Anyone gone in front of the laser?
I’m seriously considering seeing as I’ve a weak enough prescription, but strong enough that it pisses me off every evening when I’ve to take out the contacts.
Awful pain in the hole for swimming and hurling as well.
Seems to be a lot of clinics offering special deals and I can’t see what the benefit is between going for Lasik over Lasek.
Any feedback welcomed.
In a similar situation myself, got glasses/contacts nealry 2 years ago. Never felt i needed them up to that point & coped fine without them for 23 years but totally dependant on them now. Like you say, once I put in the glasses/contacts I need to have them on. Don’t really midn the contacts apart from when I am tired. Sweat is an issue too.
Would consider laser eye in a few years alright.
Lasik has a far quicker healing time than Lasek.
Also less irritating after the surgery.
With Lasek, you wear a contact lens for 3 days, called a bandage lens designed to help the healing process by protecting the surface of the eyelid. pain in the arse by day 3.
I got Lasek done 8 weeks ago, best thing I ever stumped up for.
No more contacts, much better when playing any kind of sport or walking into a pub and not steaming up like a bishop in a creche.
Get plenty of consultations, I went for three and the third one was the clinic I decided to have the surgery with.
Cost €100 quid per consultation in the Mater and the Wellington, Laservision were free.
Lasek was my only option as I do a bit of kickboxing and there’s a possibilty of taking a kick to the head.
Would have gone for it regardless as there are lower risks of complications since there isn’t any flap created in Lasek and there’s also less risk of needing corrective surgery later on.
there’s plenty of stuff on boards.ie in the eyecare forum, and lots online about Lasik vs Lasek and the rest of it.
if you walk into the eye surgery clinic in the Mater Private, there’s lots of free medical papers, follow-up studies, etc. to answer most of your queries.
PM if you have any questions.
P.S. I’d wait another few weeks if I were you, read somewhere that the absence of UV light helps the recovery process, meaning people who opt for surgery in winter have better results.
Cheers TE.
I don’t know when I’ll go for it. I was due for a consultation with Optical Express last March but couldn’t attend when I got a new job and couldn’t take the day off when I was working from home in Wexico and getting to Newbridge was a pain in the hole.
Based in Dublin now and I saw this special offer with Optilase and the Irish Times there last week so I was thinking of going with them once the GAA season bites the dust in October.
what price doesit usually run at? i know theres all these “€450 per eye” but it surely runs to more thant that?
Do you get to choose Lasek or Lasik I was under the impression the decision was based on suitability?
One thing a lot of these cheaper places neglect to tell you is that if you get it as a young fella your eyes still decline as you age same as they would if you never got it. So in 20/30 years time you’ll need to do it again.
The Wellington eye clinic offer a life time warranty on your surgery meaning if you need a top up they’ll do it for free. They are a bit more expensive though.
No troubles in that department myself luckily, but anyone I know who got it done swears it was the best thing they ever done.
I know one lad who was blind as a bat and he says it’s completely changed his life.
Best of luck with it anyway.
My brother got this done a few years back. He got doctored out in the Beacon in Sandyford I think.
Swears by it.
pretty much everyone is suitable for Lasek.
if you have thin corneas (usually less than 500 micron) surgeons recommend Lasek over Lasik as there isn’t enough material to shave off and still leave an eye thick enough to support the required pressure
unless there’s some reason why Lasik is a risk to you, they’ll recommend that one.
mountain biking, rugby and any sort of martial art would all be problems for Lasik surgery, in the unlikely event that the flap ever reopened you’d be in serious trouble.
the cost will be approx 3 grand no matter where you go. it’s not something you want to scrimp on.
optilase and optical express and the likes that make it sound like a trip to the barbers are quoting the cheapest surgery available.
it’s the old bait-and-switch routine.
the big cost is getting the surface of your eye mapped, normally using a wavefront laser.
it’s like the contours of a map, the surgeon will use this map to smooth out the surface of the cornea and restore your eyesight to it’s optimum level.
the €495 job is an off-the-shelf approach. if your prescription is -2.0 they assume your cornea is elliptical and shave off what should be enough to restore your vision. may or may not be perfect.
basically the cost jumps depending on the method of measuring the imperfection of your eye. the more accurate you want it, the more expensive. top of the range is €3100 in the Mater, or 4k in the Wellington, with a grand refunded provided you have health insurance.
And what do you do with the lasers once you have them fitted?
Use them to cut down trees and fight aliens?
[size=1]Terrible I knoe[/size]
I had laser eye surgery a few years ago, though not of the corrective kind. I got a rubeotic glaucoma in my right eye and lost the sight in it (as the result of an undiagnosable condition called Fuchs Heterochromic Cyclytis), had a load of laser surgery then to kill off the capillaries in the eye and bring the pressure down. It was fucking painful. Completely blind in it since, possibility I’ll have to get a glass eye in years to come. Get your eyes checked every few years boys, even if you have no problems with them.
Best of luck with it CB.
Explains all the people “crashing into” Fitzy anyways
I crash into them Runt, very difficult in crowds, and for some reason, in the kitchen in work. Many’s the time I’ve bumped somone with a cup of coffee, thankfully never spilt on me, only on the person holding the mug, so thats alright then.
Nicely done.
A good friend of mine is an eye nurse in one of the main eye clinics in the country. I was thinking of having this done so I went and spoke to her about it. She didnt recommend or try to put me off but pointed out that she wears glasses, as does the consultant she works for, and neither would consider having this done as it may well be the best thing since sliced pan but the ‘newness’ of the procedure means there isnt enough historic evidence in place to be sure what long term implications may be.
Im still mulling it over as hate wearing the contacts but it has certainly put doubts in my mind
Out of interest what’s the main reason people wear contacts over glasses? Is it for handiness or sporting reasons? Could never see myself being able to put my finger on my eye to put a contact lense in place. Don’t need glasses yet thankfully but I’m expecting that to change in future years.
After a couple of days it becomes second nature. With Glasses you still have blind spots for use of a better word. Contacts you have 100% vision the 180 degrees you are looking. More practical too, no needing to take them off and clean them or have the falling off and getting squashed and many other small things.
As I said contacts become second nature and after a few days you wouldn’t even feel them apart from the first couple of minutes if you are half asleep in the morning or if you are tired and have them in for a prolonged period -14 hours+
I got contacts for hurling and I’ve found them fine for the most part. Biggest problem I have with them is working at a computer screen for long spells. Eyes tend to sore enough sometimes and your vision deteriorates from the close focus as well. Will probably get the laser treatment eventually. There are some risks no doubt but all the stories I’ve heard from people have been overwhelmingly positive.
Thinly veiled “I used the pretence of being interested in laser surgery to take advantage of an innocent nurse” post imho.
Thanks lads.
New six-month supply of contact lenses arrived in the post yesterday so they’ll probably be the last of them now.
I’ll probably go with the Optilase offer and see what they advise at the consultancy.
As a matter of interest how much does a six month supply of contact lenses cost. Is some of it covered under health insurance?