Accuvision Reviews and Ratings

I had Wavefront Lasik treatment at Accuvision on the 17th of October. My prescription was quite small, mostly astigmatism.

Re: +0.25 / -1.50
Le: 0.00 / -1.50

I used to suffer from migraine headaches at school as no-one diagnosed my eye sight as a potential cause. Even then, I had multiple prescription changes between optical providers and rather lost confidence in the opticians who saw me. Contact lenses have never been on the cards as I could not bear to go near my eyes, let alone have pieces of plastic in them. I had become quite comfortable with my glasses but they made life difficult in some areas such as photography, golf, kite surfing, rugby etc.

I had been associated with laser vision correction for many years as my brother worked in the industry. He had worked at other clinics prior to Accuvision but never felt completely comfortable in having anyone treat me until now. After he had been there for a while he felt that I was going to be in safe hands, not only for the procedure, but if anything were to go wrong I could be safe in the knowledge that Accuvision would look after me.

Treatment itself was supposed to be quite simple, I was told exactly what to expect so I should have been fine. Nevertheless, after they had finished treating my first eye, I went rather pale and clammy and they decided to give me a few minutes to relax and calm down before proceeding with the second eye. Not that I had any reason to be nervous, there was no pain although some discomfort when they applied suction to the eye to cut the flap. Second eye went fine largely due to the fact that I knew what was coming. Not being in control is what made me apprehensive I think, all in the head. Treatment was quick - given that I took a 5 minute rest, I was in theatre for no more than 15 minutes.

Vision recovered very quickly, quite foggy afterwards – but through the fog I could read the scrolling news bar at the bottom of their television when I came out of theatre. Anyone who has astigmatism can appreciate how your vision blurs when trying to read or see definition. I took the drops as instructed and got on with my life quite comfortably. I was advised not to cycle to work for the first week or go to the gym etc, but am back to doing things as before. I was advised that due to my large pupils etc, that there was a risk my night vision might suffer initially. I have had no such issues during these dark evenings while cycling home.

The one area of my life where I have always had to compromise is photography and wildlife observation. I found it impossible to get a good level of clarity through a pair of binoculars with glasses on and so did without. A week after surgery I went bird-watching in the New Forest, it was only at this stage that I realised how my colleagues were able to see so much more definition than I could.

One week after laser treatment and I feel like a kid with a new toy.
The whole procedure was painless and all the staff at the clinic from the receptionist to the surgeon were first class.

I'm 26 & my prescription was -1.75 in both eyes. I had been wearing what I thought were amazing contact lenses for over 2 years - Air Optix Night & Day. Apparently it was fine to wear them & sleep in them for a MONTH continuously and then just change them with a new pair.. I thought they were great until about 2 years in, when I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with terribly bad eye pain. From that moment on my eyes totally rejected any contact lenses and always felt very dry and irritated. My useless NHS opthamologist told me i had Blepharitis and could not wear lenses anymore. bleph usually stops u having eye surgery but when I went to eye surgery clinics they all said there was no sign of it and that it was probably just my epithelium had worn down & had no chance to recover. I was quite nervous to have laser surgery because my eyes did not feel healthy at all.
I originally booked in to have wavefront intralase at Optimax for £1850, this was the price I got only after about 12 months of letters when the deals kept getting better and better. At the last minute I discovered no-touch & found that Accuvision were the only ones that do it. When they quoted me £50 more I was instantly sold. People that take LASIK because it doesn't hurt are really selling themselves short. I play rugby and Optimax never told me that there was a distinct possibility a blow to the eye could have dislodged the flap which stays weak for up to 7 years post-op. Accuvision said any person with active lifestyles should never get a flap, but they recommend trans-epi to everyone that is eligible.
My surgeon was Chad Rostron, nice guy and he did a great job. Only ever met him for 15 mins as I primarily dealt with optometrists. Fair enough if this makes my surgery cheaper!
So about the pain - surgery was completely painless, don't be nervous about it because it is a breeze. 30 mins afterwards you will not be very comfortable at all, if at all possible I would advise getting home to a dark room within an hour. As i mentioned before, waking up with my contact lens problem was painful, this I'd describe as a discomfort.. a discomfort that takes a very long time to subside. I slept for 4 hours on the first night and the second day was much more manageable. I got a good 10 hours on the second night. By the 4th day I was comfortable doing anything and even drove to my follow up appt, although was still very light sensitive. You will be unable to look at computer or tv screens for 3-4 days even with the brightness turned down. So to sum up, the pain isn't a big deal, it's the boredom. Get an ipod with a few audiobooks on it to keep yourself occupied.
The results;
at my 4 day appointment my vision was 20:40, (driving standard)
at my 2 week appt I hit 20:20, and was able to read 2 letters from 20:15.
I am now at 4 1/2 weeks and I guess I'm at least 20:15 now, I am hoping, although unlikely, that I will get to 20:10 at some stage and really impress people.
They warned me that having to use reading glasses in my old age was almost certain after any laser eye surgery. Seeing as both my parents had perfect eye sight all their lives, and now require reading glasses I thought chances are I will too. Who knows what will be out there in 20 years anyway and at least I know I took the procedure that causes the very least damage to my eyes.

For last ten years I have wanted to have laser eye surgery as i have always hated not being able to see without my glasses or contact lenses. My contact lenses were getting more and more uncomfortable and after speaking to somebody at work who had had laser eye surgery i decided to go for it! From the minute i walked through the door at accuvision i was made to feel at ease. All the staff were great and i can honestly say the actual operation was no where near as bad as i was expecting. I now can see perfectly without my glasses or lenses and i am so happy. The best thing is when i go swimming with my 3 year old! Thanks to everyone at accuvision.

Since having my treatment my surgeon says I now have better than 20/20 vision! I can see better now without my glasses than i could before with them! I would recommend Accuvision to anyone!