Optimax

I am due to have a consultation at Optimax (Birmingham) with Dr Madhusudhan - can anyone provide me with experiences they have had as I am extremly nervous at the moment

I had epi-Lasek performed at the Peterborough clinic last wednesday and am already back to work 5 days later. So far so good! The procedure itself is painless, as everyone on this site seems to agree, but the pain afterwarrds for about 24 hours was pretty bad. My eyelids were swollen and my eyes were streaming for hours. Fortunately this cleared the next day and I was just left with a feeling of really heavy eyelids and a sensitivity to light. All of these symptoms went on the saturday when I had the bandage lenses out. I was told my eyes were healing well and to keep using the refresh eye drops for as long as i needed to, although that's not very often now. I'm almost at driving standard and can carry out my day to day activities as normal without any trouble. I'm noticing a slight improvement in my vision everyday and have been told it can take up to 6 months to fully settle so I'm not too concerned. Overall, i wish I'd had it done sooner! Good luck to anyone about to go through the procedure, I'm sure you'll find it was worth it.

I had femtosecond lasik with wavefront on 1st September and found the whole procedure to be painless and far less traumatising than I'd expected, given some of the reviews I'd read! Dr Patel, who was very informative and caring throughout, performed the procedure at London Optimax. Vision afterwards was a little hazy but definitely immediately improved. I had no pain at all afterwards (just a little grittiness for a couple of hours) and returned the following day to find I had gone from -4 and -3.75 to -1 and -1.25. My vision fluctuated a little for a couple of days, but now 4 days later seems to be improving daily. I feel as if a miracle has happened!! Please don't hesitate if it is fear that's stopping you - there really was nothing to it! I feel liberated now - no more searching for glasses in the morning or fiddling with lenses before bed. Will post outcome after my 1 week check-up. Donna Chalk 5.9.06

I had Lasik with Wavefront at the Liverpool branch on 28/09/06. Didn't feel a thing. Dr. Madhusudhan is a man of few words, but makes you feel calm about the whole procedure. I have a check up on the 03/10/06. Still find it a bit strange from looking at things in the distance and then to reading, but hoping things will improve over the next few weeks. The staff at the Liverpool brance where really nice and helpful. Would recommend it and don't be worried because it doesn't hurt and have had no pain at all.

Dr Manek Patel was my surgeon about 4 years ago & my sight is perfect 20/20 vision I used to have 2 sets of glasses . I am now free of them - Wonderful

I had Wavefront Epilasek at the Liverpool Clinic on 28/09/06. The surgeon was Dr. Madhusudhan, who, as other people have said, is quite laconic. But that suited me. I prefer a surly bedside manner. Nevertheless, he had fully explained to me, with the aid of images of my eyes on his computer screen, exactly how he would successfully perform the procedure. Before my consultation, I was hoping that I would be suitable for Epi, as it would enable me to return to playing football sooner than LASIK would. For my eyes, the two options were LASIK performed with Femtosecond Laser (which would cost an additional £1000) or Epi with Wavefront (£300 extra). These were the options because I have thinner corneas than average. I selected the Epi with Wavefront option. At no time, though, did I get the impression that there was any hard sell for the dearer option. Once the doctor knew I wanted Epi, he agreed to perform it. I actually purchased my treatment through Ebay: in all, it cost £1195. On the day of treatment, I was a tad nervous, probably because I was there unaccompanied. Here's what happens: you lie on a couch after donning a foolish looking hat. (But that's clinics I suppose.) The doctor then anaesthetises your first eye while the attending nurse counts out how long it has been administered for... 30, 40 seconds, etc. Once this has been done, the doctor uses a speculum (which, look up) to keep your eye open and relatively still. THIS DOES NOT HURT AT ALL. Then you are directed to stare at a red light above you, at which point the laser machine seems to whirr into life. Because (I think) of the anaesthetic and other moisture in the eye, the red light becomes like a dancing kaleidoscope-rouge if you will.... Then there are some crackly noises (sounds worse than it is) and a slightly acrid odour (again sounds worse than it is - but hey, it is LASER eye surgery). AT NO TIME DURING SURGERY IS THERE ANY PAIN. The laser is active for a matter of seconds, the speculum is removed, more drops are introduced onto your eye, and you are then asked to blink and tightly close your eyes, open, blink, etc. The procedure is then repeated on the other eye. After surgery, you sit up, and the nurse checks your vision with a chart, which at this point in my case, was rather blurred, with glimpses of clarity. You are then issued with your painkillers, sedatives and eye-drops, with an explanation of how and when to use them - the directions are issued to you in writing also. The following is what I personally experienced afterwards: within 20 minutes the anaesthetic wore off and I became increasingly sensitive to light. By one hour after, my eyes were becoming quite sore. Between 2 hours and 36 hours after the operation, the pain was akin to having hot shampoo in my eyes. (But without being able to rinse it out!) Unpleasant, but still worth it in my opinion. The painkillers assuaged the pain a little. But a big cheer for the sedatives, which knocked me out good and proper. A lot of the first 36 hours was killed by the action of the sedatives. I would suggest that anyone who elects for this type of surgery has someone to care for them for about 24 to 36 hours. You won't wanna be chopping and frying your onions during this time. After about 48 hours my vision was unstable, but realising more and more clarity. I was able to drive by the third day. It's now two weeks since the surgery, and today I had a check up. The optometrist told me that I was just bordering on 20/20 in both eyes, with anticipated further improvement to come! I am therefore very pleased with the results so far. To be able to see clearly without all the hassle of glasses and lenses is WELL WORTH IT. At all times I was dealt with courteously and professionally by all the staff with whom I came into contact. FIVE STARS.

