My name is Dr. Jeffrey O’Leary. By profession, I’m an engineer. I’m retired now, but I do four or five days consulting a month. I had noticed that my eyesight had deteriorated. And I had a regular appointment with an optician who basically advised me that my cataracts in both eyes needed doing. uh which as i say, didn’t really surprise me because i’d noticed, particularly with close computer work etc i was i wouldn’t say struggling, but i i was aware of uh of uh uh quite a marked deterioration in my eyesight. Well, I’ve been wearing glasses since i was about six or seven. I mean, as long as i can remember. And I was advised by the surgeon, because one of my eyes is extremely weak, that by choosing the lenses properly, they could at least partially correct the difference in vision between the two eyes. And I would see a difference from having the lenses.

Well, it was brilliant. I mean, right from the very beginning, the first thing is I’m one of these people who always turns up on time and I get annoyed if people aren’t on time. And so everything was done very promptly, very efficiently. But more than that, the staff were very thoughtful and treated you like a human being and explained everything thoroughly. and just went over the top to make one feel comfortable and very relaxed about the whole thing. I experienced them initially. There was a strange thing the day after the surgery in the morning. It was like looking through diluted milk. That’s the best way I could describe it. It was cloudy and that went away after about an hour. And then I was getting halos for about two days, I suppose. But I’m not getting any halos now. It’s just remarkable. That’s all I can say. Almost from an hour after leaving the hospital, I suddenly realised that I could read some number plates on cars. It wasn’t brilliant then, an hour later, but…

Certainly two or three days later, I didn’t drive because I had no need to drive, but I felt that my vision was good enough to drive. And about a week later, I came back to the surgery. I caught the train, came back to the surgery for a post-treatment review. And I suddenly realized that in the station car park, I could read car number plates that were… sort of 50 yards away. It was just remarkable. And since then, it’s gradually improved and improved, and I think it’s now two months since the surgery, and I’m still seeing slight improvements, although right now, I would regard my eyesight as damn near perfect. The thing that I’m most pleased about is that I’m a big rugby fan. I played rugby to quite a high standard as a young man and
I suddenly realized going to a match the other weekend that I could see things that I couldn’t see before and you know you you you don’t realize what you can’t see until you realize that you can’t see them, if you know what I mean. If you’d ask me what I do to care the answer is yes. And would I recommend it? Yes.

My name’s David Penn. I live in Northamptonshire and I’ve been farming all my life. I’m 64. I’m a farmer — very hands-on. I like to do a lot of the work myself, working inside and outside, driving tractors, handling livestock. So my eyes are pretty important to me.

The reason I had surgery was because I was struggling to see things close up. Being out and about in the elements, wearing glasses wasn’t an option. I used to break a pair every day. I’d buy cheap ones, but I’d still break them. So basically, when the opportunity came along, I thought, this is for me — it would see me out, really.

I was really led by the surgeon. I explained what I wanted out of the lenses. I enjoy doing a bit of shooting, so that made a difference. Night driving — that made a difference too. When we weighed up all the options, which the surgeon was very careful to explain, I decided on having those lenses. It was a no-brainer in the end.

I wasn’t really worried about it when I got here. It just happened, really. I wasn’t scared at all. Everyone says, “Oh, I’m not sure about having my eyes done,” but I found it was all very straightforward and painless. And to be able to get up and walk away was even better.

I can’t quite remember what it was like before. For the time of year, the halos are worse when driving — it’s been pretty damp and everything. But I don’t find it uncomfortable to drive. I think I could wear some glasses temporarily to help with that, but it hasn’t been a problem at all.

I’ve got a lot of colleagues in farming, and they’ve all shown an interest in what I’ve had done. They’re waiting to see the long-term results and are considering it themselves. So it’s been good.

My name is Lindel Graham and I’m retired and I live in London and I play sort of sports like tennis and I’m interested in colour and things like that so I’m sort of very busy. Well, I had cataract surgery because I’d already had it in the right eye and my left eye I thought well maybe it might sort itself out but it certainly didn’t and it was getting worse and worse and I got to the stage where it was really difficult to actually sort of lead a normal life because just trying to read timetables or even read the paper or just go about my ordinary business was becoming more and more difficult. So it was sort of getting quite important to have it as soon as possible.

Well, I sort of looked into it in quite a lot of detail and I discussed it previously with Mr. Ayoub and it seemed to me that you’ve got more sort of diversity with this idea of lens than if you had just an ordinary lens. And also if you’re playing sport or something like that, you need the all-round sort of visual experience. And so this lens seemed to sort of be just what I wanted. And after a lot of thought, I decided on this lens.

I just had such confidence in Mr. Ayoub. I just completely trusted him and I felt completely safe in his hands. And I can be quite a nervous person. And so when I had it, I was just able to sort of sit back in the chair, relax, just know everything was going to be fine. And it was. And I received a lot of sort of attention from him before, afterwards, and the team were very helpful. And it was altogether a really satisfactory experience, not overwhelming, but just, you know, a very, very good experience.

