Catherine Marshall had been considering laser eye surgery for a number of years. It was only when her tolerance to contact lenses started to fail, leaving her with dry eyes that she seriously thought about laser eye surgery.

The key question for Catherine was “who should I trust with my precious eyesight?” Her account of her experience is detailed below.

I’d been considering laser eye surgery for a few years and started to investigate seriously about 12 months ago. I’m a sporty and active person and felt it would greatly improve my quality of life to be able to see without glasses or lenses. I was about -3.25 in both eyes. Plus I was noticing with the soft contact lenses that I’d worn for about 15 years, my eyes were becoming dryer, more irritated and the vision was not as good as it once was.

I wanted honest and unbiased advice on the best treatment for me with realistic outcomes of the treatment explained in full. A number of providers I went to see ‘glossed over’ many of the concerns of laser eye surgery and did not even mention that Lasik surgery where a flap on the front of the eye is created may not be the best choice of surgery for anyone who does contact sports or may run the risk of trauma to the eye area (e.g. in working for the police or armed forces). This was especially important for me as I like mixed martial arts!

After visiting a number of providers where I felt like I was being pushed into ‘buying a sofa’ as someone so nicely put it, (i.e. “Make a decision today, come in on Saturday, we can offer you 0% finance, there’s virtually no risk”) I found Accuvision. What a completely fabulous change in service! They are an amazing company who employ great people, all of whom give you honest, unbiased advice about the right treatment for you. Their surgeons and technology are second to none and my experience with them has been absolutely excellent all the way through.

I think my biggest lesson learnt was that although many consider laser eye surgery virtually a ‘high street purchase’ it is still a complex medical procedure; not all companies are the same; not all surgeons are the same and not all technology is the same. To my mind, if I’m going to have my sight adjusted, I definitely want the right people and technology for the job to ensure the best outcome possible.

I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Accuvision and I certainly wouldn’t trust mine or my family’s sight with anyone else. I won’t pretend that trans-epi is the easiest way to go but the results for me have been astounding and continue to improve each day. I now have better vision that I ever did with glasses or lenses (it’s a month on and I have 20:10 vision), and I would never go back!! It’s changed my life – so thank you to all the team at Accuvision; Mr Chad Rostron, Anthony, Vikash, Monica, Clayton and Joan, you all do an amazing job!

A bit more detail about my treatment.

In December 2011 after a consultation in the Solihull branch, I decided to travel to London for trans-epithelial surface treatment so that I could rest and recover over the Christmas break. On the day of my surgery the staff at the clinic were amazing. My surgery was carried out by Mr Chad Rostron (carrying out a quick Google search I soon learned he was one of the best, if not the best, in the business) who was the ultimate professional and made me feel completely at ease.

I arranged to stay at a nearby hotel and was glad I had someone with me. To give you a brief overview of my treatment/recovery: Surgery carried out on Wednesday – all went smoothly, much easier and less traumatic than expected. I took pain killers and put drops in my eyes every hour. Stayed in hotel Wednesday night, slept most of the time and stayed in a darkened room, pain was fine – a bit scratchy and uncomfortable. After my post-surgery check-up Thursday morning (all fine), I went home on Thursday and again did a lot of resting, still putting the drops in. Thursday night and Friday were difficult; my eyes were burning, watering and generally very unpleasant! Luckily this didn’t last as long as I thought it might and by Saturday I was feeling a lot brighter. Over the next few days (Saturday to Monday) I continued to recover well although I was still resting quite a lot and was glad I was off work! I didn’t feel my eyesight was good enough to drive for around 7-10 days after surgery, so I was glad that I had planned not to have to drive anywhere. I also found that my distance vision recovered much more quickly than my close range vision. Over the first couple of weeks of January, I was still adjusting to reading computer screens etc. (it was a bit blurry and difficult to see clearly all the time) but a month after surgery this is now back to normal.

