Laser Eye Surgery.

Dale.

Dale.

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Dale.
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I'm seriosuly thinking about it.

I have nothing against wearing glasses but........

I've had 20/20 more or less all my life. About 8 years or so ago, I noticed I couldn't focus on a plate of food. It was a (very) hot curry and I put it down to that. Gradually though, it got worse over the years and I really noticed it, ironically when trying to use live view or review images on my camera.

I got an eye test and it was found to be aging related loss of close vision. I know it happens but after 40 odd years of 20/20, I have struggled with glasses.

It seems to have stabilised a little, only a very slight change in my most recent prescription a few weeks ago. I could man up and just get on with getting old but I find losing glasses, breaking them, scratching them etc etc is getting expensive. I'm not used to them and as a result, pretty careless with them. It's not ideal either in a wildlife photography scenario. I've lost quite a few pairs now as well as broken one or two and they just get in the way.

I've read up on eye surgery a little, I think it could work for me. There is a treatment that would cost under £1.5k, not cheap but one of the cheapest for this. Some of the others are over £2k. I would happily pay this to be free of glasses and in the long run, it might actually be cheaper.

There's a few caveats to be considered, I may not even be suitable for the surgery.

Has anyone here had experience of this?


TIA. :)
 
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I had it done many years ago. For me it was life changing. I‘d worn glasses, then lenses since I was 12. I was very short sighted. To be able to see perfectly without those aids was just amazing.
Not a nice procedure, but it’s over quickly.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I had it done many years ago. For me it was life changing. I‘d worn glasses, then lenses since I was 12. I was very short sighted. To be able to see perfectly without those aids was just amazing.
Not a nice procedure, but it’s over quickly.
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Cool, glad it went well for you. (y)




tijuana taxi said:
How about contact lenses?
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Not something I've really thought about. They would have to be bi-focal. Is there such a thing? ........... as my distance vision is fine.
 
Dale. said:
Not something I've really thought about. They would have to be bi-focal. Is there such a thing? ........... as my distance vision is fine.
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Pretty sure there is Dale, my daughter is an Optometrist, I'll ask her when I see her tomorrow.
 
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Dale. said:
Cool, glad it went well for you. (y)







Not something I've really thought about. They would have to be bi-focal. Is there such a thing? ........... as my distance vision is fine.
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I wear varifocal contacts. They are amazing. Much better than varifocal glasses.

Apparently not everybody can get on with then but most can. About £20/month.

Your optician will be able to arrange a trial.
 
@Dale. It appears your question has been answered about multifocal lenses.
I'll still ask my daughter if she has any suggestions for what you might need.

I do know that like photography the more expensive lenses are better, Zeiss are among the dearer contacts.
One other thing is that at least one high st Opticians (not Specsavers) offer contacts on a trial basis
 
Dale. said:
Not something I've really thought about. They would have to be bi-focal. Is there such a thing? ........... as my distance vision is fine.
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Yes, they do exist but some people don't get along with them. I have 3 pairs left from a trial set (of 5) that I was given a few years ago but they gave me blinding headaches within 10 minutes so I gave up on them. I wear daily disposable lenses for distance vision and chuck on a pair of reading glasses for close work when necessary. For photography purposes, I make sure any viewfinder has dioptre correction.
Specsavers do trial lenses too but I'm guessing Rich's daughter doesn't work for them!
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Yes, there is....
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JonathanRyan said:
I wear varifocal contacts. They are amazing. Much better than varifocal glasses.

Apparently not everybody can get on with then but most can. About £20/month.

Your optician will be able to arrange a trial.
Click to expand...

tijuana taxi said:
@Dale. It appears your question has been answered about multifocal lenses.
I'll still ask my daughter if she has any suggestions for what you might need.

I do know that like photography the more expensive lenses are better, Zeiss are among the dearer contacts.
One other thing is that at least one high st Opticians (not Specsavers) offer contacts on a trial basis
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Nod said:
Yes, they do exist but some people don't get along with them. I have 3 pairs left from a trial set (of 5) that I was given a few years ago but they gave me blinding headaches within 10 minutes so I gave up on them. I wear daily disposable lenses for distance vision and chuck on a pair of reading glasses for close work when necessary. For photography purposes, I make sure any viewfinder has dioptre correction.
Specsavers do trial lenses too but I'm guessing Rich's daughter doesn't work for them!
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Thanks for all that.

Vari contacts are something I will look into (no pun intended) as well as the surgery.
 
