Page 1 of Laser eye treatment

Anyone had it done? Getting fed up with the glasses and contacts aren`t really my thing, was considering moving up a step.

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Jay: So you`re the man who didn`t know if he had a pimple or a boil!

Homer: It was a gummy bear.

I`ve not had it done, but I know 3 ppl who have, all recommend it. I keep thinking about it, but since my prescription hasn`t changed in years, I don`t need new glasses, so it doesn`t seem worth the bother.

I had it done about 5 years ago, and couldn`t be happier. It was scary as hell (the disclaimer form was long) but the results were amazing. That said, I am a tad dubious about the almost conveyor belt approach that is being taken on the high street (pay a bit more and see a true specialist).

HK

I`ll bump up this thread rather than start a new one.

Basically I`ve been in for my consultation this morning and have agreed to get the recommended treatment of £1,995 per eye (Although I went in with a limit for the total cost of £2-2.5k).

I`ve gone with Ultralase who everyone who I`ve ever spoke to, who`s had it done, has been with.

Basically the price is that much with me getting Lasik treatment with wavefront.

Apparently Wavefront means that it`s all done with lasers (no incision made by hand) and it will fix other imperfections aswell and improve night vision. From what I gather this is costing about an additional £500 per eye.

My overall opinion is it`s probably worth it long term, especially as you get the guarantee that you get free treatment for life, if you need laser eye again if your vision deteriorates (I thought you could only get it once anyway before I went in today).

So by people who`ve had it done, does anyone know if the "wavefront" part is worth it?

From memory Bowfer`s had it done? but I`m not sure if this a new method from the past couple of years.

I`m 26 this year aswell, so realistically I`m going to get a fair bit of usage out of the treatment.

www.last.fm/user/1mills

Interesting you bumped this thread, as recently I started looking into it again, it does mean every few days I now get emails from Ultralase, Optimax and Optical Express.

they all say more or less the same things in their email/websites and physical brochures, but what I find amazing is the price diffrerences. Optical Express is about 1/2 the price of Ultralase, for what on paper looks to be exactly the same treatment. I too was looking at the most expensive lasik wavefront one.

Optical Express claim to be so "cheap" as since they`re cheaper they get more customers, and since they have more customers they can pass on the "bulk discount" saving, and say they don`t understand why other companies charge so much more for the same procedure. But part of me seems sceptical. I`m sure they are all auditted, safety control checked, and must meet stringent controls for the staff, but the price difference is so vast you can`t help but think they`re cutting corners.

One thing I did notice, is that some of the more expensive companies like Ultralase, at least in a recent email to me, offered 3 year interest free credit, so if you go with them, it may be worth haggling for that, i think they normally do 1 year interest free credit.

Apart from that can`t offer much advice, I got the paper brochures from the "big 3" and if you took the covers off all of them, you wouldn`t know which is which, they all seem to offer the same services.

I will add, my sister in law is the only person I know that wasn`t 100% happy with the results, (at the time she said she was, but has been more honest now I`ve said I`m tempted).
her vision is not 20/20, which she thought it would be, so with her glasses/contact lenses before treatment, she could see better than she can now. At the time for her treatment they couldn`t guarantee 20/20, but I think wavefront now does. She doesn`t regret having the treatment, as she appreciates the convenience, but said to me you may be slightly disappointed.

So that got me thinking, if say you last had your eyes test 2 years ago, and you prescription now has changed, you have laser eye surgery, you will be happy, as it will most likely be the same/an improvement, but if your eyesight hasn`t changed, you may be.

everyone i know has gone to India to get it done....at about a quarter of the price of the UK and very high standards......again they`re all really happy with it too.

I`ve read about ppl going abroad, not India, but USA and mainland Europe to save money, but the problem is what if there is a problem? what about the week later/ 6month check up?

Also there could be language problems when being treated abroad, I know must doctors have to learn English for medical journals etc, but that could still be a problem.

Also different countries have different rules and regulations about the lasers that can/cannot be used. I think there is some sort of super dooper new Swiss laser, which some but not all clinics in UK have. last I read USA hadn`t approved it yet, and so it may be hard to find out if other countries or on cutting edge (excuse the pun) technology or using old equipment.

Quote:
everyone i know has gone to India to get it done....at about a quarter of the price of the UK and very high standards......again they`re all really happy with it too.

Just exactly how is it cheaper when you take into account the air fare?

Now I can understand if like me when I had it done 15 years ago it cost me £3000 in total

Price has dropped considerable

BTW Still don`t wear glasses :)

Quote:
Just exactly how is it cheaper when you take into account the air fare?

Now I can understand if like me when I had it done 15 years ago it cost me £3000 in total

Price has dropped considerable

BTW Still don`t wear glasses

www.last.fm/user/1mills


Apparently costing me £4k...............................

A guy at work was telling me that laser eye treatments have now been approved by the medical council or something (?). I always said I would wait until ten years after laser eye treatment became widespread just to make sure that there were no long term effects on people.

Nick