Optical Express

I originally had my first set of treatment in February (and reviewed this procedure on here - see below). Since then my eyesight deteriorated to approx -0.75/-1 in both eyes and therefore the optician recommended that I could have a second go at surgery (free of charge). Whilst I was disappointed that it hadn't worked, I had been advised that it may not work 100% first time and so it was not wholly unexpected. As I had been advised thin corneas for the first treatment, I was advised that I would have to have Lasek treatment for the second treatment. I was a bit concerned about this as I was aware that it could be more painful. I found that the first 24 hours were fine (a contrast to the lasik treatment) however after this I became very light sensitive, which meant I couldn't do anything apart from sit in a dark room! However the pain was totally bare-able, I had no need for the anaesthetic eye drops that were provided. I actually went back to work 4 days later but struggled to use a computer screen, however the following day (5 days after treatment) I was fine. Originally I found my close up vision was quite poor, whilst I was able to read it was slightly blurry and not as good quality as before the treatment. However about 6 weeks following treatment this has returned to normal. My after care treatment from Optical Express (Westfields) has been really poor. I have never been seen on time, with anywhere between half an hour and one hours wait. The staff at the front of the shop barely communicate with the opticians and it has been very frustrating. The end result is good (apparently I am back to 20/20 again) but again, this is only 3 months later, so I can't advise on the long term impacts.

I originally had my first set of treatment in February (and reviewed this procedure on here - see below). Since then my eyesight deteriorated to approx -0.75/-1 in both eyes and therefore the optician recommended that I could have a second go at surgery (free of charge). Whilst I was disappointed that it hadn't worked, I had been advised that it may not work 100% first time and so it was not wholly unexpected. As I had been advised thin corneas for the first treatment, I was advised that I would have to have Lasek treatment for the second treatment. I was a bit concerned about this as I was aware that it could be more painful. I found that the first 24 hours were fine (a contrast to the lasik treatment) however after this I became very light sensitive, which meant I couldn't do anything apart from sit in a dark room! However the pain was totally bare-able, I had no need for the anaesthetic eye drops that were provided. I actually went back to work 4 days later but struggled to use a computer screen, however the following day (5 days after treatment) I was fine. Originally I found my close up vision was quite poor, whilst I was able to read it was slightly blurry and not as good quality as before the treatment. However about 6 weeks following treatment this has returned to normal. My after care treatment from Optical Express (Westfields) has been really poor. I have never been seen on time, with anywhere between half an hour and one hours wait. The staff at the front of the shop barely communicate with the opticians and it has been very frustrating. The end result is good (apparently I am back to 20/20 again) but again, this is only 3 months later, so I can't advise on the long term impacts.

I originally had my first set of treatment in February (and reviewed this procedure on here - see below). Since then my eyesight deteriorated to approx -0.75/-1 in both eyes and therefore the optician recommended that I could have a second go at surgery (free of charge). Whilst I was disappointed that it hadn't worked, I had been advised that it may not work 100% first time and so it was not wholly unexpected. As I had been advised thin corneas for the first treatment, I was advised that I would have to have Lasek treatment for the second treatment. I was a bit concerned about this as I was aware that it could be more painful. I found that the first 24 hours were fine (a contrast to the lasik treatment) however after this I became very light sensitive, which meant I couldn't do anything apart from sit in a dark room! However the pain was totally bare-able, I had no need for the anaesthetic eye drops that were provided. I actually went back to work 4 days later but struggled to use a computer screen, however the following day (5 days after treatment) I was fine. Originally I found my close up vision was quite poor, whilst I was able to read it was slightly blurry and not as good quality as before the treatment. However about 6 weeks following treatment this has returned to normal. My after care treatment from Optical Express (Westfields) has been really poor. I have never been seen on time, with anywhere between half an hour and one hours wait. The staff at the front of the shop barely communicate with the opticians and it has been very frustrating. The end result is good (apparently I am back to 20/20 again) but again, this is only 3 months later, so I can't advise on the long term impacts.

I originally had my first set of treatment in February (and reviewed this procedure on here - see below). Since then my eyesight deteriorated to approx -0.75/-1 in both eyes and therefore the optician recommended that I could have a second go at surgery (free of charge). Whilst I was disappointed that it hadn't worked, I had been advised that it may not work 100% first time and so it was not wholly unexpected. As I had been advised thin corneas for the first treatment, I was advised that I would have to have Lasek treatment for the second treatment. I was a bit concerned about this as I was aware that it could be more painful. I found that the first 24 hours were fine (a contrast to the lasik treatment) however after this I became very light sensitive, which meant I couldn't do anything apart from sit in a dark room! However the pain was totally bare-able, I had no need for the anaesthetic eye drops that were provided. I actually went back to work 4 days later but struggled to use a computer screen, however the following day (5 days after treatment) I was fine. Originally I found my close up vision was quite poor, whilst I was able to read it was slightly blurry and not as good quality as before the treatment. However about 6 weeks following treatment this has returned to normal. My after care treatment from Optical Express (Westfields) has been really poor. I have never been seen on time, with anywhere between half an hour and one hours wait. The staff at the front of the shop barely communicate with the opticians and it has been very frustrating. The end result is good (apparently I am back to 20/20 again) but again, this is only 3 months later, so I can't advise on the long term impacts.

