The Eyesite Promise -
You will be cared for by an expert refractive surgeon. I will look after you personally before, during and after your treatment. You will be treated as an individual not someone on a production line. You will receive the best technology customised to your specific requirement. The surgery is done at centres of excellence in central and north London.
To arrange a free refractive surgery consultation call my office on 020 8951 1951 or fill in our enquiry form.
Your most important decision when considering refractive surgery is 'who will I choose to do my surgery'. Your vision is precious and you must have complete confidence in your surgeon. Here are some reasons to choose me to look after you -
I am extremely experienced Consultant Ophthalmologist specialising in refractive, cataract and cornea surgery and have done thousands of procedures. I have specialised in laser eye surgery since 1998, when I was one of the first British eye surgeons to perform Lasik. I also perform customised lens implant surgery which may suite your needs better than laser, for example if you require independence from reading glasses ...Read more about your surgeon >>
You will see me personally - I do not delegate this important meeting to an optician, as in so many clinics. The examination is the most thorough your eyes will ever have. There is plenty of time to ask questions and discuss your requirements with me. ...Read more about your initial consultation >>
After choosing your surgeon, you must be certain that your eyes are treated with the best technology. Eyesite uses confidence-inspiring, brand new flagship technology. The Alcon Wavelight Refractive Suite including femtosecond laser flap creation, the world's fastest excimer laser, Wavefront Correction and multidimensional eye tracking. ...Read more about your laser eye surgery >>
Surgery is not only about your surgeon's experience and technology - your feelings matter too! I attach the highest importance to making it as stress-free as possible. I will talk you through it beforehand and have various ways of making you feel more relaxed. If you wish, I will prescribe a suitable sedative tablet for you to take. Remember - it's all done in a flash and you will have better sight for ever!
A recent audit of my Lasik patients found that 98% had distance vision of 20/20 (6/6 in metric) or better. 100% saw 20/25 or better.
Refractive surgery could transform your life. I hope it will.
Eyesite's patients describe their experience of refractive surgery and how it has improved their lives ...Read more about what my patients say >>
Lens implants are a well established and effective treatment for higher prescriptions, astigmatism and reading glasses.
I have performed thousands of lens implant procedures. I specialise in customising the surgery to the unique characteristics of every eye and will arrange for lens implants to be made especially for you - truly bespoke surgery. ...Read more about Eyesite's elite lens implant service >>
You needn't necessarily resign yourself to reading glasses! I treat dependence on them with either lens implants or laser, according to your personal needs. Regain the pleasure of reading without glasses with Eyesite's customised technology. ...Read more about freedom from reading glases >>
Eyesite's premium, personal service costs less than other elite providers and less even than some High Street chains.
Eyesite's single fee is what you will actually pay for our premium service. No misleading adverts for unrealistically low amounts that hardly ever apply or charging more for better technology such as Wavefront or Femtosecond Laser. ...Read more about your fees and finance >>
It is possible to treat any prescription no matter how large for short sight, long sight, astigmatism and presbyopia (reading glasses). The technology best for you depends on factors such as your age, strength of your prescription, whether you use reading glasses, your lifestyle and the particular characteristics of your eyes ...Read more on which technology is best for you >>
Eyesite's premium service is provided at centres of surgical excellence with superb facilities in central and north London. ...Read more about our centres of excellence in London >>
Eyesite's explanation of the miracle of normal sight, how focusing errors cause dependence on glasses and how to make sense of your glasses prescription ...Read more how your eyes work >>
I believe this is important and will not delegate it to someone else. You will receive a thorough check up with the same sophisticated technology used prior to treatment. Visits are scheduled to be as convenient as possible for you. Above all, I make a lifelong commitment to your care. I will discharge you after successful treatment but will always be available to help you in the future.
It takes many years of training to become a qualified eye doctor. The first step is for the candidate to decide that he or she wants to be a doctor - excellent A-Level grades are required! Six years of training in a medical school completing an undergraduate degree course are followed by two years of internship when the eye doctor of the future learns general medicine and general surgery under supervision. Numerous exams are taken along the way - the most important at the end of year 2 (which is the end of undergraduate training), year 3 spent acquiring a science BSc (ie a research degree) and year 6 which marks the end of the three clinical years of medical studentship.
Subsequently, anyone who wishes can apply to train as an Ophthalmologist (eye surgeon) by applying to the yearly national rotational training schemes run by the National Health Service (NHS). Applications are submitted online followed by interviews. The whole process is fiercely competitive and only a few - the brightest and best or perhaps the luckiest - make it through to gain a prized place on a training scheme in ophthalmology. What follows is seven years or more of intensive, structured eye medical and eye surgical training under the watchful supervision of qualified and experienced eye surgeons - Consultant Ophthlamologists.
Eye laser surgery is an extremely popular method used to correct focusing sight problems and restore good unaided vision (being able to see without glasses or contact lenses) by using lasers to alter the shape of the cornea (the front window of the eye). Carried out in a specialist laser eye clinic or a hospital with appropriate refractive surgery facilities, laser surgery must be done by a trained and specialist refractive ophthalmic surgeon.
