Optimax

I had bilateral LASEK at Optimax Manchester on the 1st of November. 2 things to say. 1) OUCH!!! & 2) WOW! The first 24 hours were terrible, probably similar to pouring extra hot chilli powder into your eyes. Every few minutes i had to pull my eyelids open to release the pressure caused by the build up of tears. The sleeping tablet helped and the next day was better. The pain didn't last long but it was very intense and not being able to rub your eyes doesn't help. Things might have been easier with bandage lenses but i wasn't able to go back to have them removed so I went without. Very light sensitive for a few days and still don't like bright lights now, 3 weeks on. Vision is excellent. Better than I had hoped for and still improving every day. At my first aftercare i was +0.7 in both eyes from -2.75 and my sight is even better now. My advice to others thinking about it is, DO LOTS OF RESEACH. That way you can be confident and prepared. I printed off over 200 pages of stuff, good and bad, and read every single piece and everything i could find on the net. I read every posting on this site, back then it was 29 pages. It took a long time but it was worth it. As for Optimax, bit like going to the dentist, not really friendly but not miserable ether. Didn’t have to wait long like some people have said. Didn’t get pampered like at Ultralase (went there first to be sure I was suitable). Asked a lot of tough questions of my surgeon and was satisfied with the answers. 5 stars for results and 4 stars for service. Good luck to all and a special hello to Nina, the lovely lady I joined up with for the 2 for 1. It was good to meet you after talking to you via email, a distraction from the surgery. Final thought.......I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM UP HERE.

I had bilateral lasek on Tuesday 18th Nov. The surgery, as expected was tense, but not painful (tense due to natural concerns). Slept most the day, on and off, and was glad I had my sister to stay with. No pain at all though, and I'm a bit of a weed! The most uncomfortable things were the contact lenses as I'm not used to wearing them. On Friday I went back in to get the lenses taken out and my first sight test....already at driving standard. Things have got better every night. I'm so pleased that I bit the bullet. I appreciate that my final prsciption will not be known for a couple of months, so fingers crossed. Dr Doyle came across as very capable, although he did not spend much time dicussing things on my initial consultation. No problem for me as I had done a great deal of research. He did answer a lot of my queries over the e mail prior to the sugery - very helpful. I did not book him through Optimax I went direct through his website, therefore was booked as his private patient. I believe that this gave me the advantage of direct contact for the many questions I had, as mentioned above. It's the same price. Nobody can make the decision for anyone else, and I would not like to try to influence them, but I personally am thrilled with the results to date. V

I'm writing this a week and a day before my LASEK surgery which, after extensive thought and research into different techniques seems to be the best choice. I had my consultation with Dr Almasri almost a month ago and while very speedy they were thorough and Dr Almasri was ready to answer all my questions even on the latest techniques which I'd been investigating - non-alcohol flap creation, cooling the eye etc. Much of the consultation was speeded up by good organisation - all the eye test machines were arranged in one room in a row so you just went down the row test by test... made it seem a little like a production line but was simply good organisation. However I'm still incredibly nervous and I'm not sure if it's fear or just the thought that in a week and a day my glasses could be gone forever - would be very glad to hear from anyone who's had this done just for a quick word of reassurance! My prescription was slightly over -4 in both eyes with astigmatism. I'll post again after the surgery, once I can see well enough! Best of luck to anyone being treated now.

