Laser Eye Surgery Blog

Top tips for looking after your eyesight

Posted by admin | May 11, 2012 | in AVC Advice, AVC Explains

A decline in our vision is something that happens to most of us as we get older – it’s a fact of ageing for most people. However, it definitely pays to do whatever we can to look after our eyesight so we don’t unnecessarily increase the risk of experiencing problems later on. With this in mind, read on for some top tips on looking after your eyesight.

Regular eyesight tests

We all know how important it is to get our eyes checked regularly by an optician, but many people leave it too long between appointments or fail to go and get things checked out when they notice something wrong. Most people should visit their optician once every two years, although some people might be advised to go more regularly.

Not only do eyesight checks study your vision, they also look at the health of your eyes, so they’re definitely an important part of caring for your eyes.

Healthy lifestyle

It can seem like the advice for everything these days is to live a healthy lifestyle, but it’s common advice for a good reason. Research suggests that taking part in exercise can limit the risk of sight loss that can occur in people who have conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Eating healthily and drinking only in moderation can also help improve your general health, which is certainly no bad thing for your eyes.

People who are obese can also have an increased risk of macular degeneration and, if you have a high BMI, this can affect your arteries – which can lead to other conditions that affect your eyesight such as glaucoma and diabetes. This helps to show just how important a healthy lifestyle is for your eyesight.

Also, people who smoke are more likely to suffer from eye conditions such as cataracts, which could lead to them needing cataract eye surgery in the future, so staying away from the nicotine is wise.

Sun protection

We all know it’s hard to see when we’re out in the sun and we often end up squinting. Making sure you take care of your eyes while you’re out in sunlight is vital; too much exposure could increase your risk of developing cataracts and looking at the sun directly can even make you go blind. Hats and sunglasses that shelter your eyes are really important. Make sure you go for good quality sunglasses with UV protection to offer your eyes as much protection from the light as possible.

Preparing for Lasik Surgery – A Checklist

Posted by admin | May 3, 2012 | in AVC Explains, Laser Treatments

Here at Advanced VisionCare, we aim to make your laser eye surgery experience as stress-free and painless as possible. However, there are also some things that you can do to help make sure everything goes smoothly. With this in mind, read on for a checklist to help you plan when you are getting ready for your Lasik eye treatment.

Contact lenses

If you wear contact lenses, it is highly likely that you will not be able to wear them for a short time prior to your Lasik eye surgery. Your AVC consultant will be able to give you personalised advice as to how long before your surgery you should stop wearing your contact lenses, but commonly if you wear soft lenses, you’ll normally need to stop wearing them about three days before your eyes are evaluated. If you wear rigid lenses, this period is likely to be longer.

This is to make sure that when we assess your eyes, we are assessing them in their natural state and so we can get the most accurate view of your condition, which lenses can sometimes interfere with. However, it’s absolutely fine to carry on wearing your glasses in the run up to your consultation and surgery.

Financing

We do everything we can to help ensure Lasik eye treatment is affordable for our patients, and we have a range of payment options for you to make use of, so it’s worth having a chat with us about this prior to your surgery to make sure everything is sorted.

We can arrange for you to spread out the cost of your treatment so that you only have to pay £99 per month per eye. Please check out the pricing page of our website so you can find out more about our standard costs and the service you’ll get a part of the AVC package.

On the day

When it comes to the surgery, common sense prevails. For example, even though it sounds obvious, don’t wear eye makeup on the day of your surgery. You should also dress comfortably and refrain from having any big accessories in your hair, particularly towards the back of your head. This means you’ll be able to lie comfortably beneath the laser.

After the surgery

Following your Lasik eye treatment, you will need to use eye drops for a while to prevent dry eyes. Make sure you only use the drops that are prescribed for you. Also, even though the recovery time for Lasik is very quick, you might want to let your employer know what’s going on in case you find that you want a day or two at home to recover after the surgery.

Advanced Vision Care adds voice to Eyes on the Road campaign

Posted by admin | April 26, 2012 | in Uncategorized


If you carried out a survey on what people think is the most important thing to have before you get behind the wheel, they’d probably say a driving licence or insurance – essential, we agree, but without those, you’d only be breaking the law. What they are less likely to say is “driving standard eyesight” – but without that, you’ll not only be breaking the law but also risking potentially catastrophic consequences. Nevertheless, it’s still the case that millions of people are doing just that every day.

In advance of a new EU directive due to become UK law next year, the ‘Eyes on the Road’ campaign organised by the Eyecare Trust charity and backed by road safety campaigner MP Meg Munn, aims to encourage the UK’s 34 million motorists to ensure their vision meets the required standard for driving.