Well, it’s been amazing. I can now see to do so many things that I couldn’t see to do before. I mean, simple things like, you know, sort of really a timetable, or reading the paper, actually, with, you know, being able to read close up was the most wonderful thing because that’s where I had been sort of, you know, found the problem before and playing sport and just generally going about my ordinary everyday business, you know, it just made such a difference to my life and brought a new sort of vividness into my life really, you know, just seeing with the doing and everything as well.

Now I didn’t get any halos but I did have shingles in my right eye, and that caused that eye to be very sensitive to light. And so I’m still very sensitive to light, because I think the two eyes, one sort of like talks to the other almost, doesn’t it? So I still, if I’m going out in the sunlight, I will wear a cap. And, you know, I make sure I wear a cap to play tennis. And certainly when I’m driving as well, you know, I do find I can be compromised by the sunlight. But I think that’s me personally. I don’t think it would be everybody having this lens.

I can read without glasses. In fact, for the first six weeks, I didn’t have any glasses at all. And so that was quite good. Then if I’m reading small print in a newspaper, it can be a little bit better if I’m using the glasses, but I didn’t need to. And so that really is amazing. Playing sport is much better. And just generally, I think that when you can see better, you have more confidence, and life is better. I’m just so pleased to have had it done.

So, I would thoroughly recommend this lens to people. And I would thoroughly recommend Mr Ayoub at Oculase, because I think he’s… He just is so kind and thoughtful and considerate and, you know, I have other people who maybe have used different consultants who haven’t had the same experience that I’ve had. So I feel very grateful. So thank you.

PTK stands for phototherapeutic keratectomy. PRK stands for photorefractive keratectomy. In both lasers, excimer laser is employed on the cornea, but the role that they offer are different. PTK is used to treat a corneal pathology or disease such as recurrent corneal erosion or corneal scars or in keratoconus. PRK, photorefractive keratectomy, is a purely refractive procedure used to correct any prescription you may have, which may be myopia or astigmatism.

The most common side effect of laser PTK is pain. After the surgery, you will experience pain for a few days while your eyes heal and settle down. Often the pain settles down and standard painkillers are sufficient to help with the pain. Additionally, there is a risk of an infection or a haze affecting your vision, but this is rare. You may also notice a change in your prescription after surgery. Often, patients take advantage of this to correct any myopia or short-sightedness that they may have.

I basically grew up wearing glasses, quite thick ones, because I’ve been highly myopic since birth and I’ve always wanted to live a glasses-free life. So ICL surgery was the best option. The surgery was a little bit unnerving, but at the same time exciting. I had opted for the local anaesthetic option so I was fully awake although my vision was extremely blurred. But the calming music in the operating theatre definitely helped a lot. The care I received was excellent. The whole team made me feel very relaxed. I felt like the recovery could be broken down into kind of two phases. There was a daytime phase that had a very quick recovery and a nighttime phase, which was a little bit slower. So a few days after the surgery, my daytime vision was superb. I was able to see without any visual aid at all. The ICL surgery has definitely changed quite a bit about my daily lifestyle and activities. I can exercise without any worry about glasses falling off. I can play contact sports, even just cricket without worrying about would I be able to make it back home if I break my glasses. I would highly recommend Mr Ayoub and Oculase for anyone considering any corrective surgery or anything to do with your eyes. I feel Mr Ayoub is extremely professional and so is the team. They’re very empathetic, very caring. They look after you extremely well.

YAG capsulotomy is a laser procedure used to treat posterior capsule opacification, or PCO. In this procedure, laser is used to clear the thickening forming behind your new lens implant, and therefore, is only done in patients who have had previous cataract or lens replacement surgery.

YAG laser capsulotomy is a very safe procedure with excellent outcomes. However, people do notice that they see lots of floaters after the procedure, which is normal, and does settle down in most people. Your prescription may also change, and you may find you’re having to wear new glasses after the procedure. Very rare risks, such as inflammation in the eye, a retinal tear or detachment, or raised eye pressure can have adverse outcomes. Therefore, it is very important to have your eyes assessed if you find that your eyes are in any form of pain, or if you’re seeing flashing lights or floaters.

