Considering getting laser eye surgery

crxsi09

Hi guys,
My distance vision is gone bad and am looking to get eyes done soon. Was considering optilade as they have lifetime aftercare.i dont have glasses or ever had contact lenses btw.
Are all the condultations free? Even if you decide not to go ahead with surgery? Or do they charge you?

Thanks

jive

Hi crxsi09, all the consultations are free. If you go in for a consultation you do not pay, they just let you know if you are eligible for surgery or not. If you are eligible and you opt not to go for it then there is an 'expiry' on the consultation so to speak - if you want to get laser eye surgery >6 months after the consultation then you would need to get another consultation which you would then have to pay for. If you never get the surgery you never have to pay for your initial consultation.

If you get a consultation and need to go back in a few months as advised by them then again this would be free.

If you need a referral code for €100 off (the surgery) you can PM me.

crxsi09

jive wrote: »

Hi crxsi09, all the consultations are free. If you go in for a consultation you do not pay, they just let you know if you are eligible for surgery or not. If you are eligible and you opt not to go for it then there is an 'expiry' on the consultation so to speak - if you want to get laser eye surgery >6 months after the consultation then you would need to get another consultation which you would then have to pay for. If you never get the surgery you never have to pay for your initial consultation.

If you get a consultation and need to go back in a few months as advised by them then again this would be free.

If you need a referral code for €100 off (the surgery) you can PM me.

Thanks for the info.thats great.
Its a hard decision to make who to go with as all the companies say they have the best etc. Suppose it all depends on the consultation results and which procedure is the one they recommend for me. I see someone else mentioned a place on here laser vision i e.
Not sure if ya can mention websites on here.but they do both eyes for €2500. And 20% tax of that leaves it at €2000 for both eyes..thats good.
Must look around for feedback from anyone who got it done there.

jive

crxsi09 wrote: »

Thanks for the info.thats great.
Its a hard decision to make who to go with as all the companies say they have the best etc. Suppose it all depends on the consultation results and which procedure is the one they recommend for me. I see someone else mentioned a place on here laser vision i e.
Not sure if ya can mention websites on here.but they do both eyes for €2500. And 20% tax of that leaves it at €2000 for both eyes..thats good.
Must look around for feedback from anyone who got it done there.

Yeah it is worth looking around. The one bonus of going to a popular place like Optilase is that you get free corrections if your eye sight ever does regress in 10 or 20 years or whatever. Obviously, this is dependent on them still existing and I assume other places have similar offers - the more popular the place the more likely they are to last 10 or 20 years, in theory!

As I said though, shop around. Go with whoever makes you most comfortable, it is surgery at the end of the day - don't let a few hundred quid sway you one way or another, IMO.

Johngoose

jive wrote: »

Hi crxsi09, all the consultations are free. If you go in for a consultation you do not pay, they just let you know if you are eligible for surgery or not. If you are eligible and you opt not to go for it then there is an 'expiry' on the consultation so to speak - if you want to get laser eye surgery >6 months after the consultation then you would need to get another consultation which you would then have to pay for. If you never get the surgery you never have to pay for your initial consultation.

If you get a consultation and need to go back in a few months as advised by them then again this would be free.

If you need a referral code for €100 off (the surgery) you can PM me.

Any chance I could get the referral code please.Thinking of getting it done too.:-)

jive

Johngoose wrote: »

Any chance I could get the referral code please.Thinking of getting it done too.:-)

No bother, PM'd you.

DOD555

Hi all, just though I would share my experience with laser eye surgery. Feel free to ask any questions you may have. I underwent the Lasik surgery about 6 weeks ago.

Summary
Go for it! As someone who was wearing either glasses or contact lenses for the last 15 years, I find it so much easier. No more hassle of having to put in lenses when rushing for football or the gym or a night out. Shop around and get a few assessments just to ensure you are suitable, this is your eyes after all. The technology has never been more advanced so there has never been a safer time to do it (my brother and sister also got it done this year and highly recommend it). Everybody is different but I found the surgery fine, yes it was uncomfortable but only for around 20 seconds in each eye. My eyes were sore for around 2-3 hours after the surgery but after that it was fine once I put my drops in regularly (I got the Lasik treatment). It’s 6 weeks on now and no issues. Negotiate with the clinic, I got over €400 off the initial asking price. I went with Optilase who I found to be helpful and professional throughout. Please feel free to us me as a referral and you can get an additional €100 off (private mail me for details). Please read on for abit more detail (hope I don’t bore you!).

The Decision
I probably debated it for around 6 months before I finally decided to start booking consultations. It was always something I was planning on doing but I was worried my eyes hadn’t stabilised enough – my vision had changed slightly on my last 2 eye examination. But once you hit 25ish your eyes shouldn’t really change that much (I’m 31) so once you are older than 24/25 most clinics are happy to go ahead with it. Optilase gives a lifetime guarantee (and most clinics do give some form of guarantee) so if my eyes do get worse, they will give them another quick zap to fix them!

