LASEK and Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) Surgery

Two months after having had the procedure, it’s without a doubt a life changing experience. It’s the best thing that I have done. Like many people I’ve been wearing prescriptive lenses and glasses since a young age, probably about 12 years old. Progressively in my life, I’m in my mid 40s now, progressively my eyes have just kind of got worse and worse over the years and what really kind of led me to seeing Tariq is that I got to a point in life where it was my eyes were getting more and more dry, they were redder all the time. And again, like a lot of people, I spend my days on a computer and I think that just wasn’t the condition of my eyes was getting kind of more and more uncomfortable. And so I started looking at options and I was aware of LASIK and PRK treatment. I was fortunate in that I had a friend who was actually a patient of Tariq’s some years ago and so I contacted him and he made a recommendation and felt like a lot of people that undertake this procedure, entirely confident that this was well worth looking into. And The procedure itself is absolutely kind of pain free. It’s fast, it’s efficient and it takes, I was probably on the, if you want to call it an operating table, I was in there for a matter of minutes. And I think I thought more it was going to be more involved than what it was. It was very straightforward process. So yeah, two months on from the procedure, my eyes are 2020 now. I can see perfect. And I’ve pretty much been able to see pretty much near perfect since even a week or two after the procedure. So I’m not reliant on contact lens anymore. I think the health of my eyes is already improved quite considerably because I’m not wearing contact lenses anymore and staring at a screen so without a doubt, it’s been a life changing experience and well worth kind of everything I spent on it. So very, very pleased with the results. Absolutely brilliant. Tariq is collaborative, he’s consultative, he’s engaging, he proactively reaches out to you by text and phone. And I think initially a lot of us have a lot questions and you don’t have to wait to go see him in the office always. Tariq will actually reach out to you and just make sure that you’re well informed and have the right information to make the decisions that’s right for you. Absolutely 100% recommend that this procedure. I think get over any fears that you might have and just recognise that it’s incredibly safe. You’re in safe hands with doctors that know what they’re doing, who have performed thousands of these procedures. It’s a life changing experience and I absolutely would encourage anybody who’s having issues with their eyes like I did and was just kind of fed up a wearing lenses and glasses and it kind of impacting your sort of day to day life. Just get up and start looking into it because it’s well worth it and you will absolutely not regret the decision.

Laser eye surgery can treat hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia. In general, we can treat up to minus 10 dioptres of myopia, up to plus six dioptres of hyperopia, and up to six dioptres of astigmatism. People who have higher prescriptions than this can sometimes be treated by laser eye surgery, or by an alternate procedure such as implantable contact lens surgery. In all cases, you would have a full assessment of your eye, including scans of your eye and an assessment of the health of your eye, to assess your suitability for the procedure.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists recommend having laser eye surgery after the age of 18. However, at Oculase, we recommend having laser eye surgery after the age of 21. It is very important to ensure that your prescription is stable before proceeding with any sort of treatment. Most people assume that you can have laser eye surgery only in your 20s or 30s. This is incorrect. After the age of 40, people develop a condition called presbyopia where you need reading glasses in additions to your distance glasses. This can be corrected with laser eye surgery, with a treatment called PresbyLASIK or Monovision LASIK. In this treatment, you would have one eye corrected for distance and another eye corrected for reading. After the age of 55, consideration is given to a lens-based treatment, such as refractive lens exchange. In this procedure, your natural lens is replaced with a multifocal lens, allowing you to see in the distance and near without glasses. Laser eye surgery can be used to refine this treatment to give you good vision.

Millions of laser vision correction procedures such as LASIK and TransPRK have been done worldwide over the past 30 years with excellent outcomes. Longterm data over the past 30 years published in peer review journals through large randomised trials have shown it to be safe and effective. We are able to assess people using our diagnostic tools, which are modern and have AI power technology to screen out those who are not suitable for laser vision correction. Modern laser platforms, such as the one we use at Oculase, ensures we give our patients the best outcomes. The longterm safety and efficacy of laser eye surgery has resulted in an over 90% satisfaction rate from patients in large clinical trials.

Astigmatism is when your eyeball is shaped more like a rugby ball, rather than a football. Laser eye surgery can treat astigmatism. Generally, we can treat up to six diopters of astigmatism. However, the suitability of treatment is dependent on your scans and the health of your eye.

Presbyopia is a condition that is seen in people after the age of 40. In presbyopia, you need to wear reading glasses in addition to any distance glasses that you may already be wearing. Presbyopia can be corrected with either laser eye surgery or lens replacement surgery. In laser eye surgery, in most people who would correct one eye for distance and the other eye for reading, allowing you to see and do most things without glasses. In lens replacement or refractive lens exchange, the natural lens is replaced with a multifocal lens, allowing you to see and do most things without glasses. This would also correct any prescription that you may have and treat any cataracts you may develop later on in life. Usually, we reserve refractive lens exchange or lens replacement surgery for people above the age of 50 or 55.

