What our Patients say

 Catherine Marshall had been considering laser eye surgery for a number of years. It was only when her tolerance to contact lenses started to fail, leaving her with dry eyes that she seriously thought about laser eye surgery.

The key question for Catherine was “who should I trust with my precious eyesight?” Her account of her experience is detailed below.

I’d been considering laser eye surgery for a few years and started to investigate seriously about 12 months ago. I’m a sporty and active person and felt it would greatly improve my quality of life to be able to see without glasses or lenses. I was about -3.25 in both eyes. Plus I was noticing with the soft contact lenses that I’d worn for about 15 years, my eyes were becoming dryer, more irritated and the vision was not as good as it once was.

Catherine Marshall 

I wanted honest and unbiased advice on the best treatment for me with realistic outcomes of the treatment explained in full. A number of providers I went to see ‘glossed over’ many of the concerns of laser eye surgery and did not even mention that Lasik surgery where a flap on the front of the eye is created may not be the best choice of surgery for anyone who does contact sports or may run the risk of trauma to the eye area (e.g. in working for the police or armed forces). This was especially important for me as I like mixed martial arts!

After visiting a number of providers where I felt like I was being pushed into ‘buying a sofa’ as someone so nicely put it, (i.e. “Make a decision today, come in on Saturday, we can offer you 0% finance, there’s virtually no risk”) I found Accuvision. What a completely fabulous change in service! They are an amazing company who employ great people, all of whom give you honest, unbiased advice about the right treatment for you. Their surgeons and technology are second to none and my experience with them has been absolutely excellent all the way through.

I think my biggest lesson learnt was that although many consider laser eye surgery virtually a ‘high street purchase’ it is still a complex medical procedure; not all companies are the same; not all surgeons are the same and not all technology is the same. To my mind, if I’m going to have my sight adjusted, I definitely want the right people and technology for the job to ensure the best outcome possible.

I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Accuvision and I certainly wouldn’t trust mine or my family’s sight with anyone else. I won’t pretend that trans-epi is the easiest way to go but the results for me have been astounding and continue to improve each day. I now have better vision that I ever did with glasses or lenses (it’s a month on and I have 20:10 vision), and I would never go back!! It’s changed my life – so thank you to all the team at Accuvision; Mr Chad Rostron, Anthony, Vikash, Monica, Clayton and Joan, you all do an amazing job!

A bit more detail about my treatment.

In December 2011 after a consultation in the Solihull branch, I decided to travel to London for trans-epithelial surface treatment so that I could rest and recover over the Christmas break. On the day of my surgery the staff at the clinic were amazing. My surgery was carried out by Mr Chad Rostron (carrying out a quick Google search I soon learned he was one of the best, if not the best, in the business) who was the ultimate professional and made me feel completely at ease.

I arranged to stay at a nearby hotel and was glad I had someone with me. To give you a brief overview of my treatment/recovery: Surgery carried out on Wednesday – all went smoothly, much easier and less traumatic than expected. I took pain killers and put drops in my eyes every hour. Stayed in hotel Wednesday night, slept most of the time and stayed in a darkened room, pain was fine – a bit scratchy and uncomfortable. After my post-surgery check-up Thursday morning (all fine), I went home on Thursday and again did a lot of resting, still putting the drops in. Thursday night and Friday were difficult; my eyes were burning, watering and generally very unpleasant! Luckily this didn’t last as long as I thought it might and by Saturday I was feeling a lot brighter. Over the next few days (Saturday to Monday) I continued to recover well although I was still resting quite a lot and was glad I was off work! I didn’t feel my eyesight was good enough to drive for around 7-10 days after surgery, so I was glad that I had planned not to have to drive anywhere. I also found that my distance vision recovered much more quickly than my close range vision. Over the first couple of weeks of January, I was still adjusting to reading computer screens etc. (it was a bit blurry and difficult to see clearly all the time) but a month after surgery this is now back to normal.

My top tips for recovery; don’t plan to do anything – you don’t know how you’ll feel and the more rest you get the better; have someone with you just in case (you’ll probably be fine but it’s nice to have someone there to get you food & make tea!); arrange to stay somewhere local if you have a long way to travel home, especially if it’s by public transport; make sure you have some great sunglasses to wear; use all the painkillers and drops given to you by the clinic and follow their regime!; you may like to try some dry eye spray to spray onto your eyelids when they are hot/burning during recovery as well as using the drops; don’t forget to load your iPod with a lot of tunes/audiobooks and best of luck, you won’t regret it! 

