What To Expect During Your Visit

Preparing for Your Laser Eye Surgery Visit

The first step in your laser eye surgery journey with betterview is the initial consultation.

Your initial consultation is a free, 30-minute appointment with one of our medical team members. During this consultation, we’ll conduct an eye examination to determine whether you’re suitable for laser eye surgery according to our detailed medical guidelines.

After this initial consultation, we’ll schedule a time for the main examination. During the 45-minute eye examination, our expert team seamlessly repeats your measurements, conducts more extensive tests to ensure the health of your eye, and rechecks your prescription.

Our amazing ophthalmologist, Radhika Rampat then meets you with these results in hand and confirms the treatment option best suited to your individual visual needs. Our team will also cover important information like how to prepare for the surgery, what recovery looks like, and how much it costs. This consultation is the perfect time to ask any further questions you may have prior to surgery.

To prepare for the initial consultations, we recommend that you follow these tips:

• Avoid wearing your contact lenses at least one day before your consultation.
• Avoid wearing any eye makeup.
• You can drive home from your preliminary consultation. However, for the main examination, you won’t be allowed to drive as we’ll need to dilate your pupils, making your vision blurry for a few hours afterward.

After the main examination, we’ll schedule a date for your laser eye surgery, and you can start preparing for your laser eye surgery day experience.

What Happens During the Laser Eye Surgery Procedure

We offer three main types of laser eye treatments: Femto-LASIK, Trans-PRK and Femto-LALEX (SMILE). Although the treatments are different, preparing for each is a pretty similar process.

Your procedure won’t be long and you can go home to rest the same day. If you are eligible for Femto-LASIK surgery, the procedure will take about 20 minutes for both eyes from the time you enter the room and use two state-of-the-art laser machines. The actual laser only lasts a few seconds for the first machine and less than one minute for the second machine per eye. Trans-PRK uses just one laser and is even quicker, taking just a few minutes for each eye to be lasered!

Right before the procedure begins, your eyes will be anaesthetised with eye drops. This ensures that you feel no pain during the laser procedure. Your eyes will be kept open with a clip, and you’ll need to look at a fixation light throughout the procedure - this helps your eyes remain in the correct position. What’s good to know is that even if there is some eye movement, there are trackers and mechanisms in place to stop the laser if you’re not in the right position.

The ophthalmologist will talk you through the entire procedure so you’ll know exactly what’s going on.

Straight after the procedure, your vision will be slightly blurred, and you’ll feel a little bit of discomfort in your eyes - a mild stinging, gritty or foreign body sensation. It’s really important that you don’t touch your eyes or accidentally get something in them, so we’ll give you special eye patches to wear when travelling and sleeping. If you underwent Trans-PRK surgery, a protective contact lens is usually also placed over the treated eye to help it heal.

We’ll prescribe eye drops containing anti-inflammatory and antibiotic medicine to prevent inflammation and infection. We also provide lubrication drops to help your eyes remain moisturised and heal well.

What to Bring to Your Laser Eye Surgery Appointment

In preparation for laser eye surgery, we recommend that you bring a pair of sunglasses to wear straight after the procedure. This will help protect your eyes from sunlight and from accidentally getting something in them. If you don’t have a pair of non-prescription sunglasses, don’t worry, we’ll give you a pair.

Although your appointment will be under an hour, you aren’t allowed to drive after your laser eye surgery, so it’s really important that you organise a lift home. One of the perks of getting your eyes lasered with us is that we have a door-to-door taxi service that can take you home.

Aftercare and Recovery

Your vision may fluctuate in the early stages of healing from laser eye surgery, but should steadily improve in the first few days to weeks post-surgery.

It typically takes between two to six months to fully recover from laser eye surgery. Of course, everybody’s healing journey looks different so make sure to rest and be patient with your recovery process.

It’s essential that you follow all post-procedure care advice and attend your post-op appointments. At these follow-up appointments, the team will check your visual acuity and prescribe any additional pain medication (if necessary).

We’ve got a detailed guide on laser eye surgery recovery - follow the link to learn exactly what to expect.

Are you thinking about getting laser eye surgery? We’ll be with you every step of the way.

You can schedule your free initial consultation here, or you can visit our shop in Westfield London White City (Shepherd’s Bush) and chat with our friendly team.