The eye infection that I developed is what prompted me to look at laser surgery, but having had laser surgery, I now wonder why I didn’t do it sooner. I was a long term contact lens wearer. So I’d worn contact lenses for about 40 years. And I had adapted to them very well. I alternated them with my glasses. I was very careful about my eyecare. I developed a severe eye infection and that potentially could have left me with scarring on my cornea. I concluded after that, that it would not be wise for me to continue to wear contact lenses and a lifetime with just glasses wasn’t really very acceptable to me, because I engage in open water swimming in particular and mucking around with glasses just isn’t really very handy. I hadn’t really ever considered the long term effects of lens wearing. So it’s something of an irony that long term lens wearing could have damaged my cornea. I’d say in advance of the procedure, I’d had several consultations with Tariq and members of his team. So I felt I’d been extremely well counselled, that we’d considered a whole range of options before deciding on what surgery I would go for. I felt I was fully involved in the decision. So consequently, when it came to the day of the procedure, I felt well prepared. I’d read all the information I’d been given. The procedure itself was so quick. I felt well supported by Tarik and the other members of the team there. I’m tremendously impressed with the results. Actually, they’re better than I expected. So I think I had realistic expectations, but I’m now lens and glasses free. And I was quite prepared to have compromises, but really I haven’t had to make compromises at all. I’m really impressed and pleased with the results. For me, my whole experience of the surgery has been so positive, because of the quality of the consultation, the explanation, the supporting information. So I would say to anybody else considering this kind of surgery, research it fully, ask all the questions that you want to ask, make sure you are happy with the way you’re proceeding. I’d been well warned about potential outcomes from the surgery and what the immediate postoperative pain or discomfort would feel like. And I felt all the preparation and the advice I received made the whole experience so positive. I definitely recommend Tariq and his team to friends. I’d say that the quality of the consultations is outstanding and the follow up care is second to none.

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.

The only treatment for pterygium is surgery. As with any procedure, there are some risks and side effects that you need to be aware of. The surgery itself is completely painless, but you will find that your eyes are in pain after the surgery for a few days to a couple of weeks. We give you drops or tablets to control the pain. You will find that your prescription has changed and that you are needing glasses, or a new pair of glasses, for clearer vision after the surgery. Very rarely, people may develop infection, or have double vision, because of the procedure. One in 10 people find that pterygium recurs again, five years after the procedure.

Pterygium is a growth of tissue on the surface of your eye. Usually it is seen on the inner corner of the eye, but sometimes it may be also seen on the outer corner of the eye. It is very often seen in people who have lived in the hot, dry climates, although this is not always the case. Pterygium slowly grows through life and can cover the coloured bit of your eye and therefore can affect your vision long term.

If you are getting symptoms of blood, or misty vision or glare when looking at bright lights and have had cataract or lens replacement surgery in the past, you may have a condition called posterior capsular opacification or PCO. It is imperative that you see your eye doctor, where they’ll do an assessment of your eye to confirm the diagnosis.

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.

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 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.

Cross-linking is the only procedure known to arrest the progression of keratoconus. Several large randomised control trials have shown it to be safe and effective. Over 90% of people have good outcomes with arrested progression of keratoconus at one year after the procedure. In about 10% of people, they may need a redo procedure to arrest the progression of keratoconus. And that is why it’s important to be monitored for keratoconus. Five year data show that these patients do very well with reduced progression of keratoconus long term. If you were not to have the procedure, it is quite likely that your keratoconus will progress and affect your vision long term.

Keratoconus, at its early stages, is managed with glasses and contact lenses to give you good vision, and the advice is to stop rubbing your eyes. However, despite this, in some people, keratoconus continues to progress. If you have progressive keratoconus or moderate keratoconus, it’s advisable to have a treatment called crosslinking to prevent your keratoconus from getting worse. This can be coupled with laser treatment to improve your vision and give you better quality of vision. In some patients with moderate to advanced keratoconus, they may need a ring segment inserted in their eye to give them good vision, which is then coupled with the crosslinking and laser to enhance the vision outcome. In very advanced stages of the keratoconus, you will need a corneal transplant to give you good vision.

So keratoconus is a progressive condition of the cornea, which is the front glare of the eye, which allows light to go in the eye. In keratoconus, the cornea itself is weakened and starts bulging forwards causing distorted vision and misty vision. Some people also notice ghosting and a glare when looking at bright lights. It’s very important to detect keratoconus early and treat it, otherwise it can potentially lead to severe vision loss.

Cross-linking is a procedure that’s used to slow down or arrest the progression of keratoconus. The procedure takes about 20 to 30 minutes to do. Essentially during the procedure, you have lots of anaesthetic drops to numb your eye. This is followed by removal of the surface layer of the cornea called epithelium. This is usually done with laser. We would then use drops to soak the cornea. These drops are special vitamin B drops. This will be done for about 10 minutes. This is then followed by UV light shown on the eye for another 10 minutes. The UV light activates the vitamin B molecules. This chemical reaction causes the cornea to strengthen and thus reduces the progression of keratoconus long term.

The main cause for keratoconus is eye rubbing. We have a habit of rubbing our eyes constantly, especially when they’re irritated or dry or itchy. People who have allergies or contact lens wearers are at a higher risk of eye rubbing and therefore developing keratoconus. It is very important to treat this very important risk factor to ensure that you do not develop keratoconus. 

