PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - VISION THREAD (other than colour vision)
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Old 19th Jul 2008, 21:15
  #1017 (permalink)  
NurseToPilot
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Bethesda, N. Wales UK
Age: 43
Posts: 48
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DB...

I would never recommend going for the FIRST company to offer you the treatment without having second opinion.

I had 3 consultations in all before deciding on which one to go with - dont forget just because one is cheaper it does not make the more expensive one BETTER at what they do - I use ULTRALASE here as an example of a company who has millions of pounds to spend on marketing and good marketing does not always mean good service - for example you don't meet the person doing the laser treatment until the day of the treatment. NOW if you were having elective surgery at hospital you would most certainly be seeing the consultant before your operation therefore why shouldn't you meet him/her before your eye surgery?

The company i chose (and i will tell you if private message me... had the consultant himself doing most of the testing and advice before the surgery took place - this filled me with confidence from day one!

By looking at your prescription i can see that you have an astigmatism that the CAA would never allowed through a medical as their initial limit is ±2.00 and renewal is ±3.00.

Google "What is Astigmatism" and you will get some decent information that explains what it is and what you have!

You say in your post that you feel your eyes might deteriorate further? There are two ways that this can happen and you're probably confusing the two.... 2/3 of your refraction comes from the cornea (clear bit at front of eye) and the other 1/3 comes from the lens inside. Your ability to focus distance vs far comes solely from the lens and its ability to accomodate by stretching and contracting... as we get older this flexibility diminishes, hence why people over 40 need glasses for reading (called presbyobia)

If you have lasik done - the laser re shapes the cornea surface by sort of chiseling away the surface tissue to shape it correctly to focus light to where it should be (basically taking the prescription from your glasses and eliminating that much tissue from the eye surface) - you will still need reading glasses in future!

There are certain considerations here - the more of a prescription you have (ie the higher the number) the more laser that will need to be applied and thus more tissue that will have to be ablated..... your corneal thickness will be measured to see that it is thick enough to allow for lasik, and if it is then you can go ahead.... There may not be enough tissue there to take your prescription down to 0 however you may be able to reduce it and bring it within limits.......

So many considerations but i recommend you see consultants at these companies and find out as much as you can for yourself.

Sorry for the long winded answer but as i mentioned at the beginning I have researched it for 13 months before going ahead!!

TA - good luck

JONATHAN
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