I have worn toughened glass (safety quality) bifocals for the last 40 years, they have never scratched nor broken . and I wear them in my workshop as well. And you can get memory metal frames that never get out of shape.
I am not sure how you manage to lose them as there is no reason to take theme off. Except perhaps when at the computer where I use a simple plastic pair for arms length screen viewing.
 
i feel your pain , my vision (long) is pretty much still 20/20 at age 53 but my close vision has been falling off for years to the point i have a few HQ pair of reading glasses that make things superb , i think you can get laser eye surgery for close vision called LASIK i looked into it a few years ago but my long vision is so good i have decided not to at this age and just continue with a few nice pairs of close vision glasses.
 
Best advice is go into your Opticians and explain what you want albeit contact lenses or glasses.

One very good tip is when asked how clear a printed page looks sit as you would when actually reading.
For example if you slouch with the book in your lap don't try to sit bolt upright with the document at arms length.
 
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Not keen on Lazer eye surgery, as eyes change over time, and at some stage you need to revert to glasses again.
Looks like I will need cataracts sorted before long anyway, at 87 that is pretty inevitable. As are glasses, as your vision becomes fixed focus.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
Not keen on Lazer eye surgery, as eyes change over time, and at some stage you need to revert to glasses again.
Looks like I will need cataracts sorted before long anyway, at 87 that is pretty inevitable. As are glasses, as your vision becomes fixed focus.
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Long wait for cataract surgery and the criteria is very strict, its about two grand an eye privately.
 
I would try to arrange an appointment with an opthalmologist before making any decisions, and then look at the options depending on his/her findings.
 
Mrs Nod's Mum used to have >-10 dioptre specs - real bottle bottoms so needed superlight lenses. She had her cataracts done with new lenses and didn't need specs for 10+ years. Despite paying privately, she reckons she saved money in the long run because she didn't need any correction so didn't need any new specs. Mind you, she'd change her specs every 2 years because she'd had an eye test... even though her prescription hadn't changed! She now needs specs for distance but "normal" lenses are lighter than her old superlight ones so she's still saving.
 
I wear varifocal contact lenses and find them brilliant, and especially handy for photography as the diopter adjusts my viewfinder for my vision with the lenses and then if I look at the screen I don’t have to find my glasses to see an image.
I use daily disposables as I don’t wear them everyday, though find I am wearing them more often these days.

as above, worth talking to your optician as they have to be sure your eyes are ok for them, and then ideally need a check once a year to make sure your eyes can still take them.
 
I should add, I am retired and there does not seem to be any problem with ‘older’ eyes taking the lenses!
 
I’d think it unlikely that laser surgery will correct a presbyopic prescription and leave you completely free of glasses - generally it’s distance or near, not both. You are also at an age where it’s likely that prescription change will occur, largely due to changes in the crystalline lens that will happen within the next couple of decades; for this reason, if you’re intent on surgical correction of some form I’d suggest look at intraocular lens replacement - it’s essentially cataract surgery, with the added bonus of you won’t develop cataracts in the future because the lens is already artificial. Still leaves the distance/near problem though, but there are two ways to attempt to fully correct a presbyopic patient: monovision, one eye for distance and one eye for near (for a photographer, I’d generally use viewfinder eye as distance) and multifocal. Both have pros and cons.

Personally, if you were one of my patients, I’d encourage you to simulate both using contact lenses first - if you don’t like it in contact lenses you just take them out, bit late to realise it doesn’t work for you once it’s already in your eye. You may then feel happy with contact lenses, or you may still want to make it permanent, but then you know what you’re getting yourself into.
 
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Carousels Spin said:
I’d think it unlikely that laser surgery will correct a presbyopic prescription and leave you completely free of glasses - generally it’s distance or near, not both. You are also at an age where it’s likely that prescription change will occur, largely due to changes in the crystalline lens that will happen within the next couple of decades; for this reason, if you’re intent on surgical correction of some form I’d suggest look at intraocular lens replacement - it’s essentially cataract surgery, with the added bonus of you won’t develop cataracts in the future because the lens is already artificial. Still leaves the distance/near problem though, but there are two ways to attempt to fully correct a presbyopic patient: monovision, one eye for distance and one eye for near (for a photographer, I’d generally use viewfinder eye as distance) and multifocal. Both have pros and cons.

Personally, if you were one of my patients, I’d encourage you to simulate both using contact lenses first - if you don’t like it in contact lenses you just take them out, bit late to realise it doesn’t work for you once it’s already in your eye. You may then feel happy with contact lenses, or you may still want to make it permanent, but then you know what you’re getting yourself into.
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Thanks for that, a very helpfull reply. I will look into all this soon (no pun intended) and update here. I'm not 100% decided yet but it is something I'm going to research before I decide.

It is just my near vision at the moment, my distance is fine but as I get older, that might change. Lots of reading up to be done. (y)
 
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