Cross-linking by and large is a very safe procedure with thousands of these having been performed worldwide. However, as with any procedure, there are some risks and side effects that you need to know about. The most important side effect I tell everyone about is the risk of developing pain after the procedure. Everyone will notice that their eyes are in pain for about two to three days after surgery. We always give everyone drops and tablets to combat the pain. During this period of pain, you will notice your vision is not as good and your eyes are swollen and red, but as the pain subsides, your vision will get better and your swelling and redness will settle down. Longterm, there is a risk that the surgery doesn’t work as well as we would expect it to. And you may need to have it repeated. Some patients do notice halos and glare after the procedure, but very often this resolves within a few months. A more rarer risk is developing an infection or haze after the procedure, which can adversely affect your vision, but this is usually combated with the use of anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drops after the procedure.

Generally, cross-linking is a very safe procedure with excellent outcomes, long term. It is very important to follow your surgeon’s post-operative instructions to ensure you get the best outcomes. Very rarely, patients do experience problems such as infection, haze and poor outcomes from the surgery. This is very often in the order of less than 3%. And usually, we are able to treat these with further laser drops or surgery.

Keratoconus is usually diagnosed during an assessment for laser vision correction procedures, such as LASIK and TransPRK. If you have keratoconus, you should never have LASIK as it will make your keratoconus worse. If you have high or rapidly changing astigmatism, you must be screened for keratoconus. The only way to be a hundred percent sure you do not have keratoconus is to have scans of your cornea. At Oculase, we use AI powered technology to diagnose keratoconus.

Laser treatment for keratoconus are of two different types, laser PTK and laser TransPRK. We offer both these treatments at Oculase. In laser PTK, the surface layer of your cornea, called the epithelium, is removed. This is followed by cross-linking treatment to strengthen your cornea to prevent your keratoconus from getting worse. In laser TransPRK, PTK is used to remove the surface layer, called the epithelium, after which the inner layers of the cornea are reshaped using the laser to improve your vision. This is then followed by cross-linking to strengthen your cornea. In both cases, you would be expected to continue wearing glasses or contact lenses for good vision after the procedure. At Oculase, we use AI powered technology to guide our treatment, to give you the best outcome with all our keratoconus patients.

Most patients who have treatments for keratoconus, whether that is cross-linking, laser-assisted cross-linking, ring segments such as Intacs or corneal transplants would have to continue wearing glasses and/or contact lenses for good vision. However, if you have had one of these treatments and you have stable keratoconus, which is not progressing, you can have a additional treatment called implantable contact lenses to give you good vision. With this treatment, a tiny implantable contact lens is placed inside your eye, which stays in your eyes for life and gives you good vision without glasses or contact lenses. Your suitability for this procedure is dependent on the health of your eye, your scans, and your general visual needs.

Keratoconus itself does not cause total blindness. However, if left untreated, it can lead to near total blindness, which would require a corneal transplant to give you good vision. Therefore, it is very important that you be treated early so that your quality of life and your quality of vision is maintained through life.

There are four to five different classes of drops that we use to treat glaucoma and reduce the eye pressure. Usually these drops may be used once a day, twice a day, or three times a day. One of these classes of drops are called prostaglandin drops. These drops are first line therapy, and are usually applied at night. The reason is because these drops will give you red, sore, eyes and a gritty feeling after they’re instilled in the eye. Putting them in at night means it doesn’t affect you and your daily activities, and you are able to sleep and wear off these symptoms.

The hallmark of treatment for glaucoma is reducing eye pressure. Glaucoma treatment is dependent on your severity and your stage of glaucoma. There are various treatments for glaucoma, including eye drops, laser, and surgery. Whether you have drops, laser, or surgery is dependent on the stage of glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a progressive eye condition characterised by optic nerve damage and visual field changes and pressure changes inside the eye. Usually with glaucoma, your peripheral vision goes first and therefore you do not realise it until the central vision is also affected. By then, it is too late as any damage that’s happened is irreversible. It is therefore very important that you screen for glaucoma, and the usual recommendation is to do this from the age of 40. Usually this is done by checking your eye pressure and doing an assessment of the nerve at the back of your eye.

Old age and raised eye pressure increases the likelihood of developing glaucoma. If you’re over the age of 60, you’re more likely to develop glaucoma. Regardless, we advise anyone above the age of 40 to be screened for glaucoma, especially if you have a family history of glaucoma, as that increases the likelihood of you developing glaucoma. If you are black, Hispanic or Asian, you’re more likely to develop glaucoma compared to being Caucasian. Extremes of prescriptions, whether that is long-sighted or short-sighted, also increases the risk of developing glaucoma. Having certain eye surgeries or having certain eye conditions and being on steroid drops long term can also increase the risk of developing glaucoma as does having thin corneas or having trauma to the eye.

