FacebookXYouTube
Laser Eye Surgery2016-11-04T11:13:23+00:00

Expert surgeons

Mr Keith Bates
MA (OXON) BM BCH (OXON) FRCS FRCOphth

Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
More about specialist
Mr Robert Morris
BSc(Hons), MB BS (Hons), MRCP, FRCS, FRCOphth

Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
More about specialist
Mr Paul Rosen
BSc(Hons), MB ChB, FRCS, FRCOphth, MBA

Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
More about specialist

Eye surgery available in London and the Southeast

This eye treatment is available in:
Guildford
London
Oxford
Southampton
Taunton

Laser Eye Surgery

The Problem

More than 3 out of 5 adults in the UK wear glasses (65%) or contact lenses (8%) to correct refractive errors.

We refer to refractive errors as short-sightedness, long-sightedness, or astigmatism. Their medical names are myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.

Many people are happy with their glasses or contact lenses in the last 2 decades advances in surgical techniques have proven to be an attractive alternative.

The refractive process in your eye is like the way a camera takes a picture. The cornea and lens in your eye act as the camera lens focusing rays of light on the retina which is like the photographic film. The image your retina “sees” is transmitted to your brain, which interprets the image. If the picture is not focused, the retina (or film) transmits a blurred image to the brain.

Myopia (Shortsightedness)

People with myopia or shortsightedness have an eye which is too long or a cornea that is too curved. The cornea is the transparent window at the front of the eye. That’s important because we tend to treat the cornea when we correct refractive errors. An elongated eye or a cornea that is too curved results in you seeing distant objects as blurry.

Blurriness happens because the lens focuses the image in front of the retina. You may be able to see close objects with clarity. You can likely read without glasses.

Myopia affects about a third of the adult population. At present, the majority of all laser eye surgery patients are myopic.

In presbyopic patients, we may advise treating shortsightedness by exchanging your natural lens with an artificial lens. We call that procedure Lens Replacement.

Hyperopia (Longsightedness)

Hyperopia, or long-sightedness, is the opposite of myopia. You can see distant objects, but close-up objects appear blurred. Hyperopia results from an eyeball that is too short or a cornea that is too flat. Your cornea focuses images on a point behind the retina. LASIK or Laser Eye Surgery may help people with longsightedness too.

In presbyopic patients, we can treat longsightedness by exchanging your natural lens with an artificial lens. We call that procedure Lens Replacement.

Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a condition in which an uneven curvature of your cornea blurs and distorts both distant and near objects. A normal cornea is round, with even curves on all sides, like a football.

The astigmatic cornea is more like a rugby ball, curved more in one direction than in another.

That uneven curvature causes light rays to have two focal point neither of which focuses clearly on the retina, blurring the visual image.

Most people have a slight degree of astigmatism, but a significant number need spectacle or contact lens correction to see clearly. Advances in technology and techniques allow us to correct astigmatism with LASIK.

The Treatment

Laser eye surgery treatment for shortsight, longsighted and astigmatism has many variants. In this page, we’ll discuss the most popular option: LASIK. LASIK is one of the most amazing technological breakthroughs in eye care in past decades.

Using a cold, high-precision laser beam, we program the laser to remove a microscopic layer of the cornea. The laser alters the cornea’s curvature to correct your spectacle or contact lens prescription.

The LASIK Procedure Step 1

As part of the LASIK procedure, the surgeon creates a thin corneal ‘flap’ using a femto laser and folds it back with care.

The LASIK Procedure Step 2

We use the excimer laser to reshape the middle tissue layer of the cornea. We’ve programmed the exact amount into the laser to correct your prescription. Then, we remove approximately 10-12 microns of tissue for each dioptre of myopia treated.

The LASIK Procedure Step 3

We then replace the corneal ‘flap’ to its original position. Like moist cling film, it adheres and seals itself without the use of stitches. The flap protects the treated area of your cornea and helps reduce discomfort.

Femtosecond Laser Eye Surgery

Recent developments femtosecond lasers have enhanced standard LASIK by making it an all-laser procedure.

In conventional LASIK, we create the corneal flap a surgical blade. We now can create the flap with a femtosecond laser. The laser creates a layer of tiny bubbles at a precise depth in the cornea. We can then lift the layer of tissue above the bubbles. We then apply an excimer laser to reshape the exposed cornea to achieve the desired correction.

The advantage of femtosecond LASIK over standard LASIK is that it allows us to create a much thinner corneal flap. This greater precision provides a smoother layer of exposed cornea to which we apply the treating laser.

The greater accuracy at which the femtosecond laser creates the flap ensures that we retain the largest amount of corneal tissue. More corneal tissue enhances long-term stability of the eye. Many complications arising from Laser Eye Surgery were as a result of cutting the cornea with a blade. We can now create the flap without these potential complications.

The Results

Each laser pulse removes 0.25 microns of corneal tissue or 1/400 of a mm. Because of the laser’s precision, we can reduce or eliminate damage to healthy, adjoining tissue. Among LASIK’s advantages are that visual recovery is rapid and it is painless.

Watch expert eye surgeon Robert Morris discuss Laser Eye Surgery

Get in touch

The best way to figure out your options is to give us a call on: 01865 513 483 and we can help answer any questions you have

Contact us

As seen in

What patients say

Frequently asked questions

What is the Laser Eye Surgery success rate?

The goal of Laser Eye Surgery is to reduce your dependence on your glasses or contact lenses. At least 95% of Laser Eye Surgery patients reach the legal driving standard without glasses or contacts, 6/12 or better.