This is dependent on the cause and severity of your dry eyes. Most people seeking laser vision correction assessment for LASIK or TransPRK are contact lens wearers. Contact lens wear itself causes dry eyes. Simply ceasing contact lens wear would treat your dry eyes. Sometimes just doing simple lid hygiene treatment would also treat your dry eyes. It is very important to note that after surgery, some people do experience a temporary period of dryness, which improves. In a small subsect of people, this may become a permanent problem. At Oculase, we do a full assessment of your tear film and your tear stability to ensure that you are suitable for laser eye surgery to reduce the risk of any problems after surgery.

A lazy eye or amblyopic eye is seen from a young age in people whose one eye does not see as well as the other eye. People who have got a lazy eye have had patching therapy or squint surgery as a child or later on in life. You can have laser eye surgery if you have a lazy eye. However, it is important to understand that the laser eye surgery will only give you good vision up to the level you had with your glasses and contact lenses and no better. Whether you’re suitable for laser eye surgery depends on a thorough assessment of your eye and your eye movements and your vision, and your prescription. At Oculase, we will do all these assessments to advise you whether you are a suitable candidate for laser vision correction.

Laser eye surgery can be used to treat myopia or shortsightedness. Generally, we would treat anyone up to a prescription of about -10 diopters. If you have prescription above this, you may be suitable for a different procedure, such as implantable contact lens surgery. Your suitability for the surgery is dependent on your scans and the health of your eye.

Hyperopia or long sightedness can be corrected with laser eye surgery. Generally, we would treat up to a prescription of plus six dioptres. In some cases, higher prescriptions can be treated, but this is dependent on your health of your eye and your scans. People who are not suitable for laser based surgery can have implantable contact lens surgery to correct their hyperopia.

Laser eye surgery, or laser vision correction, is a very safe procedure, as thousands of these are performed worldwide every day. However, there are some side effects or risks that you need to be aware of. The most common side effect after surgery is grittiness and pain and blurred vision. With LASIK, this can last for about 24 hours after the surgery. With PRK, it’s a bit longer, for about three to five days after surgery. However, at one week, with both surgeries, your vision is a lot clearer, and you’re able to do most activities. You may find that at one week, your vision is very good, but you are noticing some glare, especially when looking at bright lights or the computer. This usually resolves over a few weeks. Some people also notice an initial eye strain after the surgery, which generally gets better over a few weeks as your eyes adapt to your newfound vision. The final important issue is that some people experience dry eyes after the surgery. In general, most people find that the dry eyes gets better after three months. I myself have had laser eye surgery, and my eyes were initially dry for a short period after surgery, but this has now resolved and rarely ever causes me a problem.

The effects of laser eye surgery or laser vision correction stay with you for your whole life. However, as one ages and your eyeball changes in shape and in length, a little bit of prescription can recur again. If that were to happen, very often you have the option of having top-up laser to make you once again glasses or contact lenses free. Regardless, after the age of 45, everyone needs reading glasses. This has nothing to do with the effects of the laser, but in fact because the lens inside your eye is losing its elastic ability to focus on close objects. At that point in time, you have the option of either wearing reading glasses or contact lenses or having top-up laser to correct your reading vision or having refractive lens exchange surgery to make you glasses and contact lenses free.

Laser eye surgery corrects your vision and your prescription. So it would correct myopia or short-sightedness, hyperopia, or long-sightedness, presbyopia, which is the need for reading glasses, and astigmatism. For those who are not suitable for laser eye surgery, they have the option of having implantable contact lenses or refractive lens exchange to correct their vision and their prescription, and this would be dependent on their scans and their eye assessment.

Laser eye surgery or laser vision correction aims to correct your prescriptions, so you don’t have to wear glasses or contact lenses after the surgery. There are several types of laser procedures available for laser vision correction, but the most common ones worldwide are LASIK, LASEK, or PRK. Your suitability for any of these procedures really depends on your personal circumstances, the health of your eye, your scans, and your assessments and your own visual needs. When you come in for an assessment at [inaudible], I would assess you and look into all these factors before recommending the procedure most suited to you.

Presbyopia is a condition where one loses their ability to read or focus on closeup objects. This develops in everyone after the age of 45. However, you could develop it a little earlier on in life or a little later on in life. It can be treated either with laser eye surgery or refractive lens exchange, depending on your age and your suitability for either procedure.