Go to the top.

No amateurs would be messing with God's greatest gift imo.

Certainly not a spectacle shop.

deffo thanks velvet

i am just really quite squeamish about my eyes and i have read that they cut your eyeball to make a flap to lift before they laser

it wouldnt be so bad if you were asleep while they did it

It works though.

I'd get it done.

i would love to, but really need to hear about other people's experiences, good or bad, first

ello Barns..

I considered it a while ago..   but I looked into the percentage of so called "fails" & it put me off...    at the time it was about 1%...  but those fails didn't just mean that they were still short sighted & could rectifiy it with glasses...   it left people with damaged vision that glasses couldn't rectify.

I decided in the end that it was a risk I wasn't prepared to take.

I wear contact lenses & don't have a problem with it, the only time I do is when swimming/snorkelling/diving.   Haven't had a holiday for a while so hasn't been an issue..    it is an issue when I do go away though.

IF I decided to have it done it I would have to go to Moorfields Eye Hospital for it.

Wild horses wouldn't get me to go to optimax or ultralase. 

And..   the whole procedure does make me feel really really squeamish too.

thanks ditty

i can't wear contacts as my eyes are so sensitive so its either the goggles or surgery

i have been looking on the optimax website, are they bad?    thank gawd i posted here

yes, they are still quoting the 99% and it is the 1% that has me worried too (apart from the actual procedure)

i am actually swaying towards not having it done, but thought if a few came on here saying how brill it was and how it had changed their lives, i might reconsider

i only know one person personally who has had it done, when she was 18 (about 15 years ago), she now has 20/20 vision, i needed more convincing than that tho

I would consider it if I could afford it.  But I can't, so.... 

I would have had it done when I was younger.... (if it had been around and I could have afforded it)... as I too can't wear contacts...... but after 50+ years of wearing glasses I am sort of used to them

I wouldn't touch it Barney! I'm not squeamish....just paranoid that it could end up making it all worse. Sight is far too precious to take a gamble on.

I get a news letter from my optician every few months.They don't recommend laser  surgery they say  none of their top Optomerists have had it done.Then, they make money selling specs and lenses so...I dunno.

I know one person that has had it done...   with ultralase & she too now has 20/20 vision and says it was the best thing she's ever done.

Doesn't change the fact that its a gamble though.

& no...  I wouldn't touch Optimax...    there was a thread on here on this very subject a couple of years ago,  and someone said they'd had theirs done at Moorfields.. 

they also said the golden rule is you spend as much as you can afford to spend to have it done.   Its not something you go looking for a bargain for.

I tried to discuss it with my old optician once..   he told me that one of the big high street names had a really really bad reputation for screwing up...  that there were lots of litigations & stuff going through...  but he wouldn't tell me which one it was.

Just out of interest Barns...    when did you last try contact lenses?

They have come a long long way over the years..   maybe you should try again with them

I would have to be going blind before I considered it.

I know someone who had it done and thought it was great.   I also have a friend in the NHS who says none of the eye specialists she knows would have it done ever.. small percentage of getting it wrong, but if you're in that percentage, you're screwed.

thanks everyone for your comments, it sounds like a deffo no-no for me, i really appreciate your responses

its funny katty, cos on the websites i have been looking at it says all of their optometrists have had laser surgery

ditty ... i havent tried contacts for years, as soon as anything touches my eyes they pour and go red and itchy/spikey

they have been the same since i was a little 'un, i only have to walk in a room when onions have been chopped and thats me looking like i have been crying for hours

that carries a lot of weight

thats it decision made!! new goggles for me

yes, that is true, i have read that one one of the laser surgery websites today

Same here And yes, cutting my eyeballs while I'm still awake?!

