Laser Eye Surgery

squire1

I got LASIK wavefront carried out about 24 hours ago and am delighted with the results so far. I've been for my 1 day checkup up and am 20/20.

There was a lot of discomfort for the first three hours after the surgery, I couldn't open my eyes and it felt like someone had a sand covered finger stuck in each eye. Very gritty feeling and very watery eyes. I lay in a dark room until about 5pm while the discomfort subsided.

When I eventually opened my eyes I noticed a considerable improvement in my vision although everything seemed a bit cloudy or slightly out of focus. This improved very rapidly so that by 8pm or so I was seeing and feeling normaly again.

When I woke this morning, there was no discomfort whatsoever and my sight was as good as it had been with glasses. I am not experiencing dry eyes but I will continue to use the artificial tear drops every few hours just to be sure.

So overall, so far I'm delighted with the proceedure and the results. The best thing is being caught in the rain and not having steamy wet galsses to contend with.;)

Another check up next week after everything settles down.

faceman

Has any of the posters experienced that night vision prob (impacting night driving) or colour saturation problem out of curiousity?

hermit

faceman wrote:

Has any of the posters experienced that night vision prob (impacting night driving) or colour saturation problem out of curiousity?

I had the starbursting effect for approx 6 weeks after surgery. each week it gradually got better and better. The human eye is subject to a certain amount of starbursting naturally anyway. I didn;t drive for the first two weeks post surgery, although I probably could have (albeit with more risk). I would really hate to have starbursting as a permanent side effect. I imagine it must be hell.

Starbursting is primarily related to the pupil size - as mentioned in a previous post that is the reason why the dilate your pupils and measure them in a dark room. The bigger your pupils the more risk of starbursting. Obviously there are certain limits in size beyond which surgeons won't operate due to the risk of adverse effects.

hermit

jackdaw wrote:

I live in Barcelona and was thinking of getting it done here ..
http://www.sanestconsultores.com/

but its €1,300 Per Eye !!!

and i get no tax refund ..

Ireland its €900 per eye ?

I don't understand why its so much more expensive here .. the wages here
are almost half...

i might just come back to Ireland to get it done..

now reading some stuff about night vision ???

i dont know if i wanna risk it tbh ...

Prices vary in ireland - some places charge as low as you mention. I paid €4,000 for mine (2,000 per eye). got my VAT back and VHI paid 15% towards the surgery as well, so final payment was 2,600 I think. I could have paid less if I wanted to. But because I didn't want to take a risk with my eyes I decided to pay the extra money and go to a more reputable company (I am not saying that other companies are shoddy or anything) but the company I used were the first to perform Laser Eye Surgery in Ireland and the surgeons have performed more surgeries than any others in Ireland. All in all its a personal choice though.

Steamer

Well I got my Lasik done last Thursday, back at work now and it feels great!! No problems at all, could see practically when I came out but the next morning I really noticed the difference, took great delight throwing out all my old contact lens cases that were lying around the house!!

Mine cost me 4000euro but I didn't care because I went there on a recommendation that paid off, they are your eyes so you shouldn't let price affect your decision too much.

Happy days!!

PeakOutput

my parents are considering paying for this for me before i go back to college...............does anyone know if they can claim the tax back themselves (they would be on the higher band so would get alot back) or does it have to be my tax it comes out of (im only the lower band)

CombatCow

Here's a rough guide on the income tax relief. Not sure about who can/cant get the relief depending on who pays for it.

With Wavefront Lasik / Lasek at €2990 @42% = €1734

With Wavefront Lasik / Lasek at €2990 @20% = €2392



Anyways im getting LASEK done next tuesday in Optylase in Ely place, looking forward to getting it done. Have 2 weeks off to recover, may be a bit overkill but just to be safe

I'll report back my expierances to yall.


CC

garyh3

All,

Had Lazek eye surgery in 2003 in the US cost 5,000 dollars. Dry eye for about a year and still now and then but the drops do help. Have had no problems at all. My eye site was 20/10 the 2nd day. I’m now 40 and DO NOT REQUIRE READING GLASSES.

I have never ever regretted doing this having been with glasses since I was 5 years old.

scruff321

i have never had glasses but for the last number of years i defo need them for reading and long distance and that,however im interested in gettin laser eye treatment,does it requir u to have previously worn glasses by any chance?

scruff321

i have never had glasses but for the last number of years i defo need them for reading and long distance and that,however im interested in gettin laser eye treatment,does it requir u to have previously worn glasses by any chance?

