeney100 wrote: »

I'm goin for a consultation with optical express tomorrow. They said I won't b able to drive afterwards, are they just civering themselves or will I really not be able to drive, cause i'll have to get three buses other wise

You will be pretty blurry straight after the consultation. Especially close up, I found my mobile phone very difficult to read. I drove about 3 hours after my consultation, but it'd be safer to not drive straight away.

As for the consultation, I found it brilliant. Got loads of information about the surgery and everything was clear. I went ahead with it and had my Wavefront Intralase Lasik done last Thursday in Newbridge and eyes are perfect since. No real pain after at all. The clamps during the surgery were a little uncomfortable but nothing too bad. Surgery lasted 10 mins and I was able to walk out of the place 30 minutes later. I didn't have any real pain that night and since then I've had no pain.

I'd highly recomment Optical Express.

alansweeney100

carrolltimmy wrote: »

You will be pretty blurry straight after the consultation. Especially close up, I found my mobile phone very difficult to read. I drove about 3 hours after my consultation, but it'd be safer to not drive straight away.

As for the consultation, I found it brilliant. Got loads of information about the surgery and everything was clear. I went ahead with it and had my Wavefront Intralase Lasik done last Thursday in Newbridge and eyes are perfect since. No real pain after at all. The clamps during the surgery were a little uncomfortable but nothing too bad. Surgery lasted 10 mins and I was able to walk out of the place 30 minutes later. I didn't have any real pain that night and since then I've had no pain.

I'd highly recomment Optical Express.

Good stuff, that sounds reassuring. I've organised a lift with my brother now, I've spend enough years of my life on buses

Mr.Lizard

I've a few (more) questions that don't seem to be commonly answered out there that I'd be grateful if people could help me with:

1) Due to a condition I've had since birth I can more or less only see out of one eye. The bad eye works somewhat but my brain more or less ignores the signal so stuff like 3d movies are wasted on me for example. Will I be rejected for lasik/lasek because I don't have a "backup eye" in case something goes wrong to the good eye in surgery?

2) I rarely wear glasses and wear a disposable contact lens daily on my good eye. How many days prior to the surgery will I have to go without them?

3) Why is there such a range in prices? I've seen everything from E300 to E3000.

BC

I've no idea about Q1 but most clinics will do both eyes at the same time so i don't see why they would reject you. The hospitals will only do one eye at a time so they might.

For Q2 - I had to go without eye make up and contacts for 1 week before the surgery (lasek). Its longer if you wear hard contact lenses.

Q3 - The price you see in the hospitals (mater, blackrock) is the total price of the surgery. The price you see in the clinics is usually the minimum price. The higher your prescription the more they add onto the price, different types of surgeries will cost more etc.

goodgirl12

Can anyone tell me why someone would not be eligible for laser eye surgery?

I've had glasses for about 3 years and my vision is about -3.

Does my prescription have to be constant for a certain amount of time as mine gets slightly worse every timeI have a sight test.

Do you have to be a certain age or what requirements is there?

Myhairspray

What's the best option in Cork?

Posy

Just reading about the LasEk here- do they recommend one over the other for certain types of eyes. Mine can be pretty dry (I do use a computer up to 13 hours a day at work) and I'm -9.5 so I doubt I'd be eligible but the idea of surgery where they don't CUT your eye (shudder) is appealing, even if the recovery is longer. Would you need to organise time off work for Lasek?

Leprechaun77

I too was thinking about getting this procedure done but have been put off by a couple of things I've come across. My mother got this procedure done at age 62, and while it rectified her sight, she says it is totally inferior to when she wore glasses. I brushed this aside initially to be honest due to the mentality of older people in general...'they don't make them like they used to'.....or....'my eyes were better before this.

A friend of mine got them done recently, a straightforward procedure, no complications etc. He went for his follow up and was 'discharged' for want of a better word, and his eyesight was confirmed as perfect. He was delighted with the results but said a few times that he felt his sight was not as good as when he wore glasses. He dismissed this himself as he felt he was just getting used to the change.

Last week we were in a conference where there was a presentation being held. We happened to be sitting near the back of the room, and he said something like...'why do they always put those caveats at the end of reports in tiny writing so nobody can read them....'