Considering the risks involved of driving with sub-standard eyesight, it’s astonishing that these laws have yet to be passed, so we at Advanced Vision Care are fully behind this campaign and keen to add our voice to raise awareness of its importance.

After passing your driving test, when you must be able to read a car registration plate from a distance of 20m, no subsequent checks are made. Even though it is illegal to drive with sub-standard eyesight, the onus is on the driver to self-diagnose and inform the DVLA – OK in theory but clearly completely unrealistic in practice.

Whilst some people may realise their vision has deteriorated and knowingly do nothing about it, some genuinely don’t notice the very gradual changes and are actually amazed when they discover just how far they have slipped. Sadly, they may not find this out until they have been involved in an accident.

When patients come to us at AVC to find out precisely how amazing their eyesight will be following vision correction treatment, the benchmark we give them is that they will achieve driving standard eyesight. This proves two things – that the visual results produced by both laser and non-laser procedures are exceptional and that driving is an activity that requires exceptionally good vision. This isn’t even as good as it gets though: 100% of our patients achieve driving standard eyesight after treatment but 95% of them go beyond that to achieve 20/20 vision.

Many of us in the UK deride what we view as unnecessary interference from the EU, taking away our right to run the microscopic health risk of buying Brazil nuts still in their shells for example, but this is one directive that we should welcome with open arms. It’s just as important as laws on drink driving and driving whilst using mobile phones, and everyone will benefit from the increased level of road safety that will follow.

Whether we wear glasses, contact lenses or go for the ultimate safety and long-term option of laser eye treatment, making sure every single driver on our roads is seeing clearly is a campaign we should all be backing.

Reasons to Consider Lasik Surgery

Posted by admin | April 26, 2012 | in AVC Explains, Laser Treatments

A while back we looked at some of the top reasons patients choose to have Lasik eye surgery, but today we’re going to take a look at some people who are slightly more sceptical about getting this kind of treatment. It’s only natural to be wary of surgery, particularly if it’s not a subject you know a huge amount about, but if you’re a suitable patient for the surgery there are quite a few reasons to consider Lasik eye surgery. Here are some of the best.

Freedom of vision

Possibly the best reason of all to consider Lasik eye surgery is that it’ll give you back huge freedom of vision. If you’ve been wearing glasses or contact lenses for years, you might not realise just how much of a relief it is to be free of them until you don’t need them anymore.

It can also be hugely beneficial if you lead an active lifestyle and are into your sports, as glasses and contact lenses aren’t really that conducive to activities such as running, swimming or water sports. Having Lasik eye surgery will free you up to enjoy life much more.

Save on prescriptions

While it is important to note that your eyesight will continue to change as you grow older through a natural process and so we can’t rule out the possibility of you needing to wear glasses again to correct a sight issue, Lasik treatment can help you save money on your future prescriptions. After all, with any luck you won’t need to wear glasses or contact lenses any longer so you won’t need to buy any new ones – meaning that Lasik eye surgery can effectively pay for itself over time.

Great comfort

One thing that people who wear glasses or contact lenses have in common is knowing just how uncomfortable these things can be if they’re not quite right. All it takes is a bit of dust in your eye while you’re wearing your contact lenses or a slight knock to your glasses, and you’ll have uncomfortable eyes for the rest of the day. Once your eyes have completely healed from Lasik eye surgery, however, issues such as this shouldn’t be as much of a problem. Plus, you won’t have to worry about smudgy glasses anymore, which is definitely a benefit.

As you can see, there are quite a few really good reasons to consider having Lasik eye surgery. Feel free to get in touch with Advanced VisionCare for a chat about your requirements or more information, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Scientists use transplant technique to restore the sight of mice

Posted by admin | April 20, 2012 | in News

For many of the patients who come to see us, laser eye surgery or some other form of eye treatment is often what they need to restore their sight to its former glory. For other patients, however, such as those with unstable prescriptions or who have degenerative eye diseases that can’t be treated through surgery, laser eye surgery is not an option.

This is why we are always interested to see stories that hint at possible new treatments or developments that might one day be able to help the sight of patients who have eye diseases that we are currently unable to treat. For instance, you may already have seen this news story about how scientists have been able to restore the sight of blind mice as part of their study into ways of restoring the sight of patients with degenerative eye diseases.

As the scientists are still working on mice, the study is obviously in its early stages at the moment, but there is hope that the treatment will be able to develop as time goes by and eventually be trialled on humans. So far, the scientists have performed a sort of cell transplant on mice that were night-blind, using photoreceptor cells from healthy mice. These are the cells that are particularly important when it comes to seeing in the dark.

