FAQs

LASIK and LASEK is performed bilaterally simultaneously in approximately 95% of the patients we treat (i.e. both eyes same day). The decision always rests with the patient however after considering the pros and cons.

The procedure itself is painless. However, the eyes may feel a bit gritty after LASIK for a few hours, but there is no pain. The vision usually recovery from LASIK will normally be observed within 24hours.

Yes. Most people start noticing an improvement in vision almost immediately. After LASIK you will normally be able to see without glasses or contact lenses within twenty four hours. With LASEK the visual recovery is slower but by day 5 most patients are seeing well.

The fee which we detail in all of our publications for Laser Eye Surgery is totally comprehensive. All follow ups, post-operative care and necessary enhancements are included (follow-up visits for 12 months post-op).

LASIK is a very safe procedure, even safer than wearing contact lenses. It does however carry risks like all other surgical procedures but they are manageable in experienced hands. The specific risks are explained in more detail below and will also be fully detailed to you during your consultation.

Absolutely; more so than any other profession - 26% of ophthalmic surgeons registered with the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons have had refractive surgery.

At Laser Vision, we regularly treat doctors, and other members of the medical profession.

When laser eye surgery is performed in clinics like Laser Vision, the risks of developing a sight threatening complication is 8 times lower than wearing daily disposable contact lenses.

To date, we have never had a sight threatening complication.

The procedures take approximately ten minutes per eye.

Prior to your initial assessment, it is essential to leave out your contact lenses for a period of 1 week if they are soft contact lenses and for 4 weeks if they are rigid contact lenses.

This is imperative for accurate assessment of the cornea prior to treatment and for correct planning of your surgery,

We also offer a unique life-time warranty that states that if ever, at anytime in the future, your vision regresses to a point where glasses are required for driving again, we will undertake to do the enhancement surgery at no cost, irrespective of how many years have passed since the original procedure.

Normally we ask that you have a quiet day the day after the surgery. Most people have their surgery on a Thursday or Friday, and are back at work on Monday. You should relax completely immediately after the surgery. If surface treatment is performed, it may take another 2 or 3 days to settle.

Refractive surgery can be performed at any age above 18 years old, but the treatment of choice may vary depending on different factors. Beyond the age of 50 the refractive procedure of choice may be a lens exchange as opposed to laser correction.

To date, all of our patients have are able to drive without their glasses. About 98% of our patients achieve normal 20/20 or 6/6 vision without glasses.

This is often the main concern for people. The simple answer is “it depends”. Let us explain.

The first thing to remember is that all surgery has risks and complications. The risks of having a complication from heart or orthopaedic surgery vary from surgeon to surgeon and hospital to hospital.

Laser Eye Surgery is no different. After conducting some research, you will soon see that many of the fears around laser eye surgery are not backed up by any statistical evidence.

As a surgical procedure, laser eye surgery is relatively low-risk. However laser eye surgery performed at different clinics is not equal. It’s effectiveness depends on by whom and with what technology the surgery is performed. So it is less a question of whether you should have laser eye surgery and more a question of where you should have it. It’s imperative that when you trust your surgeon and the clinic with your eyesight.

Some clinics run a conveyor belt system, with the work up performed by technicians. The surgeon will meet you on the day of surgery and decide on whether to proceed or not. Given the high volumes that occur and the pressure to treat on the day, the chances for mistakes are potentially increased.

Laser Vision is one of the few consultant-led clinics and its standard is to provide a consultant delivered service from the very outset. From the very first consultation, you will have the same surgeon and team looking after you. They will not rush things and treat you as an individual. This approach means that you are examined more thoroughly and personally and they know your eyes.

Most of our referrals have been word of mouth indicating a very high satisfaction rate amongst our patients.

We can guarantee you that your surgeon is a specialist in cornea and refractive surgery with fellowship training. They are all registered with the Royal College Of Ophthalmologists, and are working within the NHS ensuring their knowledge is at the forefront of their field.

Everyone is different and refractive surgery should be planned for each individual treatment is as unique as your own fingerprint.

Not everyone benefits from all the different expensive techniques and in some cases they can actually be detrimental to your vision.

This is why we go for the single price point so that you are never sold anything you don’t need and we do everything required to get you the best result. We don’t like the idea of doing an inferior job just because someone cannot afford it.

As mentioned, there are always some potential risks and complications and it is imperative that these are well understood.