Treatment for glaucoma is dependent on the stage and severity of your glaucoma. Treatment options for glaucoma include drops, laser, minimally invasive surgery, and further surgery such as trabeculectomies and tubes. Initially, we would use drops or laser to control your intraocular pressure and if this was not adequate, then we would move to surgical procedures. It is important to note that the only treatment for glaucoma is to control your eye pressure and any damage that has already occurred cannot be reversed and the mainstay of treatment is to any new damage happening.

Treatment for glaucoma is dependent on the stage and severity of your glaucoma. Treatment options include drops, laser, and surgery. One type of glaucoma called closed angle glaucoma can be treated with lens replacement surgery. If you were having this surgery and you’re in the early stages of glaucoma, you can have a multifocal lens implant, which would make you glasses free. However, this is not suitable for everybody and you would have to have an assessment to assess your suitability for this procedure.

Laser treatment for glaucoma is dependent on the type of glaucoma you have. There are two types of glaucoma, broadly speaking, open angle glaucoma and closed angle glaucoma. Open angle glaucoma can be treated by a laser procedure called selective laser trabecularplasty. This laser takes about five minutes to do, and essentially it creates channels to allow your fluid to drain out, reducing the eye pressure inside your eye. The procedure is usually very effective and lasts several months to a few years in most people. It can also be redone if the procedure does not work in the first instance. In closed angle glaucoma, you can have a laser procedure called peripheral iridotomy. This laser creates a channel to which fluid can drain out preventing GLI closure, glaucoma. It is important to note that with both these lasers, they do not prevent you wearing glasses and you would have to continue wearing glasses for good vision.

Treatment for dry eyes is dependent on the cause and severity of your dry eyes. Simple measures, such as using eyedrops and ointments and cleaning your eyelids regularly treats dry eyes in the vast majority of cases. Stopping contact lens wear also often improves any dry eye symptoms that you may be experiencing. More advanced cases of dry eyes may be treated with punctal plugs or surgery to correct your lid position and improve the dry eyes.

Dry eyes occurs when there is instability of the tear film on the surface of the eye. The tear firm on the surface of the eye is composed of water, mucus, and oils. A discrepancy in the composition between these three components can lead to an unstable tear film, which breaks up a lot more easily, resulting in the symptoms of dry eyes, which include pain, redness, soreness, and blurred vision. Causes of dry eyes can be multiple, including inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis. Eye lid conditions, such as blepharitis. And other simple reasons such as overuse of contact lenses. Treating these conditions would treat your dry eyes in most cases.

The purpose of cataract surgery is to give you good vision so you can get on with your daily activities and your work. Privately you’re able to bypass long waiting times and have your surgery done at most within weeks. You also have the option of having premium lens implants, which give you good vision (excellent quality of vision), without the need for glasses or contact lenses. Additionally, you are able to have top up laser at Oculase to refine the vision to give you even better outcomes. Privately I would be your sole point of care for your cataract surgery assessing you before the surgery, during the surgery, and afterwards.

Blepharitis is an inflammatory condition of the eyelid. The eyelids have lots of little glands, which produce oil to moisturise the surface of the eye. In blepharitis, these glands can get blocked or narrowed, and therefore the oils cannot come out as smoothly as they’re meant to. They can collect along the edge of the eyelid, causing waxy and flaky substances. This can cause the eyes to get dry, giving sore, dry, gritty, painful eyes.

Blepharitis is a chronic condition, which cannot be cured, but this can be treated with simple measures. At home, you can use measures to clean your eyelids, using techniques such as lid hygiene and massage with eye bags or hot towels. If this is not enough, then you can employ more advanced techniques that we offer in clinic, such as BlephEx treatment and IPL therapy to control and treat your blepharitis.

Usually with cataract surgery a small incision is made in the eye. The front portion of the thin outer covering of the lens is opened to allow removal of the cataract inside. The cataract is gently broken up and vacuumed out, then a folded lens implant is inserted through the small incision and into the capsule where it unfolds and permanently takes the place of the clouded natural lens. With the cataract removed, the new lens implant clearly focuses light rays onto the retina. The power of the lens implant is selected for your individual eye.

Generally after the age of 45 people develop a condition called presbyopia. In this condition, one loses the ability to focus on close-up objects as clearly. As time goes on, disability gets worse and one needs stronger prescription glasses or contact lenses to see things close up. If you have developed presbyopia and you’re not suitable for laser vision correction, then you may have refractive lens exchange. In general, we reserve this for anyone above the age of 50.

The whole point of having refractive lens exchange or lens replacement surgery is so that you do not have to wear any glasses or contact lens after surgery. In general, most people can do 95% of their activities without any glasses or contact lenses. In the small percentage of people who do end up needing glasses after surgery it’s because they’re doing fine print reading or they are reading in reduced light conditions or they’re having to drive at night. If you do end up having a significant refractive error after refractive lens exchange this can be easily corrected with some laser to give you fine, close up and distance vision.

Refractive lens exchange involves removing your natural crystalline lens in the eye and replacing it with a synthetic lens implant, which stays in your eye for life. The purpose of refractive lens exchange is to give you glasses and contact lenses freedom. Implantable contact lenses, as the name implies, is a contact lens especially designed to sit in the eye on top of your natural crystalline lens. We would not remove your natural crystalline lens in an implantable contact lens surgery procedure. The purpose of implantable contact lens is to give you also glasses and contact lenses freedom. However, we would usually reserve implantable contact lens surgery for people who have got very high prescriptions who are not suitable for laser eye surgery, while refractive lens exchange is suitable for people above the age of 50 who are needing to wear reading and distance glasses and are looking to be glasses-independent.

Refractive lens exchange or lens replacement surgery and cataract surgery are performed exactly the same way. There is no difference between the two procedures. However, the reason to do the two surgeries is different. Cataract surgery is done to improve your vision as you will have developed misty or cloudy vision because of the cataract. Refractive lens exchange or lens replacement surgery is done to give you greater independence from glasses or contact lenses.

Hello. I’m Victoria Morrison. My relationship with my eyes…so from the age of 12, I remember quite distinctly staring at the whiteboard and not being able to read anything on it. And since then, my eyesight really deteriorated until the point I was about minus -6 in this eye and -5.75 in this and I would get up in the morning and the first thing I would do would be to reach for my glasses, or the last thing at night would be taking out my contact lenses. And I was trying to wear them for as long as possible and my eyes got incredibly dry and even got infected. And so then I couldn’t do things like shower with my contact lenses which I didn’t know that you weren’t meant to do. I picked up an infection and that was awful. I met Dr. Tariq [Ayoub] and at which point he advised me further to get this eye surgery. And after a brief and very informative and casual conversation with him, it seemed like the best possible option for me, especially in my line of work. I did a fair bit of research and mainly just to sort of check up on how qualified the people were that were doing and performing the surgery. Because of course, when you’re going in for any kind of major surgery, you want to know that you’re in safe hands. And then it was only looking at like two weeks extensive education that he’s had an all of the qualifications that he has and the long list of reviews from people who have spoken so highly of the surgery and of the surgeons and so on and so forth, I was like, Of course, it’s an easy option. Of course, it’s a brilliant choice. So the actual day of surgery is really nothing to worry about. It’s incredibly easy. You get there about an hour before your procedure, you fill in a few forms. They go over again to make sure your scans are all looking correct. They really put you at ease. It’s an incredible family feel in the surgery and you feel like you’re one of the family when you’re in there. And then you just get yourself very relaxed, obviously bring in, if you can, a member of your family or a trusted friend to look after you on the day. And then you go in for the surgery and it’s over so much quicker than you think it’s going to be. Like it’s a very quick procedure and they are all very calming in there and you have nothing to worry about. Keep breathing. It’ll be fine. I was so surprised by how quick her recovery was. I mean, obviously, the first day is dependent upon where you are on your site. I mean, as I said, I was minus X and Y, -5.75. So I probably on the first day got about maybe 85 to 90% of my vision. And even that was insane. Like you feel a little bit like you were underwater the first day, but that’s fine. That’s something to worry about. You wake up the next day and it increases again and you can start to see things. And it’s incredible. And then obviously then throughout the days, weeks, months, it then starts to increase and it’s just yeah, it’s really incredible. I would 100% recommend oxidase and it is such a family when you get in there, but it’s just like the most knowledgeable, informed family possible in what they do. It’s you’re always put at ease, it’s very calming and everyone knows what they’re doing. You’ve got nothing to worry about. Yeah, actually, it doesn’t matter. Part of me regrets not doing it earlier simply because as a contact lens, where there is stuff that you’re inhibited from doing that you can’t. If you can’t, you can’t shower with your contact lenses and you can’t swim with your contact lenses in. You can’t. And there are certain occasions you don’t want to really wear glasses. I guess in a way there is still a slight stigma attached to wearing glasses. So it’s incredible to just not have to worry about that and to wake up in the morning and not have your glasses be the first thing that you reach for or have dry eyes in the evening because you can wear your contact lenses all day. I wish this was something I had known about sooner.

Hi. I’m Jo. I have been short sighted for most of my life and I think I had my first pair of glasses when I was probably about 12, which I didn’t really like at the time, and I started wearing contact lenses since 16. So that’s a fair few years now. And when LASIK first came out, I was very scared. I was people said, Well, you should get your eyes out of the Oh, no, no, no, because there’s no evidence to show about how good it was and any side effects. So I carried on with the contact lenses and the glasses and but I’m very sporty. So I used to run row. I like swimming. And I just found over the years that I suppose your life around your when you’re going to wear your lenses when you’re going to wear your glasses, and towards the last couple of years, the expense was phenomenal because then I noticed there were issues with reading. So not only did I have issues with distance, I then had issues with reading and I had to go down the route of varifocals. So it cost me a lot of money to get a very good pair of varifocals. So the distortion wasn’t too bad. Plus I still had the cost of contact lenses and I think last year I really thought about researching LASIK again and I came across Tariq in my substantive position and I started to research a little bit more because I was asking him questions and I decided that I was going to look into my vision. My vision would then allow me to be able to read and look in the distance. So I decided to speak to Tariq and I found a lot more information. I made the decision to consider LASIK. The key factor were cost, so I was coming up to the point where my prescription had changed. I needed to go and get an on-the periphery focals and I was very keen to get one of the most expensive, very physical lenses so that I would not have as much distortion, plus I would still have the cost of contact lenses. So if I had LASIK at that time, I probably would have reduced that cost in a year and a half with my glasses and my contact lenses. So as I knew Tariq and I knew of his expertise, I felt very comfortable in making that decision from a financial and something that I’ve kind of always considered on the day of surgery. I was always a little nervous as I suppose everyone is, but I’m a nurse by background, so those kinds of things don’t phase me that much, although I never liked AI, so that’s always kind of made me feel better. But on the day of surgery, Tariq was phenomenal, actually. He explained everything in so much detail. But not only the procedure, what I would expect. So what people would do and what people would say? So I would always know what the next thing was. So I wasn’t left thinking, Oh, what’s going to happen now? And actually in the process during the procedure, he did exactly that. He told me every single thing that was about to happen. Then he told me when it was finished, and then he told me again what was going to happen. So it was a repeat of what he told me before I went into the theatre, and that really did have an excellent effect on keeping me calm. And I think the only thing I would say about the procedure is there was slight discomfort with the pressure, but that lasted four or 5 seconds. And I’m absolutely amazed how pain free and how it was so easy. I think that’s the only way I can describe it because I had my night vision I noticed seeing in the distance straight away. And in fact, for the first couple of days when I was getting ready to go to bed, for example, I think, Oh, I forgot to take my contact lenses out. Luckily I didn’t. But it was very strange that I could see. But I did notice that the reading was a little blurry and Tariq had made me aware of that because my brain was now having to get used to one eye being done for reading and one prescribed for distance. So that didn’t concern me at all because like he did for the surgery, he gave me advance warning of what would happen immediately. Post-surgery. It was a little bit uncomfortable and like like a scratch, a grittiness in the eye. But I followed the instructions that Tariq gave me because you know, he made it clear that he had done his job. And now it was my turn to do my job to make sure that the results are what I wanted. So I was very meticulous with the eye drops, very particular wearing the sunglasses, not only in lights but when I went outside, even if it was dark, to stop any dust from getting into my eyes. And obviously, the follow-up appointments also were crucial. And now after I think I’m four weeks post-surgery, I don’t have any problems with the reading. I can pick up my phone, I can read something or I can look at my laptop at work, and then I can look in the distance. And it’s like I’ve never had problems with my vision. And it was funny actually the other day, prior to going into the lockdown, I was with a friend in a pub garden and I didn’t have to put the menu like this. I could just reiterate the menu and look away. And she was like, Oh my goodness, you’re waiting on your distance. I said, I know, it’s phenomenal. It’s like it’s made me feel a bit younger, shall we say. I absolutely would recommend Oculase and Tariq. And in fact, I already have a number of people who are considering and looking at maybe doing it in the new year. Why firstly, why Tariq? I think choosing a company isn’t really where I start. I choose the surgeon. I think it’s imperative to choose the surgeon rather than where they’re based. And I chose Tariq because from the very word go, he was very clear in his explanations, clear in the way that he was. He would talk in layman’s terms. So I understood, even though I am a nurse myself, I’m not an ophthalmic trained nurse. So when you use technical jargon, sometimes you don’t fully understand it. But Tariq was incredibly clear in all the different options that would be available to me, asking me why I wanted it so he could tell me what he thinks from his clinical expertise. That would be good for me, albeit the choice being mine. At the end of the day, if I then think of my checks with the optometrist that he works alongside, if I then think about the day of the procedure, and I’ve also had a follow-up check since the surgery. If I combine all that, Tariq has been so informative, so friendly, so knowledgeable and very, very patient-focused. And I think that’s incredibly important. I don’t really understand why I have waited so long. You know, hindsight’s a wonderful thing. I can think of many occasions in previous years where actually if I had this done, I probably would have everything would be more seamless, even simple things like being on holiday sunbathing. I wanted to take a dip in the pool, deciding in the morning whether or not my activities were going to need contact lenses or whether I should just wear my glasses. But then if I decided to just wear my glasses on holiday, then when I took them off to go to the swimming pool, I could see anything and also little things when you go out in the day and if the sun comes out and I was wearing my glasses, I couldn’t have my sunglasses on because I never like prescription sunglasses and I never liked the glasses whereby they would change the lens according to the lights. So it’s really simple things that I look back and think I wouldn’t have to worry about any of that. So and obviously when I was growing up, that would have been amazing when I was running and going to the gym. So absolutely there is. But I was never wanting to do it from a fashion point of view. I didn’t mind wearing glasses, some of the glasses that I had, I do think glasses can be quite stylish but from your reality and just living your everyday life, yes, I do wish I did it before.

My name is Roy Newman. Like most people, I attend the Opticians regularly and over a period of time probably about three years ago, my left eye in particular started to get really quite difficult to see out of. And if I was driving in night time, we often find that brake lights and things would suddenly be like a Christmas tree because you would have all lights all over the place rather than one single light. I’d come to the optician and they said to me your eyes, not that I needed telling, your eye is deteriorating quite a lot So he said, Well, you didn’t really have to wait like that. You can go along and have another opinion on it. And so he gave me a number and it turns out it was Dr [Tariq] Ayoub’s practice and I went along there. Extremely efficient. [What procedure did you have?] Well, the left eye had become very foggy and there were a lot of lights, particularly at night-time, that would spray, it would just blur. So it was a cataract and it was going to be removed and the right eye was not far behind the left eye. But the left eye was obviously the one to prioritise. So that was done. [What was the recovery like?] And immediately, immediately, although you’ve noticed a bit of difference beforehand, immediately the colours have come back into your eye, the blurriness has gone. It’s- It’s magic, really it does make everything so- You don’t realise how bad it’s got really until you’ve had it done and then having that one done I actually realised how bad my right eye was. And so they duly said let’s get over this now. You’ll have another inspection, another visit, and then in 6 weeks to 8 weeks and then all being well, we book you in for the next eye, which is was what happened and then it was exactly the same procedure very, very confidently dealt with. [How did the procedure go?] On both occasions and it was very successful and I’m delighted with their response and how good my eyes are now. In fact, Dr Ayoub, or Mr Ayoub, said you’ll probably still require to wear glasses for reading small print, which I do. But I can nearly read comfortably on a bright day, a newspaper, for example. And so it was win-win all around. [Would you recommend Oculase?] I’d find it hard to imagine there is going to be anybody better in the way they look after you, the courtesy, the care, the attention to detail, and then the aftercare where they check you at the end and everything. And I don’t know what more anybody could do to make it better, to be honest. I don’t know, I can’t compare. But, you can’t, I don’t see how you can be better.

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.

Anyone who has a prescription, whether that’d be myopia or hyperopia or astigmatism, is suitable for implantable contact lens surgery. In general, however, we reserve implantable contact lens surgery for anyone who was not suitable for laser eye surgery. Usually, people who are not suitable for eye surgery have very thin corneas or extremely high prescription, and therefore implantable contact lens surgery would be a better option for them. Additionally, in some people who have had corneal transplants previously, or have stable keratoconus, an implantable contact lens may be a more suitable option.

Implantable contact lenses, as the name suggests, is a specially designed lens that sits inside your eye to correct very high prescriptions. It is a very soft synthetic lens that sits behind your iris, which is the coloured bit of your eye, but on top of your natural crystalline lens. As it is inside the eye, it is not visible to anyone around you, and you do not have to take it out and remove it and replace it as you would for a standard contact lens. Those who are not suitable for laser eye surgery would be suitable for implantable contact lenses.

Implantable contact lens surgery is painless as I use lots of anaesthetic drops to completely numb your eye. In some people I would consider also giving you a block of anaesthetic to freeze your eyes, so you feel no pain. In very rare cases, we can use sedation or general anaesthesia for the surgery, but this usually is not required. The surgery itself is very safe, and very quick, and pain is not usually an issue.

Implantable contact lens surgery is generally a safe procedure with over 1 million of these implanted worldwide. However, there are some important side effects or risks that you need to be aware of. Immediately after the surgery your eyes are going to be sore and red and gritty and you might notice that your vision is slightly blurred. This is normal and resolves over a period of a few days to a couple of weeks with the drops that you will be prescribed. Sometimes after the surgery your pressure may be raised. If this is the case they will give you some drops or tablets to reduce the pressure in your eye. Another important risk of ICL surgery is the issue with sizing of the contact lens. We take several measurements of your eye to predict the exact size of the lens that needs to be implanted in your eye. Usually this lens implant is bespoke to your eye. However, sometimes the lens may not sit snugly in your eye and may rotate or move from its position. In these situations we may have to do a second surgery to reposition the lens, replace it, or remove it. A finally important risk is that one can develop a severe infection which could adversely affect your vision. However, we are able to treat this with antibiotics in most cases.

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.