The study seems to have had good results; a few weeks after the transplants, around 1 in 6 of the transplanted cells had managed to make the connections to the brain, which are needed in order to see. The mice were tested against untreated mice to see how they performed following the transport and there were good signs that the mice that had received the transplants were able to pick up on visual clues in a way that the untreated mice weren’t.

So far, the work has focused on rod photoreceptors; if it is ever going to be of proper use for humans with degenerative eye conditions, much more work will need to be done, in particular in relation to cone photoreceptors, which are very important for human sight. It is expected that scientists will need to undertake quite a lot more research and testing on animals before they make the move to humans.

While this research clearly still has a long way to go, it is still an important breakthrough that shows just what modern medicine might be able to do in the future. So one day, all of those patients for whom laser eye surgery is out of the question might well be able to benefit from a transplant technique such as this.

Debunking Myths about Lasik

Posted by admin | April 13, 2012 | in AVC Advice

A while back on this blog, we took a look at some of the common myths that have arisen around laser eye surgery over the years. This time, we’re taking a look specifically at Lasik eye treatment, which is one of the most popular forms of eye surgery that we perform here at AVC. Let’s separate fact from fiction…

Myth: there’s just one laser involved

In reality, there are a few different types of laser that can be used to treat patients. It’s important that we use the right one for each patient, and so your surgeon will give you an assessment to work out which Lasik eye treatment would be best for you. Typically, this will involve deciding whether the Intralase or microkeratome option would be more appropriate.

Myth: it’s not really surgery

Lasik eye treatment is certainly a lot less invasive than most other types of surgery, and the eye surgery itself has also become less invasive over the years, but never forget that it’s called ‘surgery’ for a reason. It requires a particular process and care procedures to be followed to ensure you are safe and are able to enjoy the best possible outcomes.

Myth: it’s the laser that matters, not the surgeon

While the choice of laser is undoubtedly important in Lasik eye treatment, your choice of surgeon is also vital. After all, it is the surgeon who operates the laser and who also creates the small flap in your eye that allows the treatment to be carried out. You should always go with a surgeon who is fully qualified and experienced, and who you trust. AVC is proud to work with some of the very best surgeons in the business, so you will always be assured of quality care when you use our services.

Myth: you’ll never need glasses again

For many patients, this may well be true, but whether or not a patient will need to wear glasses again depends on a couple of different factors. For example, the healing process and the prescription you previously had for your eyesight might affect whether you require glasses. Also, don’t forget that our eyesight changes naturally as we get older and so needing to wear reading or other glasses in later life is not uncommon.

Myth: everyone is suitable for Lasik

Our surgeons wouldn’t be doing their jobs properly if they performed surgery on anyone who wanted it. Patients need to be assessed to make sure they are suitable for Lasik eye treatment and, while many people will be able to have the surgery, for other people, a different type of treatment might be more suitable. Your consultant should be able to advise you on the best course of action for you.

Spend or save? Laser eye treatment costs in the news

Posted by admin | April 13, 2012 | in AVC Explains

When laser eye surgery makes a major feature in the Telegraph Money pages (Saturday 24 March), you know it’s no longer a highly desirable luxury for those with money to spare – it’s moved into the arena of affordable and accessible treatments that genuinely transform your life.

Of course, it’s still a considerable financial commitment but when you compare the cost of treatment against a lifetime’s expense on contact lenses and glasses, the sums really do add up in favour of laser treatment.

Crucially though, your choice of clinic should never be based on the cheapest price, no matter how tempting it may be. There are many factors that should be considered when deciding who to trust your precious eyesight to, such as the proven skill of the surgeon, the range of treatments available (not everyone’s eyes are found to be suitable for laser), the level of aftercare and the reputation of the clinic.

If you Google “cheap laser eye surgery” you can easily find offers for as little as £395 per eye, a somewhat misleading marketing message that we’ve warned about before on these blog pages. The likelihood of anyone actually succeeding in having treatment for this price is pretty slim. It is an undisputable fact that only after a thorough consultation with a refractive surgeon can a decision be made as to what treatment is right for your eyes and consequently, the price too.

At the same time though, that doesn’t mean that you should go for the most expensive clinic. When it comes to refractive surgery, price is a pretty good indicator of quality but it’s certainly not definitive. At AVC we ensure that our prices are competitive whilst covering the full extent of what every patient deserves: the most highly trained refractive surgeons, the most advanced techniques and technology and a level of care before, during and after surgery that cannot be beaten.