In terms of the surgery, there are 2 main types. Lasik and Lasek. You can google the difference but basically Lasik is the quick recovery option (they cut a circular flap on the eye surface first, then zap it and replace the flap) and most people get it (it’s also generally more expensive as they use 2 machines instead of one) unless there is some reason why you can’t get it (e.g. your cornea isn’t thick enough). I got my surgery done on a Friday around 4pm and was back to work on the Monday with no issues (I also have 4 computer screens and work 12 hours per day which I was worried about but no issues thankfully). I did have to turn the brightness down on my screens though.

In terms of clinic options, the ones who give free assessments (that I could find) are Optilase (who I went with), Optical Express and the Laser Vision Eye Clinic. All are in Dublin but I think most of them branches throughout the country. Then there is the private hospitals, Wellington at the Beacon and Blackrock clinic were the two I looked into but they were €100/€125 for the assessment (which does come off the cost of surgery if you do decide to go with them) and the actually costs of the surgery was quite expensive (around €3.5k/€4k). I would recommend to go for the free assessment with all 3 if possible. Just to get the differing opinions. Optilase actually said the cornea in one of my eyes was not thick enough for the Lasik initially but then they consulted with the surgeon and he was happy to go ahead with it. I went for a consultation at the Laser Vision Eye Clinic also. They were actually the cheapest (€2.5k for either type of surgery) but I just thought Optilase were abit more modern and also seemed to used several new technologies (e.g. idesign). They worked out slightly more expensive (around €2,700 after I negotiated them down from around €3,100 (which was the initial price they gave me including a 25% discount for having my health insurance with Irish Life). I also done the surgery at short notice which was one of the reasons they gave me a discount. How bad your eyes are also effects the cost (I was short-sighted, around -3.5 in both). I actually couldn’t get an appointment with Optical express, I couldn’t do Monday-Friday with work and they seemed to have very very limited availability on Saturdays – as in you have to book 2 months in advance! I had an appointment with them but had to cancel and the next Saturday appointment was 2 months down the line. From my other consultations I knew what type of surgery I needed so I asked them for a price and was quoted something ridiculous (including my health insurance discount) so I figured there was no point in waiting for the consultation. I would highly recommend Optilase, they were very professional from the outset, all their technology was very modern and new and the people working in the clinic were extremely nice and professional.

The Surgery
I was in the clinic for around 2.5 hours but spend the majority of that waiting around. They basically do all the tests again that they completed as part of the initial assessment (to make sure there have been no changes). The Lasik surgery consists of 2 parts, the first is the cutting of the flap with a laser (you don’t even feel this). The second part is the actual surgery when they burn away (reshape) some of your cornea. This is a little more uncomfortable, they place a suction ring over your eye so you can’t close it or move it. They ask you to stare at a red target and then start the sending laser pulses to reshape the cornea. The worse your eyesight, the longer this takes. Mine was around 20 seconds in one eye and 24 in the other (I have a stigma in one of my eyes). You really just feel pressure on your eye, like somebody pressing their finger against it, but it’s not really sore, just uncomfortable. After the surgery, they give your eyes a check to make sure everything is ok and you’re done. Should have also mentioned, they put numbing eye drops into your eyes before the surgery so you don’t feel the pain as much. This wore off when I got home (around 20 minutes after the surgery) and my eyes were sore for about a 2-3 hour period (this was the worst part). I basically lay in my bed with the curtains closes and lights off but my eyes felt really watery and it was quick uncomfortable. But after the initial 2-3 hours period I got out of bed and they were still a little sore but not that bad. The following day, they were a lot better and my vision was perfect which is the main thing.

The Aftercare
I had 3 different types of drops which I had to use for the first week (I was basically putting drops in every 2 hours) and then just one of the drops 4 times a day for the next 3 weeks. I’m around 6 weeks on from my surgery now and I still find my eyes abit dry in the morning so I put drops in every morning and then maybe twice more during the day depending on how my eyes feel. I still find bridge lights sometimes a little hard to look at, for example when I’m in bed some nights, I have to turn the brightness right down on my phone. I’ve done 2 follow up checks already (one the following day after the surgery and one after 4 weeks) – they check the flap is healing correctly and also do an eyesight test. There is a 3 month check also.

So that was my experience with laser eye vision, hope it was helpful. My eyesight has never been better and apart from abit of dryness in the mornings, I have had no issues. Obviously every person is different so this is just my experience.

Also if you decide to go with Optilase, you can use me a referral and you get an additional €100 off and I also get a €100 (Private mail me for details).

More than happy to answer any questions anybody who is considering the surgery may have.