The Importance of Vision - Laser Eye Surgery - part 1

I've been wearing glasses since I was 12 years old. It all started after I'd been representing Lancashire in a national table tennis tournament and, having been roundly beaten by some of my competitors and won only one match out of five, I blamed my losses on not being able to see the ball clearly - a distinct disadvantage in such a high-speed sport. In hindsight, it was a bit of a tenuous excuse and my mother sent me straight to the optician where it turned out that I actually was slightly short-sighted! Not enough to have realistically impacted my table tennis but enough to warrant glasses for occasional use. Thus began my life behind a window.

That life ended on Friday last week when I underwent laser eye surgery.

I'd expect that pretty much everyone who wears glasses has at least given laser eye surgery a passing thought. Having clear sight without needing corrective equipment will appeal to every single glasses-wearer. They may not like the procedure or the risks but the benefits will certainly appeal! Sight is the sense with which we quickly consume the largest volume of information about the world around us. The age of technology which we live in becomes very difficult to navigate without your eyes. Touchscreen phones are a prime example of a tool which becomes useless without sight but occupies an indispensable role in our lives. Those of you who don't need glasses are very, very blessed and fortunate and I hope you stay that way!

I'd ummed and ahhed about having the surgery for several years. One of the prerequisites of surgery is that your eyes need to be stable. Glasses-wearers will know that eyes tend to get weaker through the teen years and into the early twenties. In my own case, my prescription hadn't changed for several years and I hadn't needed to update my glasses. But still, it was a passive thought at the back of my mind and not something I'd seriously considered until one day I was discussing glasses with some work colleagues and it turned out one of them had had laser eye surgery to bring them from almost legally blind to not needing any correction. And then in short order I learned that a few more of my friends had also had it done and all spoke about it in glowing terms!

So I started reading up on the operation to get an understanding of what was involved, the different types, the risks, the benefits and the financial costs. The internet came into very useful - all the operating clinics have extensive information about all of the above and you can also find various forums and discussion boards where people have discussed their experiences with the surgery. Some people go abroad to have it done at significantly cheaper prices, some get vouchers and deals, others negotiate with the provider, some get cheaper treatment and yet others get put off by the whole thing and never have the surgery.

For myself, I decided that the actual surgery wasn't going to vary much between the different providers since my prescription was fairly low and the lasering needed would be minimal. Which made my three most important factors the price, the aftercare and location.

• Price - because as an elective surgery, there is no standard pricing so providers can charge what they like and no one likes being ripped off. 
• Aftercare - because the eyes are vital and delicate instruments so you want to make sure your provider will do a decent job during the recovery phase after the surgery.
• Location - because I'm lazy and didn't want to travel far so London based was perfect.

In the end, after months of research and investigation, my preferred choice ended up being Optical Express who ticked all three of my major requirements. They came with a personal recommendation for their aftercare from a friend, had a branch very close by to my workplace and had a reasonable range of pricing options. And from everything I read about them (including the negative views from disgruntled and unhappy former patients), they did seem a generally competent outfit.

So in early April I went onto the company website and after a quick chat with their online assistants, I booked a no-obligation initial consultation (to ascertain suitability and share information) scheduled for two weeks time.

TO BE CONTINUED.

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Next Article: Making it Happen - Laser Eye Surgery - part 2

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