Dr Sally Tucker is the surgical medical affairs manager at EURMEA. Her need to reduce contact lens wear for medical reasons led her to research laser eye surgery as a treatment option. Her final choice of provider was Accuvision laser eye clinics.

I started wearing glasses when I was 7 years old when NHS frames were the normal – the large, thick plastic frames which were neither flattering nor comfortable to wear. I was very long sighted, being around +5.50 in both eyes and without any correction I suffered from double vision. At the age of 14 I started wearing contact lenses which gave me more confidence as I disliked my glasses, my thick lenses and my appearance with them on. Contact lenses were a great option for me for many years with me having no complaints with the vision or comfort that my lenses provided. More recently my lenses became less comfortable, my eyes became dryer and I suffered from two small corneal ulcers in each of my eyes. As an optometrist the occurrence of these and the risks associated with visual loss with the incidence of corneal ulcers terrified me. I realized that I would need to drastically reduce my contact lens wearing time and start relying more on my glasses. This realization was very difficult for me to accept. Not only did I prefer the visual quality that my lenses provided and my appearance without glasses I also liked sports not conducive to spectacle wear and had a 9 month old son at the time who saw my glasses as a toy. It was at this time that I decided to look more closely at my options through refractive surgery, find out more about the risks and benefits, and decide whether it was an option open to me and my eye condition. It was through this search that I contacted Accuvision and following a thorough examination and discussion with the optometrist I underwent surgery on the 17^th December 2010. During the following 4 weeks my vision was quite variable and on some days could be quite blurred. I also suffered from dry eyes which is quite normal following the procedure for which I used artificial tears. I am now 2 months on and my vision is great. I don’t need any correction, I wake up in the morning and can see my son without having to put glasses on and I no longer need to use artificial tears. I can honestly say that the treatment I received has changed my life. I knew that I had to stop wearing my contact lenses as much which felt like a real compromise to me. The surgery has provided me with the visual freedom I wanted and I am thrilled with the results. 

Dr. Sally Tucker

MCOptom, PhD, DipTp(AS), DipTp(Sp), Diploma in Management 

Surgical Medical Affairs Manager, EURMEA

I began my racing career at just 8 years old, and have needed to use glasses since I was even younger. It has been a great hindrance having to wear glasses under my helmet and it has been detrimental to my performance on track. I recently had Wavefront Laser Eye surgery at Accuvision with tremendous results; within hours of surgery I could see with great clarity and detail and since then I have confirmed 20/20 vision. I was back on track within 3 days as a race instructor at Silverstone, and my vision is better than it has ever been. I highly recommend Accuvision to all.

My two friends recommended Accuvision to me as she said it was fantastic. My vision was really bad; I had astigmatism in the right eye and a big prescription difference between my two eyes. One was a -3.00 and the other was around -6.00.

I had contacts and glasses. It was a nightmare having to take contact lenses out at night and put them in again in the morning and if you stayed over bringing the solution with you. Glasses could not make it better because of the great difference between my eyes.

On the day it was brilliant at Accuvision. The surgery was painless, the nurse held my hand and it took about 8 minutes and I could see straight away afterwards. I wore bandage contacts for a day and came in the day after and had them taken out and that was it.

It was a little dry after but if you use some artificial tears it is fine and I had no problems at all. I forgot what contacts were, I forgot what glasses were, apart from when I wanted to wear them out for fashion.

I am super happy with my vision and Accuvision!

Happy to share my story that spanned across 12 years. Initial Lasik in 1998 that went terribly wrong – to 2010 Lasik correction that has me now functioning without glasses for the first time in my life.

The following link provides access to my recent blog which shows more than appreciation for the successful correction by the Surgeons at Accuvision in London. The blog shows comparison X-Y plots revealing the actual botched Lasik results that the Accuvision team was presented with, right next to the successful results by the Accuvision Surgeons. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll leave each person to his or her own observations.

