Laser Eye Surgery … Blink and You’ll Miss It!
It’s a fact that over the age of 40 most peoples eyesight starts to become weaker and many of us then resort to glasses or contact lenses at least for tasks like reading or driving.
I wore glasses for many years and then switched to contact lenses but found that my eyes kept drying up. Some of my friends and one of my brothers had laser eye surgery to enhance their vision and in all cases, their eyesight improved dramatically. I was always a bit sceptical about having it done as I was worried that my eyesight may be damaged in some way, however, in early 2011, I went to a couple of clinics to have an evaluation to see if my eyes were suitable and to ascertain what improvements would be made by having it done. I went to three clinics, in the end, Ultralase, Optical Express and Optimax.
The interesting thing about all three evaluations was that they were very similar and also they used quite hard sell tactics so when I was finished they made recommendations to me and then quoted a price and wanted me to sign then and there for the surgery. In all cases, I said I wanted to compare the service and price. I was then literally bombarded by sales calls and emails from them all trying to get me to use their services. Talking to friends I found out that they all give offers on the eye surgery and so I asked them all what they could do. In the end, the one that I chose gave me a substantial discount as I was prepared to come in at short notice when they had some cancellations or were not that busy, which happened to be Easter Bank Holiday Monday. It was a bit like a standby flight!
Before the procedure, I had two consultations with the surgeon, who said that while it would fully correct distance vision my short vision would not be corrected and I would still have to wear glasses for reading and on a computer. He also said I would probably have a bit of mild discomfort over the next 24 hours but after that, it would be fine and I just needed to place drops in my eyes for about a week. The actual surgery itself was relatively painless and I have to say the result has been amazing. During the past year, my distance eyesight has been fantastic and I forget sometimes that I couldn’t see objects at a distance without glasses.
Initially, I was a bit frustrated that I had to wear glasses to read, but I quickly got used to having several pairs of off the shelf readers around the house and office, and on balance I prefer the fact that I don’t have to wear glasses when mountain biking, skiing and doing watersports. I was 52 when I had the surgery last year and would recommend it but would also say to double-check on exactly what your individual requirements are and don’t accept the first quote you see as with everything nowadays there are discounts to be had!
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