75% of our patients achieve even better results: 6/6 (20/20) vision.

Our goal is to try to achieve the best possible vision for you. It is important you understand that results may vary for many reasons. Your prescription and your corneal thickness will influence results.

Following treatment, 25% of patients may need glasses for detailed distance vision such as driving. Older patients will need reading glasses due to presbyopia which LASIK does not treat.

Laser eye surgery is a painless procedure. We use anaesthetic drops to numb the eye. Although most patients claim there is no pain, some have mentioned that they can feel mild pressure or vibration. There is usually some temporary minor discomfort after the procedure. Patients can relieve temporary pain by taking a nap and using the drops as prescribed.

LASIK offers many benefits over other forms of Laser Eye Surgery because we perform it under a protective layer of corneal tissue. As a result of this and the latest laser technology available, there is less surface area to heal. This also means there is less risk of corneal haze and scarring. There is less postoperative discomfort and your vision will improve faster, often within a day or so. LASIK can also treat a higher range of vision problems.

Eye surgeons have performed over 40 million Laser Eye Surgery procedures worldwide. Some project that Laser Eye Surgery will be commonest surgical procedure in the world (after cataract surgery).
The vast majority of patients achieve outstanding results without complications. Still, Laser Eye Surgery remains a surgical procedure. As with all surgical procedures, there are risks.

The most common Laser Eye Surgery risks include:

Surgical complications relating to the flap during Laser Eye Surgery. The flap might not perfect at the time of surgery. If this is the case, we defer Laser Eye Surgery for three months. The flap may also cause problems if it heals in an unconventional way. We can correct most flap complications can without compromising the visual outcome. With femtosecond Laser Eye Surgery, you needn’t worry about flap complications.

Post-operative dry eye. Some patients need tear drops for a few months after Laser Eye Surgery. It is rare for patients to need tear supplements long term. If we detect you may be at risk for post-operative dry eye, we’ll inform you of this before the Laser Eye Surgery.

Some patients have seen glare and halos around lights at night after Laser Eye Surgery. Night vision disturbances do not usually interfere with driving. Most cases resolve within the first six months after surgery. Laser manufacturers introduced Wavefront technology which reduced the incidence of night vision disturbances.

You can be under or over corrected. Under or over correction occurs when a patient’s individual healing response varies from the average for their age and sex. That is more likely to occur in the correction of higher degrees of short or long sight. It’s important to note that we can retreat patients after their original treatment. We like to wait some time for the eyes to settle after a primary treatment. If the eyes have not resettled after a reasonable amount of time, we’ll offer an enhancement.

Reduction of vision can result following all forms of laser surgery. It’s possible that glasses or contact lenses worn after surgery may not correct it. This problem may be due to inflammation or infection of the cornea after treatment. Vision loss can result from irregular healing or scarring of the cornea.

A severe visual loss is rare (we’ve never had a case where a patient experienced severe visual loss). In extreme cases, patients have required corneal transplants following treatment.

Laser eye surgery is quick and painless. Still, it’s a form of eye surgery.

We are Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon who have worked in the NHS and in our own private practices. We practice in areas local to us and trade on the quality of our reputations.

Every one of us dedicated ourselves to years of extensive training to reach Consultant level in the UK. International experts regard the consultant training program in the UK as one of the most comprehensive in the world.

We have experience in all aspects of eye surgery, not just Laser Eye Surgery. You can be sure that our treatment will be the most appropriate to your eyes.

We have an outstanding track record of results. We have a long-term reputation to maintain. You will receive the most dedicated care from us with all the benefits of a high-quality private hospital.

Generally speaking, the ideal LASIK candidate is over 21 years of age. They have healthy eyes and normal corneas. They will have no significant change in their spectacle prescription in the last 2 to 3 years.

Certain medical conditions make people unsuitable candidates. Pregnant or breastfeeding women should allow several months after giving birth before having treatment. Some patients who are not suitable for LASIK are suitable for LASEK. Some are more suitable for Lens Replacement.

Many people find it more convenient to have both eyes treated together. There are advantages and disadvantages, and we’ll explain this at your assessment.

Patients who opt for unilateral surgery need to wait until the first eye has healed before undergoing surgery on the second eye. In these cases, we recommend at least one month between treatments.

We might recommend unilateral treatment to patients with low refractive errors who can tolerate uncorrected vision in one eye. We might also recommend it to those who can wear a soft contact lens in the untreated eye.

Patients who have a moderate to high refractive errors may find the interval between treatment sessions difficult to tolerate if they are unable to wear a contact lens.

Following the consultation with your surgeon, you can make an individual decision on which option is best for you.

Yes. Although Laser Eye Surgery is the most publicised eye procedure, there are other techniques available. As these procedures involve surgery inside the eye (intra-ocular surgery), they are more complex.

At Grange Eye Consultants, we have expertise in Lens Replacement as well as Laser Eye Surgery.
We need to determine which procedure suits your eyes and lifestyle. To do this, we offer a full initial examination and assessment with a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon.

We will give you advice on your treatment options. We’ll inform you with regards to the benefits and the potential risks and complications of those procedures.

Our Practice Managers can offer guidance on the cost of an initial consultation and the various treatment options available.

We can arrange a finance plan with credit facilities to fund the cost of treatment. We also accept cash, cheque, Switch, Visa and Mastercard or any combination of these.

Weekly eye treatment updates

We regularly share updates and video blog posts on the most common eye treatments

Is ReLEx SMILE better than LASEK?

What is better for you - ReLEx SMILE or LASEK? Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon Robert Morris points out the differences between both procedures.

Go to Top