Optimax

I had bilateral Epi-Lasek done 12 days ago in Ipswich by Dr ISLAM. Here is my experience. I had my consultation and treatment on the same day, which I am glad i did, no time to get worried. I had read all the possible complications and risks beforehand and felt it was the right choice for me to go ahead. My prescription was -4.00 L eye and -4.25 R eye, so, borderline for either laser op. I chose Epi-lasek due to the reduced risks and decided i could cope with the pain. Dr Islam was very nice, professional yet very informal. I was extremely nervous when having the procedure done and the op assistant held my hand as I was as stiff as a board on that chair! On reflection it wasnt bad at all but I think I had just got a bit too wound up beforehand (get a relaxant if your nervous from your GP). Coming out I could feel the pain kick in almost immediately and once home I had a restless sleep and actually felt a bit panicky as my eyes where covered up, I took the pads off in the night, naughty I know but I felt much better. Next day was clearer but hazy and painfull and my eyes were streaming all the time. The clinic rung me to see if I was okay which i felt was really nice,professional and responsible. Since then my vision has improved every day and Refresh teardrops are really helping with dry eyes,my eyes are still quite sensitive so I'd advise you to have a good set of shades at the ready and a cold gel compress is great at night to sooth tiredness. I have had my first check up and I still have some prescription in both eyes but im sure it is getting better by the day , i can drive as well as before (and can wear shades too!!) and feel great about having it done. This is an amazing life changing experience for someone who has worn glasses for years and feels really restricted by them but it is a decision that has to be thought through as there are risks attached to the treatment but i would recommend optimax as a nice, but no frills service with good provision for patient care before and after treatment, which is really what we all want isn't it. By the way, if you happen to be a medical professional or NHS employee you may qualify for half price treatment as i did.

Am 27, I had Epi Lasek treatment at the birmingham optimax clinic. My eyes were -2.00 and -1.50 astigmatism 0.5, Pupil diameter 7.5mm When my puils were measured I was a bit concerned about the size, I was told I would get an increased glare/starbursting but it would be minor due to my mild refractive error. They used the vison simulator ( http://www.lasik-center.com/simulator/index.html ) to show what my vision would be like at a worse case scenerio and to me it wasnt that bad at all. Its now been 2.5 weeks after surgery and my eyesight is +0.5 and +0.25 . This is an excellent result. THey predict after treatment vision will be slighltey longsighted and this should diminish in a month. AS my eyesight is at the moment I dont notice any problems with short distance vision. reading is fine, driving is fine. THe increase in glare/ starbursting is mild, the predicted vision on the freevsion website was very accurate in my case. The lights do seem a little brighter because of the glare but doesnt affect my night driving. It should reduce gradually as the weeks go by but even if it doesnt I am still happy as the glare is only slight. The consulation itself didnt seem thorough enough for my liking. As i heavily researched laser surgery on the net I already knew what test they should carry out, questions to ask, and my case was fairly straight forward being mild short sighed. I wasnt given an eye guard either and they were running late on the day of my treatment.Im sure other clinics focus more on patient care but you pay for what you get. Im still glad i went ahead with it. Wearing glasses was like being the man in the iron mask. Its definately increased my confidence not wearing glasses and now i can use eye flirting skills to maximum potential :)

I had Lasek at Croydon carried out by Dr Hoe who as absolutely excellent and very confidence inspiring. The pain started about 45 mins after surgery and therefore I took the sleeping pills and went straight to bed when I got home. When I woke up after 3 hours the pain had virtually gone and my vision was slightly cloudy but a lot better than I expected. The day after England were playing their first game in Euro 2004 and Optimax said I won't be able to watch TV. But I experienced none of the sensitivity to light and was able to sit and watch the match. Having had the bandage contact lenses out 3 days later my eyes were confirmed as driving standard - although I had taken the week off work and didn't drive until I went back. Since then I've experienced no problems at all. The reason I can't give Optimax 5 stars is their administration. Its terrible. Having made an appointment for treatment around 2 months in advance they cancelled it without telling me. So I take time off work and turn and there is no-one there. I was not impressed. They are incapable of booking appointments more than 2 months ahead (my dentist can do it) and often phone to re-arrange aftercare appointments (which can feel rather rushed). The admin staff don't seem to care. So Optimax sort out your customer service and you'll be even better.

Hi. I had bi-lateral Lasik at Manchester yesterday with Dr Hynes. I was not looking forward to the proceedure at all but can say it was worth the 5 or so minutes of discomfort ( so far anyway!). As soon as I sat up I could see relatively clearly but had trouble keeping my eyes open, this passed about 2 hours later. The gritty feeling lasted until about 5pm ( i had the op at 1pm) but I have felt ok since. I keep getting blurring which I believe is normal, however I went back today and they said I have better than 20/20 vision, although I have found my eyes are not used to working together to focus on small text, on reading the info again this is normal and should clear up in the next week or so. The plastic lenses they give you to sleep in are very attractive....... not!! I must say though I woke up in the night with one in my hand and the other missing, I must have had a strange dream !! On the whole I definately recommend the Lasik proceedure although be ready for the burning smell which isnt very nice. When I went back today I was a little dissapointed that I didnt see Dr Hynes, just and opthamologist checked my vision, I will hopefully see him when I go back next week. Good luck if you are considering it !

Had bilateral Lasik last wednesday with Dr Hynes at the Manchester clinic. My eyes were uncomfortable for about 2 hours afterwards but it was bareable, I now have near on perfect sight. After wearing glasses for the past 16 years, being able to see the alarm clock in a morning is great... no more squinting. I would definately recommend this proceedure, as did many of my friends to me.

