Carrying on from my last blog post, I am going to continue on with the theme of discussing the reasons that put people off having laser eye surgery. When I ask people to give me the reasons that put them off having laser eye surgery, one of the most common responses is ‘ the thought of having it done ’. On questioning them further, I typically get responses like:

• The idea of someone poking around in my eye.
• The thought of needles in my eye.
• The thought of a laser burning my eye. The smell of the eye burning.
• The fact that they think laser eye surgery is painful.
• The thought of someone cutting their eye open.

Well to be honest if any of the above were true, then I think it would be understandable that people would put off having laser eye treatment. At least I certainly wouldn’t want to have it done!

Let’s try and put a few things straight and talk about whether any of the above fears are justifiable.

• Firstly there is no poking around inside your eye and your eye is not opened up as I think some people imagine. A very thin layer is separated from the surface of your eye for a few minutes and then gently replaced back. Your eye is not being cut open or anything anywhere near as drastic as that. The layer that is separated from the surface of your eye is far smaller than a millimetre. Imagine removing an incredibly thin layer of skin from your arm. It’s not the same as actually cutting into and opening up your arm.
• Are there needles involved in the laser eye surgery procedure? Absolutely NOT! Your eyes are numbed using eye drops, which at the very worst sting for about 10-20 seconds. I have had the drops in myself and it’s no worse than getting a little bit of shampoo in your eye whilst having a bath or shower.
• The thought of a laser burning my eye: I have heard people talk about the smell of the eye burning as a reason to put them off laser eye surgery. Well the first thing to mention is that the laser does not burn anything. Contrary to what most people believe the laser beam is actually cold. Occasionally there is a smell resembling burning during surgery, but this is a smell that is given off by the actual laser machine. It is NOT the burning of the surface of your eye. The actual lasering of the eye is completely painless and in fact you won’t even feel it at all. It is just like having a light shone in your eye for a short period of time. The higher your prescription the longer the laser is applied. For every 1 dioptre (this is what eye prescriptions are measured in) the laser is applied for 10 seconds. So if your prescription is  -3.00, then the laser is only applied for 30 seconds!
• The fact that laser eye surgery hurts: The laser eye surgery procedure does not hurt at all. Some people report mild pressure on their eye but that really is it.
• The thought of a blade being used during surgery: I think people envisage their surgeon coming towards their eye with a knife and no wonder they get nervous! Nothing could be further from the truth – You won’t even see a blade. The surgical blade (also called microkeratome) is incorporated into the equipment. As the machine is so close to your eye it will just look like a black blur. You wouldn’t even know a blade was being used if you weren’t told! If the idea of a blade really does put you off, then you should consider Intralase which is a bladeless procedure.

So I think you can see that what people imagine about laser eye surgery is nearly all untrue and the procedure itself is quick, painless and very straight forward. To read about what to expect after laser eye surgery then you can read the guides I have written on Lasik recovery and Lasek recovery. If there is anything you are still not sure about or have any questions you want answering, why not leave a comment on this blog or ask it in our laser eye surgery forum.

Thanks for reading,

Tim

As I promised in my previous post, today I am going to discuss some of the reasons that I regularly hear, that put people off having  laser eye surgery. Having laser eye surgery is not a decision that can be made lightly and people have also sorts of worries and concerns about the procedure. Over the past month or so, I have been asking patients whose eyes I have tested to give me the reasons that would put them off having the procedure.  One of the most common things that kept coming up, was the worry that laser eye surgery does not last forever.

As a result I thought I would use this blog post to address this issue, to see if I could help reassure people in any way. As with all surgical procedures, no one could ever say with a hundred percent certainty that something is going to last forever. The same can be said about laser eye surgery and any surgeon claiming otherwise is simply not telling the truth. However there are certain facts about how long laser eye surgery lasts, that may help you make your decision:

• Only 5-10% of people having laser eye surgery need to have a laser re-enhancement (re-treatment). So that means for every 100 people who have laser eye surgery between 5-10 people need to have it done again. Most clinics will do the retreatment (providing your suitable) for free, if it is within a certain period of time from first having your surgery. You need to check the exact policy regarding this before you agree to have the surgery.
• High prescriptions (over -5.00) are more likely to regress than lower prescriptions.
• Plus prescriptions (eg +4.00) are more likely to need a re-treatment than minus prescriptions.
• The re-treatment rates are the same for both Lasik and Lasek.
• The chances of your prescription returning back to what it was before surgery is almost zero. What typically happens when your eyes regress is that your prescription partially returns. For example if you were -5.00 before surgery, then your eyes may regress to -1.00.

As you can see from this post, having laser eye surgery is not an absolute guarantee that you are going to have perfect vision for the rest of your life. However, the chances of needing a re-treatment are small and in most cases your eyes can be re-lasered, often at no cost to you.

Hope this post as been helpful and please let me know if there is anything you are still unsure of. Either comment on this blog post or ask a question in our laser eye surgery forum,

Until next time

Hi everyone!

As Ganesh’s first post mentioned, Treatmentsaver.com has had a recent change in direction and we are now focussing on private UK clinics as well as clinics abroad. We are putting most of our efforts into the ever growing field of laser eye surgery as we feel this is what our users would like to see.

My main focus for the past few months or so here at Treatmentsaver.com, has been in putting together lots of useful information and guides on eye laser surgery. Before going ahead and having the procedure people generally want to find out about laser eye surgery risks, laser eye surgery costs and what laser eye surgery results they should expect.

Having worked as an optician for the past 8 years, I have seen laser eye surgery grow and grow and it is something I have a real passion about. I often get asked what my reasons are for having such a passion and the thing that always comes to mind, is the fact that laser eye surgery is such a life changing procedure for those who have it done. When people come to see me for a regular eye test I always get the impression that the reason they are getting new glasses is because they ‘have to’ rather than ‘really want to’. With laser eye surgery this is completely different with people genuinely excited about the prospect of having the procedure. When they finally go ahead and have laser vision correction, it is often not only a life changing procedure but also an extremely emotional experience.

I have taken great care when writing the laser eye surgery guides to keep things comprehensive yet easy to understand. I would love to hear from you if there is something that has not yet been covered or something you still don’t understand. The best place to do this is by commenting on my blog post or by using our laser eye surgery forum, where you can ask questions and interact with others.

Over the next few months in my blog, I am going to try and write about all the different aspects of laser eye treatment, particularly paying attention to the things I often get asked about. I am also going to write about the things that put people off having laser eye surgery and see if I can address these issues. Working as a optician I often hear people say things about laser eye treatment which are simply not true, so I will also try and dispel some of these myths and old wives tales about the procedure!

Hope you have enjoyed reading my first blog.