PeakOutput

scruff321 wrote:

i have never had glasses but for the last number of years i defo need them for reading and long distance and that,however im interested in gettin laser eye treatment,does it requir u to have previously worn glasses by any chance?

optilase told me it was a necessity and they wouldnt make an appointment for initial consultation...............the national eye clinic said that it doesnt particularly matter but if iv been getting on ok without glasses do i really need the surgeory.........

iv an initial consultation with the national eye clinic tomorrow

PeakOutput

ok had my appointment today and basically they wont operate unless you have had a steady prescription for one year. this basically means you have to wear glasses for a year...............if your older than me(21) maybe its different as she said my eyes could still change for a a few years more.

she gave me a prescription for glass's which is great as the appointment was free and it would cost 50/60 to go to an opticians and get a prescription so even going for that reason would be worth it

dK1NG

I've been seriously considering this the past few months.

The thing that is putting me off is the price. I'm a student, so not earning enough to pay tax. Also, I'm not a member of Vivas/ VHI etc, so I'd be looking at the bones of €3-4k to get it done.

DOes anyone know how long you have to be with an insurance company before you can claim for this? Is there a minimum contract etc? Basically, is it possible for me to sign up to an insurance company for say 6 months, get this done, and then cancel my contract after the 6 months are up?

Would it be better to wait another 2 years until I'm in full time employment, so as to be entitled to my tax refund?

Just wondering out loud here, any comments from others who were in a similar situation would be appreciated. Thanks.:)

Oh, and has anyone had this done in Limerick? I dont particularly fancy having to travel up and down to Dublin for follow up checks etc. I was looking at this crowd down here: http://www.eyelaserireland.com/

Takeshi_Kovacs

dK1NG wrote:

I've been seriously considering this the past few months.

The thing that is putting me off is the price. I'm a student, so not earning enough to pay tax. Also, I'm not a member of Vivas/ VHI etc, so I'd be looking at the bones of €3-4k to get it done.

DOes anyone know how long you have to be with an insurance company before you can claim for this? Is there a minimum contract etc? Basically, is it possible for me to sign up to an insurance company for say 6 months, get this done, and then cancel my contract after the 6 months are up?

Would it be better to wait another 2 years until I'm in full time employment, so as to be entitled to my tax refund?

Just wondering out loud here, any comments from others who were in a similar situation would be appreciated. Thanks.:)

Oh, and has anyone had this done in Limerick? I dont particularly fancy having to travel up and down to Dublin for follow up checks etc. I was looking at this crowd down here: http://www.eyelaserireland.com/

Same here... just wondering if anyone has had experience with this crowd. I would rather pay more for a good surgeon, than get it done on the cheap.

Also, how often do you have to go back for checkups?, ie, a week later, month?... as i would like to get this done soon, but am also planning on heading off abroad for a year or so. Its the one thing thats is holding me back on getting the laser surgery.

JohnK

Final checkup with Optilase when I had it done was 6 months after the op

PeakOutput

you go back

1-3 days

1week

1month

6months

1 year

if i remember from the booklet correctly

Peyton Manning

Hurr hurr.

dK1NG

PeakOutput wrote:

you go back

1-3 days

1week

1month

6months

1 year

if i remember from the booklet correctly

Thats one of the reasons why I dont want to get it done in Dublin tbh. It's one thing going up for the initial op, but I dont fancy having to travel up and down for check ups like that.

Any one know if it would be possible to get teh op done in Dublin and the check ups down in Limerick? (With the same company obviously:o ). Would I be right in presuming that the surgeon would be the same regardless of whether its done in Limerick, Cork or Dublin??

Thanks.

PeakOutput

dK1NG wrote:

Would I be right in presuming that the surgeon would be the same regardless of whether its done in Limerick, Cork or Dublin??

no if they have offices in different cities it will be different surgeons more than likely.........they would also more than likely have a few surgeons in each clinic

CombatCow

Just an update on my eye surgery ( Optilase, Ely Place )

Had LASEK done on Tuesday morning, didnt feel any pain during the operation, just a tiny bit of discomfort when they were doing the first eye. overall didn't take long, was prolly in there for 30 mins max.

until today i spent most of my time just sleeping and when i couldent do that i just rested and kept my eyes closed and listened to music. didn't feel any pain while recovering at all. tho had to use the eye drops to keep my eyes from drying up.

Went back today ( 5 days after operation ) to have the contacts removed and had my eyes re-tsted. They said at the moment i had better than 20/20 vision and it should improve still over the coming week, and also that my eyes had healed exceptionally well...due to resting them so much.

Anyways, im extremely happy with the outcome and with optilase in general. Best 3 grand iv ever spent


CC

Creamy Goodness

i'm sorry for the off topicness but dK1NG have you got a time machine?

dK1NG

Still considering this - and am leaning heavily in favour of getting it done.

Has anyone any experiences of getting the surgery in Limerick?

The thing that is holding me back right now is the €€€, I will not get any tax back (as I'm in college) and am not in VHI. So, I'd be paying the full whack myself.

I've heard of someone getting it done abroad, someone I know got it done in New York a few yrs ago n said it worked out much cheaper even with flights etc, and you get the few days out there as well.
Thats a possibility, but the thing is I dont know how comfortable I'd be with that, if I got it done here and had any complications its easy to go back to the clinic.... Also, how long til you could comfortably fly afterwards??