Eye laser surgery, usually performed privately as the technology is not available free from the NHS, can cure any focusing defect so long as it is not too severe ie myopia (short sighted vision), hyperopia (long sighted vision), presbyopia (reading glasses dependence - this is not always possible. It generally requires use of a technique called 'monovision'), wavefront abnormalities (these are quite tricky to explain - read Eyesites' chapter 'How your eyes work' to learn more) and astigmatism. Astigmatism is a focusing defect occurring when the cornea is oval shaped rather than round or may alternatively be understood as the naturally occurring condition in which steepness of the cornea varies from point to point along its boundary, some parts being steeper than others.
A laser eye operation is one of the safest procedures that you can have. It is also one of the most frequently performed operations of any within medicine and probably the most often performed eye operation - these days laser eye operations are done even more frequently than cataract surgery. Before embarking on your laser eye surgery journey it is a good idea to consult with your optometrist (optician), your friends and acquaintances who have had laser eye operations and of course with the eye specialist who will do the laser eye surgery for you. In the personal opinion of the author of this article, it is a good idea to meet with the surgeon who will perform your laser eye operation before (by which I mean significantly before ie: days or weeks not just a moment before you have the laser eye operation done!) so that you can form your own opinion as to whether this is the refractive surgery specialist whom you wish to perform your laser eye surgery procedure. In most laser eye surgery chains, the pre-laser surgery diagnostics and measurements are done entirely by an optometrist (optician) and you will not meet the laser eye surgeon until moments before the procedure itself.
The diagnostics performed prior to your laser eye operation and the advice you are given on how effective the laser eye operation is likely to be in improving your eyesight will help you make up your mind as to whether you wish to have a laser eye surgery procedure at all and if so what type.
If you have read the chapter on ‘How your eye works' in Eyesite.org you will be familiar with the fact that there are five types of focusing abnormalities or refractive conditions that can affect your eyes. Myopia (short-sightedness), hyperopia (the same as hypermetropia or long-sightedness), astigmatism (a very frequent condition in which the cornea of the eyeball is oval or at least not spherical like an apple or a tennis ball, so that there is no single point of sharp focus) and presbyopia (reading glasses dependence which is when near objects such as the computer you are currently viewing cannot be brought into clear focus, at least without an inordinate effort!). The final focus condition, which is much less well known than the others, is Wavefront Abnormality, another technical term for which is 'higher order aberrations'. This phenomenon is discussed in 'How your eye works' in the Eyesite.org website. Analysing higher order aberrations/Wavefont abnormalities requires a device called an 'aberrometer'. There are different types of Wavefront abnormalities which have esoteric technical names such as 'spherical aberration', 'trefoil', 'quatrofoil' and another strange term 'coma' which has nothing to do with falling into a deep sleep! Wavefront abnormalities cause very subtle focusing defects which cannot be readily corrected by glasses or soft contact lenses (although gas permeable or hard contact lenses do sometimes work). Focus defects such as myopia are measured in units called dioptres. The strength of your glasses or contact lenses prescription will be obtained by your optometrist (optician) during a test that he will perform called a 'refraction'.
Cataract is a clouding of the internal lens of the eye and is extremely common in older people - in fact Eyesite's surgeon Dr Simon Levy believes that the advent of cataract is practically inevitable with time as in most patients the cataract process is simply a manifestation of getting older. Simon's oldest recorded cataract surgery patient was 104 (a retired nun) and he believes that he may have operated on a 106 year old when he was training to be an eye surgeon, although he does not have a firm record of the operation. Over the years he has operated on lots of 90+ year olds and is thrilled to tell you that he still sees some of them after they have turned the corner and become 100 years old or older!
The symptoms associated with cataract are primarily blurred and reduced vision making it difficult for sufferers to perform standard daily tasks like reading or driving. In extreme cases - and this does not happen very much in the western world these days, but is unfortunately common in third world countries - untreated cataracts can lead to blindness. It is a shocking fact that worldwide the most common cause of blindness is cataract - an entirely treatable disorder. Other common symptoms of cataract are glare when driving at night or on a sunny day, reduced vision generally at night even though eyesight may be okay during the daytime, loss of the sensation that colours are rich (so that a beautiful colour such as navy can seem to be black, reds become brown etc) and a sensation that 'something is getting in the way' of the patient's eyesight.
Many different treatments are available to correct vision impairment problems of the eye. Ophthalmology specialists (eye surgeons) are trained to treat vision problems of all kinds, carry out eye surgery and cure the entire spectrum of eye disease. If your problem may be treated with medicines such as eye drops, your ophthalmology specialist will provide the appropriate treatment, whether it be an agent to reduce eye pressure in glaucoma, a steroid to treat inflammation or an antibiotic such as Doxycycline for the very common eyelid problem of blepharitis. Often eye problems require eye surgery to fix and to restore patients' eyesight. Cataract treatment (cataract removal) performed by a trained ophthalmic surgeon will create a small surgical incision in the eye and remove the cloudy natural lens so that vision is improved. If you need spectacles or contact lenses to see properly but would prefer not to - laser eye surgery or lens implants (sometimes known incorrectly as 'contact lens implants') may help you. Glaucoma is unfortunately a common eye condition that is usually treated with eye drops these days, although surgical procedures such as trabeculectomy or the insertion of drainage shunts are sometimes needed. Eyelid surgery, squint surgery, retina surgery and repair of eye injury or eye trauma are other types of corrective eye surgery done by the ophthalmic (ocular) specialist.