I originally had my first set of treatment in February (and reviewed this procedure on here - see below). Since then my eyesight deteriorated to approx -0.75/-1 in both eyes and therefore the optician recommended that I could have a second go at surgery (free of charge). Whilst I was disappointed that it hadn't worked, I had been advised that it may not work 100% first time and so it was not wholly unexpected. As I had been advised thin corneas for the first treatment, I was advised that I would have to have Lasek treatment for the second treatment. I was a bit concerned about this as I was aware that it could be more painful. I found that the first 24 hours were fine (a contrast to the lasik treatment) however after this I became very light sensitive, which meant I couldn't do anything apart from sit in a dark room! However the pain was totally bare-able, I had no need for the anaesthetic eye drops that were provided. I actually went back to work 4 days later but struggled to use a computer screen, however the following day (5 days after treatment) I was fine. Originally I found my close up vision was quite poor, whilst I was able to read it was slightly blurry and not as good quality as before the treatment. However about 6 weeks following treatment this has returned to normal. My after care treatment from Optical Express (Westfields) has been really poor. I have never been seen on time, with anywhere between half an hour and one hours wait. The staff at the front of the shop barely communicate with the opticians and it has been very frustrating. The end result is good (apparently I am back to 20/20 again) but again, this is only 3 months later, so I can't advise on the long term impacts.

I originally had my first set of treatment in February (and reviewed this procedure on here - see below). Since then my eyesight deteriorated to approx -0.75/-1 in both eyes and therefore the optician recommended that I could have a second go at surgery (free of charge). Whilst I was disappointed that it hadn't worked, I had been advised that it may not work 100% first time and so it was not wholly unexpected. As I had been advised thin corneas for the first treatment, I was advised that I would have to have Lasek treatment for the second treatment. I was a bit concerned about this as I was aware that it could be more painful. I found that the first 24 hours were fine (a contrast to the lasik treatment) however after this I became very light sensitive, which meant I couldn't do anything apart from sit in a dark room! However the pain was totally bare-able, I had no need for the anaesthetic eye drops that were provided. I actually went back to work 4 days later but struggled to use a computer screen, however the following day (5 days after treatment) I was fine. Originally I found my close up vision was quite poor, whilst I was able to read it was slightly blurry and not as good quality as before the treatment. However about 6 weeks following treatment this has returned to normal. My after care treatment from Optical Express (Westfields) has been really poor. I have never been seen on time, with anywhere between half an hour and one hours wait. The staff at the front of the shop barely communicate with the opticians and it has been very frustrating. The end result is good (apparently I am back to 20/20 again) but again, this is only 3 months later, so I can't advise on the long term impacts.

Fantastic results, the surgeon Tom Mateman was really good and explained every thing. My eye sight is now above the 20/20 bench mark and was within 18 hours of having it done. My eyes were only uncomfortable on the day and after that the discomfort really was minimal I would recommend this to every one!

I had my treatment at Cribbs Causeway on 12/01/2010 and my surgeon was Mr Tom Materman. The procedure itself was painless, it was uncomfortable for a couple of hours after - streaming eyes. I kept my eyes closed all the way home and was very light sensitive. The best way to describe it is it felt like I had just peeled a very strong onion. The next day my vision was excellent. The only discomfort I have had since the procedure has been dry eyes at night. The hardest part of this procedure has been trying to get my head around the whole thing, after all these years of struggling with contacts and glasses (prescription -8.75), spending less than an hour in Optical Express all of that has been taken away. I would recommend Optical Express to anyone and the staff in both Bristol Cribbs and Torquay couldn't have been more help.

I have Wavefront Intralsae Lasic with the Optical Express Southampton clinic in December 2009 following consultation at the Horsham branch in the middle of the year. I initially had consultations with Optical Express and Ultralase to make a comparison between the two companies. I did find optical express a little bit more salesy and thought that the Ultralase set up in Guildford looked more professional as it was in a separate building rather than a shoppiong centre. After lots of reading reviews and research i decided that there was no benefit in paying £1200 more for what seemed the same treatment at Ultralase - they did hard sell their lifetime care plan which when you read into it does not really tell you what is covered. I found both companies professional and informative at the consultations and the only difference being that Ultralase told me that there was no point going for standard Lasic and that I 'needed' wavefront. I must say that the treatment itself was really nothing to worry about, the staff in Southampton made me feel very comfortable by joking and chatting with me during the checks etc. My only negative comment here would be about being left downstairs in the shop area for too long before being taken upstairs to the laser treatment rooms and not being informed well enough about timings and what was happening next. I met my surgeon Mrs Joanna McGraw who explained what the treatment would consist of and not to worry - she was very calming. The treatment itself was painless Joanne and her assistants made me feel very at ease and explained everything they were doing. In total the treatment lasted less than 2 mins per eye although you are in surgery longer because of setting up etc. I walked out of the surgery assisted and could see without glasses - in fact I forgot to take my glasses back out with me. There was less discomfort than I expected on the first day although I did have blurriness and double vision. I was told that when I woke up the next day I would have a big surprise and i did – I could see perfectly! Its now a month since my treatment and my distance vision is superb, my near vision is not as good as it was but this was expected – I would rather wear glasses 10% of the time for reading than 100% of the time. The halos at night-time are MUCH better and continuing to improve. Optical express have now seen me three times since my treatment and are happy with my progress. My advice is not to read too much about laser treatment – get it done – its fantastic and I would have no hesitation in recommending Optical Express at Southampton for treatment.

I had my procedure on 12/1/2010 at Optical Express Bristol Cribbs Causeway and my surgeon was Tom Materman. All I can say is 'amazing' my vision is verygood after one day and and my perscription was -8.75. The procedure was not painfull at all, the worst bit was worrying about it and i should n't have. I did have very watery eyes for about 1 hour after but that was all, (it felt like i had peeled an onion). I have struggled for years with my glasses and contact lenses, i feel a different person already. I thorougherly recommend Optical Express.