Something that the Telegraph feature doesn’t mention is the additional cost involved of making all the necessary trips to your chosen clinic for aftercare appointments. The best medical care is to be found in Harley Street and that’s a factor that influences many patients’ decision when choosing a clinic, but if you live a long way away you’re going to have to make several expensive and time-consuming visits back to London for your aftercare. Over the year, this could add on several hundred pounds in travel costs, not to mention the inconvenience of having to take days off work or use up a precious Saturday.

AVC patients can avoid this altogether thanks to our unique nationwide network of optometrists, who are fully trained to be able to advise prospective patients on their suitability for vision correction before visiting us for a consultation, and then provide all aftercare. This makes for significant savings and should be factored in at the outset when working out affordability. Check our Optometrist Network page on this website for more details and see if your local optician is already a partner. If not, we would be happy to contact them directly on your behalf.

 

How Eyesight Links to Wider Health Issues

Posted by admin | April 6, 2012 | in AVC Advice, AVC Explains

We’ve discussed before about how having another medical condition, such as diabetes, can have an impact on your eyesight and, as a result of this, the likelihood that you might need to use glasses, contact lenses or have corrective eye surgery to help deal with the issue.

Now there is further evidence to suggest why this is the case. You may have seen in the news recently information about a study that was carried out in America. It was a relatively small study, but it has produced some interesting results that show how looking at someone’s eye can offer insights into other factors such as their brain function.

The study looked at 511 women for an entire decade, and had a special focus on retinopathy, which as we have seen before is a condition that is often linked to cases of diabetes. What was discovered was that people who had this eye condition, which can also be associated with high blood pressure, were more likely to score lower in terms of brain function. This included scores on tests to do with memory and reasoning.

One of the main reasons for this link is thought to be the fact that when the blood vessels in the eye experience problems, this can also be an indicator that there are problems with blood vessels in the brain, too. When the blood vessels in your brain are affected, this can start to cause cognitive issues. Scientists are hoping the new information will help them to investigate further into problems such as dementia in future studies.

This shows just how serious the issue is, but also just how useful information about the eye can be when it comes to diagnosing other issues that a person may be experiencing. It just goes to show why it is so important to get your eyes checked regularly so you can be aware of any issues as soon as possible and things can get picked up quickly.

It’s worth pointing out that the study discussed here only included a small sample of patients with retinopathy and so bigger studies are needed to investigate the findings further, but it’s still a very interesting set of results. It helps scientists to understand a bit more about how the health of different parts of our bodies links together and why it is so important that we go and get checked out if we are worried about something.

The Causes and Treatments of Keratoconus

Posted by admin | March 30, 2012 | in AVC Explains

We don’t just offer laser eye surgery here at AVC; we also offer a range of non-laser treatments for patients who either aren’t suitable for laser surgery or who want to explore alternative options. One good example of this is keratoconus, a condition that affects the cornea of the eye in a way that means laser eye surgery isn’t possible.

Keratoconus is a fairly rare condition but it still affects a significant number of people, and so we’re pleased that we’re able to offer high quality treatment to help them. Before we look at the treatment, though, let’s have a quick recap of what keratoconus is and some of its causes.

Introduction to keratoconus

Essentially, keratoconus is a condition that makes the eye’s cornea stretch until it resembles something like a cone. At its mildest, this condition can be managed using glasses and contact lenses to deal with the resulting sight issues, but if it gets worse then alternative treatments might be needed.

There is much debate as to what the causes of keratoconus actually are; nothing is for definite but there are certain conditions or actions that are known to correlate with the disease. For example, it’s possible that there’s a genetic connection as to whether a person might get the disease. It’s also been linked to excessive eye rubbing, eczema, asthma, hormonal influences and Down’s syndrome.

However, even though we may not be able to precisely identify the cause of your keratoconus, we can still offer you treatment to help deal with it.

Treatments for keratoconus

Until quite recently, rigid contact lenses were the main keratoconus treatment for people who had an advanced version of the condition. However, these could often be uncomfortable to wear and so it’s good news that we’re now able to offer alternative treatments.

For example, depending on your individual condition, we may be able to use something called corneal collagen cross-linking, which is aimed at strengthening the cornea. It involves using a photosensitiser and UV light in order to enhance chemical bonds, and helps to halt the progress of keratoconus.

Another form of keratoconus treatment is to use INTACS, which are a form of insert that the surgeon carefully positions under your cornea, with the intended effect of reshaping the cornea so that the keratoconus is less pronounced.

When you have your AVC consultation, we’ll discuss your treatment options with you to make sure you get the right course of action and ensure that your keratoconus has the best possible chance of being corrected as much as possible.