I replied to this to say that whilst the writing was in a smaller font it was fully legible to me by quite some way, as it was to the other person with us.

I would therefore be asking in relation to this surgery....does it fix my sight to an agreed level, or will it bring it to the level I get with my glasses?

littlebitdull

I have had my first consultation with optalise in dublin. They gave me a full list of the pros and cons to read and review.

so to answer question from goodgirl12 - its says your perscribtion must have been stable for at least two years.

And to reply to leprechaun77 - you have to write out in your own handwriting (ie not just sign something they have typed for you) to say that you understand that there is a risk you may end worse than you started.

But they did also tell me that for the first year after surgery you are covered for 'enhancement' procedures - where they try to impove your sight if your still not happy. So I would think your mother and friend should have gone back to the clinic.

Are you sure that at age 62 your mother got laser eye surgery? Was it not catheract surgery she had , as did my own mother at aged 68. She now has gone from wearing glasses from aged 4 to only having to use over the counter reading glasses!

timmywex

Would -1.5 be too small of a power to get laser done?!

Jip

timmywex wrote: »

Would -1.5 be too small of a power to get laser done?!

No. I was -1.25.

Nick_oliveri

Do floaters come into the equation at all? I have many, many bastard floaters. I can see one now...

Jip

Nope, I've one that visits occasionally. I normally don't notice it apart from the odd time when I'm looking at something white. They're usually nothing to worry about and I wasn't even asked about them during the various consultations.

BC

Caderyn wrote: »

Just reading about the LasEk here- do they recommend one over the other for certain types of eyes. Mine can be pretty dry (I do use a computer up to 13 hours a day at work) and I'm -9.5 so I doubt I'd be eligible but the idea of surgery where they don't CUT your eye (shudder) is appealing, even if the recovery is longer. Would you need to organise time off work for Lasek?

I also suffered from very dry eyes prior to the surgery. It got so bad that i was only able to wear contacts about once a week because my eyes were so irritated all the time. I'm a programmer so i'm sitting in front of a PC a lot also. Before the surgery the tears in my eyes were tested (part of the normal consultation tests) and I was actually told that i had above normal tears in my eyes and that the dryness i felt with contacts was quite different to the dryness that the surgery can cause.I had the surgery done in November and have had no problems with dry eye.

In relation to the time off work, yes you definately do. I had the eyes done separately (Lasek). For each eye I had the surgery on the Thursday afternoon and had planned to go back to work on Tuesday. (So thurs, fri, mon off). I wasn't able to go back to work and had to take an extra day off. Looking at the computer was difficult for another week or so after that. It wasn't until 2-3 weeks after the surgery that my eyes started to feel really comfortable again.

Leprechan - I had glasses for 20 years before I got the surgery done. I now have 20/20 vision and my sight is definately as good if not better than my glasses. It does take time to settle though, it took the guts of 3 months before i was really happy with the vision.

BopNiblets

GDM wrote: »

A friend of mine had it done a few months ago and was given some kind of protective goggles that he had to wear for about a week after the surgery, is that normal?

I had to wear these after Lasek, its to stop you bumping the eyes while you sleep, you also wear a protective contact lens for a few days.

David03

I got mine done too in 'Optical Express' and I'd reccommend anywhere but them. Sure they were more than helpful during the consultation but when I had problems afterwards they didn't want to know.

Ham Sandwich

Is laser specific to certain eye conditions? Can they preform it with long sightedness or short sightedness? Is it possible to just get one eye done? I've 20/20 in one, the other is weak though. If only doing one is the price much cheaper?

Jimmy Bottlehead

BC wrote: »

Then the protective contact lens is put in.

Who puts in the protective lens? And when does it come out, and who takes it out? I can't stand the thought of having to deal with it!

BC

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Who puts in the protective lens? And when does it come out, and who takes it out? I can't stand the thought of having to deal with it!

Its put in as part of the surgery by the surgeon while you are still numb so you don't notice it going in. They take out on day 3. The lens is only for Lasek, its not needed for Lasik as far as i know. Its just a contact lens - no different to standard contact lenses.