The RYA failed me on medical grounds, so I can't teach people to sail - my eyesight wasn't good enough. Since I couldn't get them to change their policy, I decided to change my eyesight. -5.25 in left and right until Friday June 13, when I went to 13 Clare Street in Bristol for Lasik (Mr Slazus). Best not to be superstitious. "We could do monovision if you like", I was told, and in all my researches, including this website, I had never heard of it. Nor it seems had the receptionists. "That means just one eye, 'cos "mono" means "one"", the girl behind the desk said. In fact, it means different treatment on each eye to allow me, with some slight astigmatism left in my left eye, to read and see distance without glasses. First time for 47 years! (OK, I'm 58). I can read the small print on my watch face only with my left eye, and see number-plates in the distance only with my right. In my head I'm bifocal, it seems. The next day I reached out and put on my specs, as ever, to find the room all blurry. The big moment was in the shower on that first morning - I could see all my toes and count them without glasses! The pleasant surprise is still with me when I shower. After-effects? Some glare from headlights for the first few weeks, and I need good light to read in bed. After my August check-up I was sent to Croydon to the Number One Man, Professor Ventner, because I still felt I was getting only 90%, and he performed a minor surface operation, radial "C" cuts, on my right eye, giving me 20:20 vision on the subsequent check-up. The optometrist in Bristol was so impressed she told me she was going to e-mail Prof Ventner to congratulate him. Overall comments? The surgery bit is fine, and I like the way they talk you through it all during the operation. In the time it takes to describe the process to your friends (which I often do) he's done one eye. I was a bit surprised to have no medication. "What about the Valium?" I asked. Apparently it makes your pupils wobble. And also why didn't they clamp my head in some gadget or other? Front of house the Bristol place needs to be improved. The young women are friendly, but know little of the process you're going through, and mainly seem to be interested in getting you back in good time to be operated on. "Come back at 2.30", one said, "in good time for your 2.45 operation". In the end I was dealt with at 4.15, and that meant a two-hour wait because I had come back even earlier. The Optimax computer system seems to be pretty dire at keeping track of appointments, and I really don't like the check-up people reading the notes about me after I have sat down with them. "Have I seen you before?" one asked me. My daughter's retort to that was that if she needed to ask the question, maybe she should have the treatment herself .... Would I recommend it? It's such a big thing, having your eyes done, that I wouldn't make the decision for another, or urge it on them. For me it's been great: snorkelling without problems, never having your vision steam up as you enter a warm room, pulling a sweater over your neck without holding your glasses, sailing in driving drizzle without feeling you need wipers. Keep asking people and decide for yourself.

I had both my eyes done at the Advanced Laser eye Clinics Glasgow Branch on the 29th January 2004 by Dr. Kalognomas and have to say that I am really impressed. Apart from running behind schedule I can have no complaints. I found the staff very friendly although Dr. Kalognomas wasn't to talkative. My prescription was +3.75 in the left eye and +2.5 in the right, and 4 hours of having the operation I could read unaided. Although I decided to keep my eyes closed for the rest of the evening, but what a temptation. This morning I have had my first check up and everything looks fine, the right eye is just very slightly blurred and this will settle with time, but apart from that I can see very well. I have no discomfort although I still take the eye drops just in case. I have been told that there is a 30% - 40% chance of my eye sight diminishing to 1/3 - 2/3 of what it was because I was long (far) sighted, but I knew this before the procedure. All in all I cannot fault the clinic or staff in anyway, and would recommend anyone to have this done.

I had LASEK/Epiflap performed on me at the Finchley Road branch by Dr. Almasri on the 14th January 2004 - and here's my little story. My old prescription was -4 and -4.5 with about 1.5D of astigmatism in each eye - enough to mean the floor was a useless blur and losing my glasses rendered me mostly helpless. I'm 27 now and had been wearing them since about age 10 and contact lenses for the last few years. The contacts became less and less comfortable and eventually I was back on glasses - then I broke them last year and decided the time had come to do something about this. I went to a free consultation at Accuvision first, where it was confirmed that I had few 'higher order abberations' so there was little reason for me to persue Wavefront correction, and then onto Optimax as they offered LASEK, Accuvision didn't, and at £495 an eye - bargain! Even got the 2-4-1 offer with a friend so only £495 for both eyes... unbelievable, but there are good reasons Optimax can offer it so cheaply - best you ask them if you're wondering. I'll skip the consultation process, it's been described many times here, and the details of the op - it was quick and painless and made me laugh "oh my god I can see the roof!" No hitches and within five minuites my now-useless glasses were handed back to me and I'm back in the waiting room feeling lost. Took a good ten minuites before someone came over and said "that's it you know, you can go now" and off to home. Unlike some here I had quite a bit of pain, but that's a person-to-person thing and nothing Optimax did wrong. Was gone overnight leaving only an ache, and it took about five days before both eyes were good enough to use together without strain/ache - I'm very glad I had a friend around to take care of me as I would have been helpless without them. The vision at that point was crazy - in focus, but many many images causing a lot of blur and confusion. Those slowly faded out and moved together and it took about a month to reach 'nice' vision, and I was back at work a week after the op. It's now almost two months and my left eye is spot on - beautifully clear all the way to the horizon, tests as -0.25D and can read the 20/15 line no problem. The right has been more stubborn - tests at -0.5D and after mostly clearing got worse again, but continues to improve in the same way (shrinking multiple images) day by day - it's 20/30 now, but sometimes clears completely so that it's as clear as my left - I figure it'll just be taking a bit longer to heal clear as it's still changing and I'm fully confident it'll reach 20/20 or better, but thought I'd better get this posting done before I forget! All in all - ecstatic and doubly so for not having a LASIK flap to worry about! Thankyou Optimax, best £495 I ever spent. EVER.