Minor Complications

Mild dry eye - Some people experience mild to moderate dry eye symptoms after LASIK. Occasional use of lubricating eye drops may be required. Some people need to use these regularly. By 3-6 months the eyes are usually back to normal.

Under correction - If the refraction is not fully corrected and it causes a problem then an enhancement procedure can usually correct it, if there is enough corneal thickness to safely do more treatment. Enhancement treatments are generally done 3-6 months after the initial procedure, once vision has stabilised.

Over correction - An initial overcorrection is expected for high corrections and in hyperopia. It usually regresses in the first 3 months. If overcorrection persists then enhancement surgery can be done, if it is safe to do so. 


Induced astigmatism - Can usually be corrected with enhancement surgery.

Regression – As time goes on, a small proportion of eyes may slowly heal in a way that moves the prescription towards an under correction. This can usually be corrected with enhancement surgery. 

Light sensitivity - In the first few days some people will be sensitive to light. 


Pain - About 5% of patients say they have some mild pain after LASIK that can be relieved with pain relief tablets and usually resolves by 4-5 hours. 


Night vision problems - In the first few weeks following surgery about 10% may experience halos around lights at night time. This effect should fade. By twelve months this should only effect around 3%, generally those who started with a high correction. 


Haze - Some eyes develop faint haze in the interface between the flap and corneal bed that is maximal at 3-6 months and fades away by 12 months. It is very rare for this to affect vision. 


Interface debris - Minor debris in the interface is not uncommon. It very rarely affects vision and if it does can usually be removed. 


Corneal abrasion during the procedure - In some people the surface layer of cells on the cornea are looser than average and can be dislodged resulting in a surface abrasion. Over the following 2-3 days the abrasion will heal.

Important Complications

Loss of best-corrected vision - Following surgery if the vision in an eye cannot be corrected with lenses to the same line on the eye chart as before the surgery then this is called loss of best-corrected vision. Anything that affects the optical quality of the cornea can cause it. The chance of this happening is currently about 1 in 500. 


Corneal ectasia (bulging) - If there is too much tissue removed from the cornea it may lose its structural strength and start to bulge outwards. It can be eliminated by careful measurement of the thickness of the cornea. This is extremely rare, probably less than 1 in several thousand. Good screening and accurate assessment with a Pentacam will help avoid this.

Progression from sub-clinical to true keratoconus (conical cornea) - This may occur if the most subtle signs of keratoconus are not detected with the corneal mapping (topography). With the use of the gold standard Pentacam topography this is very rare, probably less than 1 in several thousand.

Severe dry eye – It is not uncommon for the eye to be slightly dry after laser surgery and most recover very quickly. If there is a predisposition to dryness, the eye may take longer to recover. Dry eye is more common with LASIK than LASEK. 


Epithelial ingrowth - Significant growth of the front cell layer (epithelial cells) between the flap and the bed. This occurs in less than 1 in 2000 eyes. This can only potentially occur in LASIK and not in LASEK.

Diffuse lamellar keratitis - In rare cases there is movement of inflammatory cells into the interface between the flap and the bed. This can rarely result in the cornea becoming an irregular shape. Severe cases that affect vision occur in about 1 in 2000 cases. Most resolve with time. Again, this can only occur in LASIK and not in LASEK.

Infection - Infection in the cornea following LASIK is extremely rare, about 1 in 10,000 cases. We are yet to have an infection in any of our cases to date.

Problems cutting the flap - "Partial flaps", "Irregular flaps" or "Buttonholes" are all cases where a perfect flap is not achieved. The chance of this occurring with a microkeratome is about 1 in 500. With LASEK, there is no flap to create, so this problem is eliminated.

To be considered one must be 1. Over the age of 18 2. Not pregnant 3. Have a stable prescription for 18 months

The most serious long-term complication of LASIK surgery has been keratectasia. Keratectasia is progressive thinning and distortion of the cornea resulting in anything from mild to severe astigmatism. This can occur when the early stages of "conical cornea" or keratoconus are not detected prior to surgery. The Oculus Pentacam is the most sensitive method currently available for detection of early keratoconus or subtle abnormalities of the cornea. We offer surface ablation treatments (LASEK/PRK) for anyone who we think should not have LASIK.

We can perform laser on any day of the week but we prefer to run our laser lists on a Thursday afternoon and evening. This allows minimal disruption of the working week for our patients as they are usually back to work by Monday.

The laser has an eye-tracker that will track each and every small movement that your eye makes. The laser only fires when the eye is perfectly in position so there is no chance of your looking around affecting the procedure. The good news is that most people find it very easy to keep the eye still by focusing on the target fixation light.