Thanks.

dK1NG

Cremo wrote:

i'm sorry for the off topicness but dK1NG have you got a time machine?

JohnK

dK1NG wrote:

dK1NG, your post the 28th was made at approx 3:55pm but the board software reported the time 4:55pm so it appeared to have been made 1 hour in the future

Lynibeth

They don't tell you that after the ten year mark your eyes fall out

DArcy

I had LASEK Wavefront done with Optilase last Sunday (7 days ago). Paid €2990 and found the procedure to be painless but kinda weird and not something I'd want to go through every other day :rolleyes:

Anyway, I had 20/20 vision in my right eye from the moment I sat up after surgery. My left eye was blurry and a little watery but nothing to write home about. I made it through the contact lense phase, had them removed on Friday and was told my right eye was absolutely perfect and my left eye still has some healing to do. I dunno why but I'm feeling very jittery about the left eye. The right eye was perfect so quick and the left is still blurry and crap. Guess I just have to wait

I haven't suffered with any pain whatsoever, which was lucky! I had been advised by a family member who had the same procedure done to get Morphine and sleeping tablets!!! I really didn't need anything like that. Luckily I've never had dry eye and this hasn't changed at all since surgery (fingers crossed it stays that way). Light-sensitivity was an issue for 5 days or so but that's gone now. I'm at the "legal" standard to drive (NO idea how cuz left eye fecks the perfect right eye up!) but halos and starburst around lights at night are driving me nuts so I might stay away from the car a little longer.

So yes, I'm impatient and wondering if anyone else had one eye heal almost straight away and one eye take much longer to get there. I suppose I'm just worried they fecked up the left eye. I'd rather know about it now sooner than wait it out...why oh why am I so impatient?!?! :mad:

inode

considering this myself.

both my eyes are -3.00. it would be great to be able to see at the swimming pool lol. nothing worse than swimming under water and not being able to see a metre in front of you

anotherlostie

It's now three years since I had LASIK done in The Eye Clinic in Glasgow. It cost £1200 at the time, or €1800 of which I got back 40% as medical expenses the following year, so all in all it cost me about a grand.

You don't realise how great it is to be able to see without glasses until you get it yourself. No more foggy glasses when you go into the pub, no more wet specs in the rain etc. And as someone who was pretty blind beforehand, it was also considerably enhanced bedroom action:D .

I had the night halo problem for a couple of months - it is either long gone, or I am so used to it that it no longer bothers me driving. Dry eyes disappeared within a month. Other than that no problems, but you absolutely have to follow the prescriptions scrupulously to prevent infection while the eye is healing; I would suspect that many people with post-operative problems may have been casual in this regard.

As for 21 year olds getting it in college, well I can't understand why you can't wait a year or two til you have your own money, and your eyesight is likely to be stable, but then I'm a 30-something who went to college just before the Celtic Tiger, and buying contact lens solution had to be weighed up against buying food in your weekly budget!

So I would definitely recommend it and like I say to people of my age who say they will wait til more people get it done, they are usually the same people who were saying in 2000 they were going to wait til house prices dropped before buying...

baztard

I got both my eyes lasered (lasik) 6 months ago. The treatment on my right eye was successful, but a thin flap was cut on my left eye. This resulted in my having triple/quadruple vision in my left eye. As the flap was cut so thin it did not settle properly, and was left wrinkled. So I was left seeing 3 sets of traffic lights at night where there was only one, 4 mouse pointers on my screen, unable to read small text etc. After several re-visits to check on my progress, the doctor decided to re-lift the flap and smooth out the wrinkles. This operation was successful. However on re-visiting for a checkup I told the doctor that I suspected the vision in my right eye had slipped somewhat. He confirmed this and booked me in for a 2nd lasik session on my right eye. In the time running up to the 2nd op on my right eye, I began to once again get double vision in my left eye (Not as bad as it had been previously). I mention this to the doctor on the day of my 2nd right eye op and he said that the thin flap was acting up again, but that it may cause more damage than good to try and smooth it out again. So my right eye was treated again anyway. About 24 hours after the op, I started getting double vision in my right eye. So I had this checked out and the doc said that it was only temporary and should disappear in a few weeks/months (He had some name for the condition, which i dno't remember). So at the moment I have 20/20 vision in both eyes, but with double vision in both also. I'm confident I'll make a full recovery as such in the end, but it will have been afther taking the long route around. I'm not going to name the doc or the hospital involved so please dont ask, as this is not a name and shame, just an unusual case.

Scruff

inode wrote:

considering this myself.

both my eyes are -3.00. it would be great to be able to see at the swimming pool lol. nothing worse than swimming under water and not being able to see a metre in front of you

You can get perscription googles. They have em in Specsavers for about €50.
That said i'm starting to think about going under the laser as well. How are peoples eyes 2+ years on from it?