I had epi-lasek at Southampton Branch this morning. What can I say? The telephone staff were fantastic, so helpful. The clinic staff were so friendly and reasurring, despite me shaking like a leaf, they were fantastic. The consultant was so very friendly adn calming. He explained everything in a way I understood and was so kind and reasurring. Please if you are looking for laser surgery forget the rest and go with Optimax. I cant believe that I had my eyes laseked at 11am this morning! ALthough to be honest there is pain after the drops were off ( about 2hrs later) it doesnt last. I was very uncomfortable but the more you rest the easier it is. The procedure itself was totally pain free! Even the clamps were not at all uncomfortable. You do smell burning ( a bit like at the dentist) but that is it. It is cool in the laser room ( it has to be for the laser) so make sure you have something warm on. I cannot praise Southanpton Highly enough. THANK YOU!!!

Further to my posting in early September (4 days after Femtosecond Lasik, I would like to add that my eyesight is now better than 20/20 with just a slight minus prescription of -0.25 and -0.50, which is perfect to allow me to read up-close without reading glasses. I am still amazed at the change to my quality of life without the bother of glasses/prescription sunglasses/lenses etc. etc., although I am just getting out of the habit of looking for my glasses first thing in the morning!!

I had Lasik Wavefront at Optimax, Peterborough with Dr Hill on Mon 06 November. I could not be happier. Dr Hill was so reassuring in his manner, talking me through the process at ach stage so I knew exactly what to expect. The usrgery itself was a breeze, certainly better than a trip to the dentist, even the dreaded burning smell was nothing more than something similar to someone lighting a match. My vision straight after was great and has improved since, so far it is better than 20/20, but I have been advised that it may drop off slightly. The day of treatment was a bit sore, but since then I have been totally pain free and I remain obsessive about using hte prescribed drops to make sure it stays that way. I could not describe exactly how happy I am with every stage of this process.

I went to Dr Ayoubi at Southampton in June for my consultation, having purchased through e-bay. My eyes were L -1.75 R -3.00. I had pretty much decided that I wanted lasik on both eyes. However Dr Ayoubi recommended I went for Epi-Lasek on my right eye only, as this was very much my dominant eye, and have monovision. Monovision is usually recommended for older people, and I am only 28, but he felt this would suit me very well, and would hopefully mean I would not need reading glasses when I was older. This worked out far cheaper than I had expected, which gave me confidence that he was not just trying to flog the most expensive treatment. He also recommended that I did not have wavefront, as this would not make much difference in my case. I was rather floored by being told that the treatment I had thought I wanted was not what he was recommending. I had been booked in for treatment two weeks later, but having spoken with my usual optician who advised that it could take three months to get used to monovision and some people never got used to it, I deferred the appointment by three months to think about it. I then tested monovision for the next three months using contact lenses, deciding that it would suit me, but it did take a couple of months to get used to. The treatment was very much as described by everyone else on this site - pain free and straightforward. My husband came with me, and looked after me for the first 24 hours. Even though I had only one eye treated, both eyes closed up for 24 hours. Opening the untreated eye caused pain in the treated eye, so I just kept them closed. The sedatives were great! I had thought my sight was improving, but when the bandage contact lense was removed it took a step backwards, but I was told this was quite normal. However even though I had been using my drops that night I woke with my eyeball stuck to my eyelid, and must have ripped off the healing cells when I tried to open the eye. This was far worse that the pain just after treatment, and had to get out the anesthetic drops in order to get back to sleep. I was having severe dry eye problems, and at my next appointment was given eye gel to use before bed, which sorted the problem. I was not able to drive for three weeks, which may have been due to the damage to the cells when they were ripped off. My vision improved gradually day by day, and this week, two months after treatment, my vision in my treated eye is now better than 20:20, and I am thrilled. The dry eye problem has also gone away, although I keep the refresh drops handy just in case. It has taken a long time, and I had concerns that I was going to end up disapointed, particularly after reading reviews where people were driving after three days. Bear in mind that it can take quite some time to get the final results, and don't be pressured into anything you are not sure about. I did not like the way your treatment date was booked before you had even had your consultation, although they were very good about putting it off for three months, and there certainly was no pressure from Dr Ayoubi. Finally, if you have decided you do want to use Optimax, buy it through e-bay. It may seem daft, but if you have already made your mind up that you are using them why pay more than you have to! I paid £477 and that would not go far on contact lenses and glasses!