The eyes have it

Do your glasses or contact lenses ever impede your ability to exercise? Maybe you are tired of having your glasses slide down your nose when you sweat from cardio, or your contacts get dry with air con at the gym and are a nuisance when swimming or showering after workouts. If so, laser eye surgery is an increasingly accessible option for all those who like to be active but find their existing choice of vision correction often gets in the way of their fitness goals.

Laser eye surgery is one of those things a lot of us think or talk about without actually realizing how effective, straightforward and quick it can be.

Optegra Eye Health Care are laser eye surgery specialists. Their ophthalmic surgeons offer a bespoke service for anyone looking to improve their vision, and you can be rest assured by their track record; over 1 million eyes treated since they opened their first UK clinic.

First, you will receive an initial consultation to ensure your suitability for laser eye surgery, and help you find the right treatment for your needs. Of course, all eye surgical procedures carry a level of risk, but your eye surgeon will discuss all the risks and benefits including ones specific to your circumstances at the time of your preoperative consultation. Undoubtedly, the prospect of having any surgery can be scary. We are all naturally protective of our eyes, but when you consider the life-changing benefits of having laser eye treatment, the minimal risks, which are in line with any other medical procedure, are outweighed exponentially by the new lease of life you’ll enjoy after having your vision corrected.

One of the main concerns associated with laser eye surgery is pain. In reality, the actual laser part of the process is very short and only lasts about 30 to 40 seconds. It is generally painless, thanks to the anaesthetic administered before treatment. After the treatment there may be some degree of discomfort depending on which treatment you have opted for. Optegra offer three different types of laser eye treatment including LASIK, which is the most popular and well-known type of surgery, LASEK available for those who are unable to have LASIK, and SMILE which is the latest keyhole laser eye surgery.

On BESTFIT TV, which is available to view on Sky, Virgin and Freeview now, we followed one patient, Heather Clatworthy, who had LASIK at Optegra Eye Hospital Birmingham to improve her vision for her training in the lead up to a 13-mile charity swim last July. She became the first swimmer in almost 90 years to cross 13 miles from Moville in Donegal, Ireland to Portstewart in Northern Ireland, across the mouth of the Foyle and Bann Rivers. The swim hasn’t been officially completed since 1929 and Heather, who grew up in Portstewart, completed it in July 2016.

Heather was able to see straight away after her laser eye surgery. She returned to driving within 24 hours, exercising within a week and was back in the water within four weeks. Her procedure was quick and easy, and the results immediate!

Optegra have 150 world class surgeons across their seven dedicated eye hospitals and four clinics, and are the only eye health care group in the UK who offer the new 3rd generation laser eye surgery, SMILE.

Why not join them at one of their open evenings to hear more from the experts and see if they can change the way you see the world? You can book your free place online at optegra.com or by calling them FREE on 0808 163 8319.

https://www.optegra.com/