Enhancement surgery is additional treatment to "fine tune" the result. It takes one to three months from the initial surgery for the vision to be stable. During this time there may be some minor fluctuations in your vision. There is a lot of individual variation in the rate and amount that people heal. If after three months there is some under or over correction, the surgeons at Laser Vision can offer you some additional laser to optimise the outcome, providing it is safe to do so.

Generally enhancement surgery is more likely in higher or more complicated corrections. Enhancements are only needed in about 1% of cases of low short-sightedness. For higher corrections (over -8.0) there is a greater chance that an enhancement may be required. The overall rate of enhancement surgery following LASIK is about 4%. Enhancements are done free of charge within twelve months of the initial procedure as we want you to be happy with the final outcome

The simplest way to understand this is to imagine the cornea (front surface of the eye) to be shaped like a rugby ball instead of a football. As this acts like a lens, the light is bent and focused differently depending on which part of the cornea it hits. This results in a blurred image which requires a more complex shaped lens to correct to focus.

Laser eye surgery is an operation, which aims to reduce dependence on glasses or contact lenses by correcting vision using an excimer laser. During the ten minute surgery the laser reshapes the cornea of the eye in a predetermined manner to improve unaided vision. The two most common types of laser eye surgery are LASIK and LASEK, although there are several other types of refractive surgery that can improve your vision when laser surgery is not the most appropriate option.

Someone who is long-sighted sees better in the distance than up close without their glasses.

Someone who is short-sighted sees better up close without their glasses than they do in the distance.

The price for laser eye surgery at Laser Vision is £1850 per eye.

This covers you for up to one year for all your post operative visits and any immediate enhancement surgery that may be needed after surgery.

We believe that a fixed cost is best for patients as it is transparent. Patients should never be treated to a level that they can afford and should only ever receive the best treatment possible.

All laser eye surgery includes wavefront as standard.

We have the only laser (Wavelight Allegretto Wave) on the market that incorporates Wavefront technology (Wavefront optimised) in every single laser treatment.

What does this means to you? This reduces the risks for the main concerns that people have with laser eye surgery.

Firstly, the risks of having poor night vision and glare and haloes are reduces with incorporated wavefront in every treatment.

The way the laser achieves its results is by taking as little tissue away as possible. In fact it is the most tissue-sparing laser on the market. This means that the risk of dry eye is less, treatment times are faster and the risk of haze is lower.

They have LASIK with well-respected experienced colleagues with a proven track record and access to the most up-to-date effective technology.

Whilst we recognize that other clinics advertise cheaper prices, the actual costs at these clinics is often higher once the other treatments are added in. These clinics run on a high volume conveyor belt system and often the patient does not meet the surgeon till the day of surgery.

We believe that knowing and trusting your surgeon from the very outset is essential. From the moment you arrive, to the moment you are discharged, your surgeon will look after you. All the treatments that are necessary for delivering the best results will be provided for the same cost to you.

Not everyone is suitable for laser eye surgery and the choice is a lifestyle choice.

A survey of the members of the American Cataract and Refractive Surgery Society revealed that 26% of them have had laser eye surgery.

In absolute numbers, the professional group that has had laser eye surgery more than anyone else is accountants: approximately 1%. Thus the take up rate of laser eye surgery is 26 times higher amongst refractive surgeons.

This is a true endorsement of the safety and efficacy of laser eye surgery by the people who understand it best.

At Laser Vision, we treat many complex patients, including those who require laser surgery for other reasons than vision correction. Some of these patients will never see 20/20 so when including these patients in our data, they will skew the results.

There are many reasons for this, but below is a list of some of the common reasons:

1. prescription is too high or too low for refractive eye surgery.
2. the corneas are too thin.
3. dry eyes.
4. the presence of an underlying corneal condition.
5. the presence of an underlying systemic condition such as rheumatoid disease.

All of these conditions are determined on a one-to-one basis during your comprehensive one hour assessment with our eye surgeon.

No. It is not deemed safe to drive or operate machinery immediately following the procedure. We recommend that you have someone with you to take you home after surgery

No. We don’t sell the surgery to anyone. We just advise and give an honest opinion of what is best for you and your eyes. We will never pressurize anyone into treatment or phone you with offers trying to persuade you into treatment. This is a lifestyle operation to improve quality of life and it is very rarely essential. We welcome anyone who has been seen elsewhere and wishes to come for a second opinion.