For anyone who does not want to wear glasses – or who wants to avoid the bother of contact lenses – laser eye surgery seems the obvious solution.
It’s potentially a huge market: an estimated 15 million people suffer from the kinds of eyesight problems treatable with laser surgery.
But while the technology, which has been available in Britain since 1989, can produce excellent results, some of the 100,000 people who undergo laser eye surgery each year are unhappy about their treatment.
Partly that’s because it often costs more than promised. A recent Which? report found that many High Street deals end up much more expensive than advertised because of hidden costs.
More worryingly, the same report found that many clinics are not explaining the risks, nor are they warning people that, for some, laser surgery might not mean an end to glasses for good.
‘The results can be fantastic,’ says Professor David Gartry, a spokesman for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and a consultant surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. ‘But I am very uncomfortable with some of the advertising ploys and the trivialising of laser eye surgery. While it can be very quick, it is not a trivial procedure.’
May 2, 2009