I had Lasik surgery on both eyes on the 22nd January 2005 and am very pleased with the results. One thing that I was unhappy with was the service/reception team at the Croydon surgery. There were a couple of times when the surgeons assistants, wearing scrubs, would exit the fire door next to reception, leave it ajar, and stand there smoking. You could smell the smoke! They would then re-enter the reception put their cigs away and then head straight for the surgery room. They did not appear to wash their hands or freshen up! The reception staff made occasional slip ups with mentioning private client details with a clear voice that could be heard across the reception area. My surgeon was great though, so it's not all bad news. I would recommend anyone to have the surgery on their eyes. But maybe look at a different location. I wish that I would have had it done years ago.

I had LASEK treatment at the Leeds Optimax 5 weeks ago, Dr. Salmuel performed the operation. I opted to have each eye done separately, with a 3 week gap between the operations. I was nervous as hell and arrived at the surgery quite early. After I filled in a consent form I was told to take a seat where I waited for about 30 mins. I spoke to Dr. Salmuel before the operation and asked some questions about the procedure itself. Questions I should have asked during the consultation to be fair. After which I continued to wait… My name was called out and I was asked to put some plastic things over my feet and a hair net on. I proceeded to the operating theatre where I laid on a bed and was placed under the laser. Loads of drops went in my eyes and then a clamp applied to keep my eye open. The alcohol was applied and the top of my eye scraped to one side. After which my vision was blurry and could not really see much. The laser was switched on and it frightened the life out of me! I must have jumped a foot in the air. I then remained still and the laser fired in 4 segments, each of about 20 seconds. Once the laser had done the top of my eye was placed back and the bandage lens dropped in. More drops followed and an eye protector thing was tapped to my face. I then returned to the waiting room where I was told to wait for 5 mins after which I was free to leave. I sat down for 5 mins, just about to leave and suddenly realised they had not given me my medication!! This was very quickly sorted out by the Optimax staff, but shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But hey everyone makes mistakes I then left the building and went home. On the way home I was very sensitive to bright lights. I found placing a baseball cap over my face while in the car and just resting my eyes worked well. Once home I popped the pills they had given me and went to bed. This is where the pain starts as the anaesthetic wears off. I not going to lie to anybody considering LASEK, it bloody hurts! You will not want to do anything for the rest of the day. No TV, PC, DVD’s or X-Box, all you can do is lay down in a dark room. You will not want to open your eyes at all. I found having a radio on helped take my mind off the pain. After 4-5 hours I put some of the antibiotic drops in by pulling my lower eye lid down. I continued to lay and then later popped some of the sleeping pills. I was then completely knocked out for about 10 hours…Sweet. I woke in the morning and 90% of the pain had gone. It took me around 5 mins to open my eye. I put some more antibiotic drops in and then went down stairs. I found I could only open my eyes for around 30 mins at a time in the morning stretching to 2 hours by the end of the day. Still lots of music listening and laying around but in MUCH less pain. And the rest they say is history! My vision became clear after about 10 days. My vision is better than 20/20 in my right eye now. The left eye was done three weeks later and was a similar experience to the above, but they remembered the drugs this time. Overall my experience with Optimax was a good one. I would recommend them to a friend.

I had lasik 4 days ago at the Ipswich Optimax. My vision was great straight afterwards and up to now no changes! I do have unsightly red spots on the whites of my eyes, but know that these will diminish. I also feel like I've had contact lenses in too long when my eyes get tired - but it's not even a week after my op, so I know I should still rest my eyes! Going back to work tomorrow, and am looking forward to seeing whether people realise I don't wear glasses any more!

I had epi-lasik on both eyes on sat 30th april 2005. Treatment was absolutely pain free, but OMG! once the anaesthetic drops had worn off the pain was unbearable! I couldn't open my eyes until sunday lunchtime (24 hours after treatment) and only then for 10-15 mins. Went back to bed, managed 2 hours on couch sunday evening, but my left eye hurt like hell, and starting to puff up. Monday - again spent most of day in bed, right eye great, but left eye feels like it has 100 pins stuck in it. The only relief i get is when i'm asleep. Tuesday 72 hours after treatment - returned to Optimax newcastle to have my bandage contacts removed. Instant relief!!!! I was told that I'd had a reaction to the lenses, and my eyelid had swollen as a result. Anyway, sight in my left eye is fab, sight in my right eye is a little blurry, making my overall vision a little off. Hoping this will correct itself! If anyone wants to contact me about the experience, please feel free. I'll post back after my next checkup

I had bi-lateral lasik a month ago at the Ipswich branch. I couldn't see many people on the forum who had had lasik or gone to Ipswich, so it was quite an eye opener (sorry!). I had no problems during or after surgery - it was all as per other people's comments. I made sure I breathed through my mouth the whole time so as not to experience "THE SMELL"! and it worked! Bad comments: they should have a spearate room for those who have just been treated as there is nothing worse for nerves than having a loud woman coming back after surgery shouting out all about the procedure, when all you want is some calming music before you go in! Also, the staff were all over the place. I know they treat lots of people every day, but the op is a big deal to every individual customer in there, and I didn't feel I got the customer care I should have had. Since the op, my downfall is night driving. It is very scary and I've only done it twice. I see so much glare and halo that I just avoid it now. Not worth it! Rest of time is completely fine. Barely use the tears but it took a good 10-14 days for my eye redness/bruising to disappear.