I have really sensitive eyes too and tried contacts recently. At first my eyes would feel quite dry and itchy, but I persevered with them as it was so nice not wearing glasses and I am used to them now. It took a month or more maybe to get used to them, and I still don't wear them every day - like to give my eyes a break At first, I'd just have them in for a few hours, and gradually over time built up to a full day. I just have the standard ones, but they have extra moisture, extra oxygen and all sorts. Could be worth having a chat to your optician about it

thanks saz

as i broke my glasses this morning, i will be visiting my optician very soon - think i will have a chat and will perhaps try them again

They can give you a selection of trial ones to see how they feel etc I did get a bit disheartened and thought I wasn't going to be able to wear them as I kept being able to feel them in my eye and that, but I'm pleased I kept trying I do still have a bit of trouble getting them in and out sometimes, especially my left eye which is more sensitive

you see, i am going all squirmish reading your description

not sure i could cope, thats why i thought surgery, apparently it only takes about 10-15 mins then that would have been it, you would never have to touch your eye again   not gonna go for that now though

I remember the early days of wearing contacts (I have been wearing them for about 18 years now)..   but I remember the panic when I couldn't get one out...    pawing about in me eyeball frantically for 20 mins.

That doesn't happen anymore thankfully.

Barns...   my Mum tried to wear contacts when I first started wearing them, and gave up cos of eye sensitivity & dry eyes back then.

I keep telling her to give them another go..  cos they really really have come a long long way in recent years. 

Ages ago an opticians was pushing laser eye surgery on me

I asked if ANY of the optician there had the treatment

He sed no

Wen i asked why he sed the treatment was "untested in the long term" and wot happens to patients years later remains unknown

I declined his offer

 . . . but will defo consider it in future

with regard to your being squeamish zaz, consider the millions  of  cataract  operations performed  all over the world, all the time.

It's done with a local anesthetic, which I'm told freezes the eyeball , so you  can't  actually see what is happenening, and all you feel is a slight pressure.

That pressure being, when  having shattered the lens with sound waves they then cut a small flap to suck the shattered lens out and tuck a  a new plastic one in thats  all folded up, then it  flips open when in place.

Amazing really.

What a tough decision.  I have a friend who has had to wear glasses since she was a bairn, and my hubby has had to have them permanently since about 35, (13 years,) and both of them (and many others I am sure) would LOVE to never have to wear them.  But neither one has the bottle to go ahead with laser eye surgery.  

As has been said, it is your eyesight - and it would be a dreadful tragedy if it got damaged.  That said, I agree with a few on here who have said 'go to your doctor' as he will probably be able to put you on to reputable people who will look after you.  

Good luck Barney.  Whatever you decide to do.  

That's how I feel too.  

I'm not poo pooing it for people, it's just I'm a nervous eye person, I can't even get contacts in easily because my eye just goes in to 'blink overdrive' when my finger approaches it. SO the thought of someone lasering my eyes just makes my spine tingle.  I know people that have had it done and were very happy with the results.

ewww ewwww ewwwwww

no way, you have put me off them again now (not that it took much), it is definately an eyeball thing, i just don't think i could do it.  The one person that I know that has had the laser is delighted with it, so even though i am totally an eyeball-wimp i thought i could be convinced if i came on here and everyone said how wonderful it was

renton - i am not surprised you declined the offer! 

jackson - i hope i dont develop cataracts although it is amazing what they can do and if i couldnt see at all, i am sure i would go for it

thank you sparkles

cinds @ blink overdrive, mine would be blinky-watery overdrive

i have now booked an eyetest - and will be choosing some new glasses, thank you all for your posts

too late - i ain't changing my mind again now

thanks little brambles mommy

i asked my mate the very same question on sat night. he had it done 10 years ago and said it was the best thing he ever had done. His brother had it done 2 years after him and also had no problems and would (if he had too) do it again in a heartbeat. my mate was telling me that an other of our friends had it done but he only had one year out of it before he needed glasses again.

I'm going to have to get thinking about it soon as they can't do it if your -3 and I'm -2.75

An old workmate had it done last summer (as he wanted to be a garda/cop) and he has had no problems and believe me he would have said cos he's a big girl (he's decided to be a teacher now).

actually it's all men that i know that's had it done...

one year? 

good luck if you decide to go for it moonbeams, you would be braver than me