You may need to scroll down on the blog link to find my February 7. 2011 blog ‘To See or Not to See’… American, Jim Barrett

Additionally, at the bottom of the blog is the video testimony I made just after my second eye was successfully corrected by Accuvision in July 2010.

http://eyesurgery.accuvision.co.uk/

Regarding your quest to find if the industry has minimized complications, well my personal experience is that many Lasik providers lack in-depth knowledge of the equipment they purchase, and its theory of operation. They are unable to recognize miscalculations and therefor initiate mistreatment, albeit with good intentions, that results in many poor, if not terrible, results.

During my 12 year search, and wait, for technology and expertise, I saw or communicated with over 25 Lasik professionals world wide, including major Laser Mfg point Surgeon’s and R&D Doctors, one of which would have left me blind, OS, if I had followed the recommended course of action.

Sadly, I found that individual country politics bans some of the best technology from their shores, and thereby inhibits developing expertise to use it – even if it were made available.

Insurance companies fall in a similar category of tunnel vision, at least in my case, when after I explained my situation the insurance representative believed that Lasik is Lasik and explained that even for corrective Lasik the procedure would only be covered if done in America. If that were the case, well check out my 1998 Lasik compared to my 2010 Lasik results…..so much for Lasik is Lasik.

From the start of my experience at Wetherby clinic, with Simon Falk I have nothing but good things to say about my treatment for Hyperopia. Everybody is so nice and helpful and make you feel at ease. The surgery itself take’s a matter of minutes and is painless completely. It is definitely the best money I have ever spent. Thanks again to Simon and all the team at Wetherby. Kind Regards Ged Beadle

Clinic: London
Customer Service: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Clinical Team: 5/5
Technology: 5/5

Comments: The best investment we have ever done, and undoubtedly at the clinic with the most advanced technology and a world class team of surgeons and clinicians!

Every step on the way (from first call to the clinic 4 months ago and all the way through the consultations, surgery and the check-ups after surgery) has been flawless!

Do we feel anything could be done differently or better? Well, actually the answer to that is NO! The only thing I wish is that we had made the first step to contact Accuvision sooner, as we then could have had a chance to enjoy the freedom we got now 🙂
Accuvision where looking at 20:20 vision as a result of the surgery (20:20 is perfect vision), however the techniques they used and the aftercare they provided actually resulted in even slightly better vision then 20:20 which is amazing!

To add to all above is that I know 7 other people who have had their surgery with Accuvision London over the past 6 years and each and every one of us have got perfect results. (Our correction span from some girls with -9.00 and over 1.00 of astigmatism, to -3.00 and 0.25 astigmatism)

Kindest regards,

Mike

Clinic: Birmingham
Customer Service: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Clinical Team: 5/5
Technology: 5/5

Comments:
When considering having Laser Eye surgery I went on recommendations from three separate friends rather than research and price. Two friends had treatment elsewhere and were not very complimentary about the clinics they had been to, my other friend however had been to Accuvision in Solihull and after listening to her feedback I knew straight away where to have my surgery.
My first consultation was thorough, professional and I was made to feel at ease with all my questions answered about the options available to me. It was also very evident that Accuvision were not just after my money, the Consultant was very insistent that I go away and consider the treatment before signing up and wanted to ensure that I’d thought it through properly. As I so impressed by their service, and my friends experience, I booked my treatment straight away.
On the day of the surgery it’s self I was given the upmost care and attention and whilst having the treatment I was given a running commentary on what was happening and made to feel totally relaxed. The aftercare was of the same high standard with clear instructions on how to look after my eyes post surgery and regular checkups booked in. Within a very, very short space of time it was like I’d never even had the surgery in the first place and the only regret I have is that I didn’t do it years ago when I was worried about Laser Eye surgery.

From my first consultation visit to my last aftercare appointment Accuvision were nothing short of exemplary and I could not recommend them enough, and have done so to three other friends who have completed their treatment.

Accuvision should be the natural choice for anyone considering Laser Eye surgery.

Clinic: Birmingham
Customer Service: 5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Clinical Team: 5/5
Technology: 5/5

Comments: Its been a month since I had my surgery (mono vision correction) and I am delighted with the results. It is life changing. I have worn contact lenses for 33 years and they were getting increasing uncomfortable and inconvenient. I wanted to post this as reading other testimonials helped me make the decision to go ahead. The team are wonderful and whilst the procedure is daunting it is soon over and absolutely worth it. I am glasses/lenses free and my vision is much better than it was ever before. I would recommend Accuvision without hesitation.