I can see clearly now (LASIK Treatments)

Name: squiffy

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Product:	LASIK Treatments
Date:	12.01.02 (2016 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick Recovery, Pretty painless, The leading UK clinic for Lasik

Disadvantages: Cost, Peoples' perception it is unsafe

I had Lasik done in January 99 - both eyes at the same time.

I had my procedure done at the Centre for Sight which is within the Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH) in East Grinstead. <b>Declaration of interest</b> - at the time I got my eyes done, my wife worked as a Senior Nurse in the NHS opthalmic unit within the QVH. Although she didn't work directly on the private clinic, she did deal with patients coming in for pre-assessments and post-op checks. She doesn't work there any more.

The fact that she was happy for me to have the surgery should speak volumes about her confidence as a professional in the Lasik procedure and in the people performing it.

The Centre for Sight (see http://www.centreforsight.com ) run regular seminars where you get a presentation from the consultant, watch a video of an actual operation and then get the chance to question the consultant and previous patients (like myself). I'd recommend the free seminar to anyone as the best way to learn more and to get your concerns addressed.

One thing that my wife says is that the consultant (Mr Shiraz Daya) is probably the leading corneal consultant in Europe. She doesn't work there any more, so I don't think she's just sucking up to him. :-)

There are lots of places offering Lasik & PRK now. Personally I wouldn't touch PRK, but thats just my opinion as formed by my wifes feedback, and the poor experience of a friend who had it done.

When choosing a clinic to perform your surgery you need to look at the whole package of what is offered. Does it include after care? What if your eyes regress, do you get treated again (I did - more on that later). A cheap up-front cost does not always mean the best value. Another advantage of the Centre for Sight is that they are based within an NHS hospital, and therefore have to keep clinical records and be subject to NHS audits & the like.

So how was my experience? <
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The operation itself.

If you wear hard contacts, you have to stop wearing them for about a month to allow the cornea to revert to its natural shape. For soft contacts its about two weeks.

On the operation day your eyes are fully checked out and your vision measured prior to the operation. You are given a Valium to keep you relaxed, and then go into the operation room. I didn't feel any different after the valium, although I was a little unsteady on my feet so it obviously worked. You also get a lot of anaesthetic drops at regular intervals to numb your eye. The op is done under local only!

You walk into the room, lie on the couch and are prepared. A surgical sheet is placed over your face, with a hole cut out for your eye. Some callipers are used to hold your eye open. This doesn't hurt, but you can feel 'pressure'.

A flap is then cut into your eye. The squeamish should skip this but! A suction ring is placed onto your eye to hold it and stop you moving. A side effect of the ring is that it raised pressure in your eye and everything goes dim. The ring itself is a mount for the cutter, which reminds me of a cigar cutter. This moves across the eye cutting a flap, and leaving the flap attached at one end. The cutter and suction ring are removed, and your vision then returns.

(Side point - PRK differs in that rather than cutting a flap, the top surface of your eye is scratched off. Not only is this painful afterwards, but the tissue growing back can scar which leads to problems with haze at night).

The flap is then peeled back. This is odd. You can see a red dot above your eye, but as the flap is peeled back everything goes very 'watery', and the red dot becomes a red cloud.

You are then told to keep your eye fixed on the red dot and to not move while the treatment takes place. You are aware of a red dot flashing very quickly over your eye, a clicking noise and a vaguel
y unpleasant funny smell. Yes, it's the smell of bits of your cornea being vaporised!

The laser has a scanner to track any movements of your eye so don't get too paranoid about staying absolutely still. Just stay relaxed.

The laser lasts for 15 seconds or so. When it is finished your eye is washed, and the flap replaced. There are no stitches.

They take the surgical mask off and you sit up. There is a clock at the foot of the bed-thing, and I was surprised and delighted to be able to read the time immediately. (With my second eye it was a little watery on sitting up).

You then have an eye shield fitted. This is a just a clear perspex dome, which is secured to your face with surgical tape. You are taken back to the waiting room, and after 30 minutes or so you then have a check up. Assuming this is OK and you are happy to proceed, you then do the same again with the second eye.

For the first 24 hours they recommend you don't move your eyes too much. I'd recommend an evening appointment to be honest, so you can go to bed afterwards. (You get a sleeping pill if you want one). For six weeks afterwards you have to wear the eye shields, but this really isn't uncomfortable despite people thinking they couldn't sleep with them. Believe me, it isn't that bad - although they do make you look like "The Fly".

How quickly do you recover? The day after I was done, I drove my wife and I to the cinema. It really is that quick.

Does it hurt? Not at all.

What is the success rate? I can't speak for other Lasik clinics, but the Centre for Sight have an excellent record. Typical results are that 10% of patients can have their sight regress by 10% of their original vision. This happened to me. I can't speak for the success rates of other clinics, but I was the only person in the whole of 1999 who regressed to the point of needing to be re-treated. Why me?!? :-( <
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For the first couple of weeks my vision was better than 20-20 - and better than I had ever achieved with glasses or contacts. But I regressed. I was -7.50, and my vision regressed to about -0.75. This was borderline for passing the driving test, so I was re-treated three months after my first operation. Yes they can re-lift the flap without re-cutting it, but other than that the operation is the same.

The re-treatment went well. The only complication being that within 30 mins of my second retreatment I did have some pain in one eye. I was given some drops to take. Within 20 minutes of taking the first drop the pain went away.

There is a common belief that the flap is vulnerable. Nonsense. My wife only ever saw one patient with a flap problem, and this was a guy who was poked in the eye by his daughter a couple of weeks after his operation. I'd expect a person without a flap to have a corneal abrasion or worse after an incident like that! You do have to take care - e.g. not swim for six months or so, as the flap is a theoretical route for infection but my wife hasn't been aware of anyone very getting anything. After about a year or so, I think the flap is almost completely healed.

(Side point - about 8 weeks after I was done I became aware that my vision wasn't as good as it should be. I went to a local optician that day to check I was safe to drive, and the optician could barely even see the flap - and that was only after I told her it was there!)

At the time I was done, the cost was about £1500 per eye. This covers the operation, all drops, all after-care appoinmtments and any re-treatments you might need.

Since my re-treatment I've been fine. My vision is now left eye slightly better than 20-20 and right eye slightly worse. I'm delighted with the result, and would have no hesitation with recommending Lasik in general, and the Centre for Sight in particular.

Summary: