laser eye surgery

A question about : laser eye surgery

im 46 and wear reading glasses as im long sighted. I can see reasonabily well at long distances but newspapaers and books are a no no. I think my reading glasses are around +1 as I can buy cheapo glasses at +1.5 from poundland.

Basically am i too old for surgery?

I would like not to have to wear glasses as my sight is fine but has a 'shimer' if you like when im not wearing reading glasses. I have not worn glasses all my life just from the age of around 43 but again only for reading small print such as books.

im not sure what im looking for and not really sure if you can post things regarding surgery but any help or advice at this stage would be a great help. mainly from people at my age who have had it done.

Best answers:

• When you say you have a 'shimmer', might that be an indication that you need a Cataract operation.
  Oh to old at 46. Im 61 i've had a couple of OPs and waiting another, probably before Christmas.
• Lazer surgery isn't a particularly good solution for your problem, presbyopia. It works best for stable visual defects like myopia (short sightedness).
  Think what your vision is like when you put on your reading glasses - you can read, but distance is blurry until you take then off. You can't take off lazer surgery therefore you can't permanently lazer a reading only correction onto your eyes.
  There are some ways around this -for example you could have one eye lazered to be able to read, leaving it blurry for distance, and leave to other eye alone to do distance, which is called monovision.
  The other issue is that your defect is currently not stable. Presbyopia progresses through the mid forties until the sixties, meaning that its going to get worse. You will need progressively stronger reading glasses so any lazer correction will only be suitable for a short time.
• I think i'd be going to a different optician for a second opinion or even better ask them to refer you to the nearest eye hospital to do further tests.
• I would not discount it yet - it could give you excellent vision for a number of years which might be worth the cost. My friend is in her mid 40's and she just had it done for the first time and she is thrilled with the result. Another friend is nearly 60 and she just had her eyes relazered after nearly 20 years (she was one of the very first in the world to have it done).
  Most of the large UK laser clinics do a free consultation. I, my husband, and 5 friends have all had it done and we have not been upsold. The consultant has been very clear about the different vision issues; lenses, muscles, stigmatism.... and what laser treatment can and can not fix. They have also given us honest advice about how long the effects of laser treatment will last and how likley it is we will get 20:20 vision at the end.
• Hi There,
  I had laser eye surgery on 17th December. It's early days yet but I have just started writing a blog on my experience of LASEK surgery which may be helpful? I found that getting any detailed reviews/experiences of LASEK surgery patchy and not enough detail to put my mind at rest, hence the blog. It won't let me post the link so take the spaces out at the end after the full stop when you paste it in your browser.
  therealbermudeztriangle.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-lasek-experience.html
  Hope it helps.
• I think laser surgery would be overkill for your situation. I would say dont do it, keep using the readers or if its really an issue,see a good independent optom with a view to having one contact lens to be used in one eye, biased toward reading. (monovision).
• Agree with post #11
  I am currently on monovision contacts and fine tweaking for optimum results. Its a solution that works very well and means you dont need readers but at night and in low light conditions, the total visual experience is slightly degraded.
• Hi guys,
  I'm thinking of having laser surgery. My brother just had it done and he loves it. I've been for my initial consultation at the same place and the surgeon said my corneas are nice and thick. This isn't a high street chain but a surgery off Harley Street. The surgeon is well respected and has a lot of experience in this area.
  My main concerns are night vision and the long term effects of having this done.
  I short sighted and my prescription is -1.75 in both eyes.
  Any feedback and experiences would be appreciated.
  Thanks.
• I had LASEK at Optical Express 5 years ago aged 43 . I was able to ditch glasses I'd worn since 16. But for the last year I've noticed a deterioriation in my distance vision.
  I went back to Optical Express for an eye test and they advised that I would benefit from glasses for night time driving, cinema, that sort of thing. I am very unhappy with this - their sales spiel was that I would not need glasses for distance vision. I was aware that my near vision would still deteriorate, but I wanted to avoid bifocals.
  I am very disappointed. I thought I was paying Ј3-4K for lasting results and that was not the case.
• I had LASIK via Ultralase Cardiff 15 months ago.
  Prescription of -4.5 and -5
  Best thing I ever did. No issues with night glare/halos which some people say can be worse after surgery but my night sight improved dramatically.
• Do not gamble with your eyes folks, despite how glossy the companies claim it to be the truth hidden behind it all is shocking, just check out opticalexpre**ruinedmylife.co.uk (fill in the ** with the rest!), that company have been know to lean very heavy on public forums and get negative posts taken down, check out the horror stories on that website, its awful what they can, and do on a regular basis, to unsuspecting people, and they get away with it because the industry is unregulated. Read up and learn folks.