I too had Lasik at Aberdeen on the 26th March and found the surgeon very uncommunicative. The girls very nice and answered all questions but I got the feeling that the surgeon really wanted me in and operated on straight away. The actual op itself was not too bad, the blind bit is a bit disconcerting and then being told to look at the light to find there was an orange one and a red one, well I felt like I had to ask questions all the time to get the answers when I was hoping that a the surgeon would volunteer information. After getting both eyes done and sitting in the recovery room there was no miraculous 20/20 vsion , but fog. I could read the number plate of a car at 10 feet so that was ok.( I couldn't with my glasses off) and was driven home. Mild discomfort overnight like grit in the eyes, used my drops as advised and the next morning..well well I can see the clock but its still hazy. In fact everything was hazy whether it was near or far. After post -op check up the optician had a look 'yes everything is fine' and i was sent home again. Well 12 days later and the world is still blurred. But it seems to be getting better, very slowly. My weekly appointment with a different optician at the clinic was very informative. The young lady volunteered information and put my mind at rest. She did say I went from -5 to +3 but this would come down as the weeks went in. Next appointment in 10 days time so we'll see what happens

Had Lasik treatment on both eyes with Dr Patel at Finchley rd clinic approx 10 hours ago. Very strange experience of treatment, but vision already very good. I recomend anyone who is sure they want this to research into and understand what to expect during and immediately after treatment. I did this and it was exactly as expected. Began with treatment and although you feel next to nothing, you see a blurred red light, hear the laser in action for only a short period of time, sight remains blurred until treatment finished, then you can see but very foggy, after approx fifteen min, the next couple of hours eyes water like mad and are best kept shut for comfort. At home started the drops and things started to become much clearer, after three hours pretty good sight and the feeling of a contact lens in. Woke early eyes sticky, no pain, feeling of lens in almost gone and vision damn good but feels improving and clearing more all the time. Strange to wake and feel like you have glasse on as can see everything good. Words to explain process. Very strange, dont expect immediate result from theatre, definately be driven there, remain calm, things settle after several hours and vision returns. I will post again in a while to conclude final results, but so far very good.

I had my first check-up yesterday and I am pleased to report that my vision is v.good (could read the second to bottom line easily). My eyes are healthy and slightly long-sighted which should correct itself in the coming weeks. Overall the best £495 i have ever spent. My next appointment is in 6 weeks time so I will keep you guys posted.

Had Epi-Lasek on both eyes in the Optimax clinic in MAnchester. The surgeon was Dr. Doyle. My prescription was left eye -2.25, right eye -2,5 slight astighmatism in both eyes. My left eye is -0,5 , right eye 0 now, can read one line from the bottom with no problems. No more glasses, Hurray!!! Went to checkup on last Friday they told me to use artificial tears for some weeks and the left eye might even get better. I work a lot on computers and I can feel my eyes getting very dry. I am very happy with the result. Optimax and Dr Doyle were very efficient and professional. But if you are squimish and need a lot of attention like calming words or hand holding - forget it. Its in - out, next patient, which is reassuring in a strange kind of way. You feel like its not a big deal and they must know what they are doing with these many patients going in and out. Some of the girls on reception and doing the pre-examinations I found a bit unprofessional. One of the girls on reception couldn't answer me a single question (and they were questions they must get asked every day). But to be fair there were also good ones. Also I had a different person doing pre-and post op examinations everytime I went. One took the initial reading, one did the pre-op prep, one took the bandage lenses out, another one did the eye test a week after. So, as I said before no personal service but that wasn't a problem for me. Everything is very well documented and explained on paper, so you can inform yourself in your own time. Procedure was painless and quick, although a couple of hours after the op I was very uncomfortable (no pain, but its like somebody has thrown a handful of peper in your eyes)and wished I saved up more money to do LASIK! I had Wed-Fri off and caught up listening to my CDs and listened to talking books. By Saturday I was fine to go out again (only with dark sunglasses) and Monday went back to work. All in all I would recommend Optimax, they are still one of the cheapest of them all, very professional and I did feel in good hands. Dr. Doyle was recommended by a work colleague and he was fine. He remembered things about me I told him in the pre-op and that I found quite astonishing considering I had nearly 6 weeks between pre-op and op and he must have seen hundrets of patients in the meantime. So, go ahead and do it! No regrets.