Laser eye surgery in London from the UK’s most trusted surgeons

The simple answer is no. We use anaesthetic eye drops to numb the eyes before the procedure, making it as painless as possible. There are certain bits of the procedure where you may be aware of what’s going on, for example in the LASIK procedure there is a bit of pressure, which lasts about 20 seconds – but we wouldn’t describe that as pain.

Laser eye surgery is one of the safest operations available today. We screen patients very thoroughly to try and reduce the risk to the lowest level possible. With modern technology, the risk of laser eye surgery is less than a lifetime of contact lens wear. However, risks do still occur. The most common risk is dry eye. There is always a very small risk of reduction of vision. This can be treated with further corrective surgery. The final risk of surgery relates to a problem with the surgery itself. We are confident in the ability of our surgeons to reduce this to the lowest level possible.

One of the benefits of laser eye surgery is its permanence. Once the procedure takes place, the effects of laser eye surgery – reshaping the cornea to correct long- or short-sightedness – will usually last for life. Whether you have myopia (commonly known as near-sightedness and short-sightedness) or hyperopia (also known as hypermetropia and far-sightedness), following laser eye surgery, your corrected vision will allow you to read, drive and live your life without the aid of glasses or contact lenses. The procedure, which can take as little as 20 minutes, will provide a lasting correction to your eye prescription.

However, with age, your eyes may change and you may experience other vision problems. While the changes made by laser eye surgery are permanent, this will not prevent these age-related changes from occurring.

Most people recover and are able to resume normal activities 24 hours after laser eye surgery and most patients notice the improvement in their vision straight away. Your cornea is a fast healing tissue and as such, the expected laser eye surgery recovery time is relatively short. Your eyes will start healing as soon as the procedure has been completed and the corneal flap has been replaced.

At the OCL clinic, you will be given three types of eye drops to use at home: antibiotic drops, lubricating drops and steroid drops. You will also receive clear eye shields to wear at night for the first night after surgery. We will give you full instructions on how to use them, as well as written details for reference. It is important to follow the instructions you are given to help your eyes to recover as quickly as possible.

When choosing a doctor to perform your laser eye surgery, you should consider the following questions:

• Are they an NHS consultant?
• Are they highly trained in cornea, cataract and refractive surgery?
• Do they perform at least 50 vision correction procedures each month?
• Do they have a good reputation?

Find out more here.