My top tips for recovery; don’t plan to do anything – you don’t know how you’ll feel and the more rest you get the better; have someone with you just in case (you’ll probably be fine but it’s nice to have someone there to get you food & make tea!); arrange to stay somewhere local if you have a long way to travel home, especially if it’s by public transport; make sure you have some great sunglasses to wear; use all the painkillers and drops given to you by the clinic and follow their regime!; you may like to try some dry eye spray to spray onto your eyelids when they are hot/burning during recovery as well as using the drops; don’t forget to load your iPod with a lot of tunes/audiobooks and best of luck, you won’t regret it!

It is not a question many people ask themselves. Usually the first time you hear that you have keratoconus is when a competent optometrist undertakes a comprehensive assessment of your eyes and can identify the key characteristics of the disease from the results of the consultation.

Keratoconus is an eye disease that about 1 in 2,000 people suffer from officially, but the real figure is more likely to be closer to 1 in 500 in some populations.

Keratoconus is a painless condition that causes weaknesses in the front of the cornea. It results in an irregular, bulged corneal surface that causes blurred vision and image distortion.

What are the first signs for Keratoconus?
Keratoconus is first noticed in teenagers or people in their early twenties and has a number of symptoms that are not always exclusive to the disease, making it more difficult to identify in its early stages.

• Blurred / distorted vision
• Ghost images
• Glare / Streaking of lights
• Reduced spectacle corrected acuity
• Increased myopia and astigmatism
• Cornea Slit lamp findings (striae, scarring, iron deposits, etc)
• Topographic changes (Steepening)
• Cornea Pachymetric changes (Thinning)

Assessment of Keratoconus
To accurately assess the condition and progression of keratoconus it is important to obtain readings from a corneal topographer – an instrument that measures the corneal shape and contour.

It is also important to have access to an Oculyser or Pentacam to measure the corneal thickness and anterior / posterior curvature of the cornea.

Unfortunately the majority of opticians do not have these instruments and are therefore often unable to detect the onset of keratoconus in its early stages.

It is important to get a correct diagnosis as soon as possible so that ALL options for Keratoconus treatment can be considered seriously.

Non Surgical management of keratoconus
The aim is to optimise visual acuity so that the patient can function as normally as possible, however none of these solutions can reduce the risk of progression.

Spectacles can sometimes be prescribed for mild cases of keratoconus. Usually the patient progresses to needing contact lenses to overcome the changes in the cornea shape.

Contact lenses offer a variety of solutions in their various forms.

• Soft (if reasonable Best Spectacle Corrected Visual Acuity)
• RGP (if reduced Best Spectacle Corrected Visual Acuity)
• Hybrid lenses
• ‘Piggyback’ lenses
• Scleral (Advanced cases)

There are surgical options that can actually stabilise the cornea and / or provide improved vision.

Surgical Options for keratoconus

• Cornea Collagen Cross Linking (CXL)
• Combined CXL / Topography Custom Ablation
• Intra Corneal Rings (e.g. Intacs)
• Keraflex
• Other combined treatments with CXL (e.g. IOL’s)
• Cornea Graft

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW?
The most important information you need to know if you have keratoconus is what options are available to you for treatment of the condition. Not all surgical solutions will be available through the NHS and it is important that you seek independent advice on the alternative surgical solutions detailed above if you are to gain complete knowledge about what options you have and what timescales are involved.

As the keratoconus condition progresses contact lenses can become less effective at correcting the distortions in vision and the only options available may well be surgery.

However, if the condition has progressed too far then not all the options for surgery may be available due to the progressive nature of the disease so it is important to get as much information on what your options are as soon as possible.

Everyone loves a great deal, especially in these challenging financial times. For those of us who enjoy a personal indulgence like a good massage or hair treatment, restaurant meal, show tickets or lifetime experiences. Then there are bargains to be had.

When it comes to medical treatments like surgery perhaps the Groupon and Living Social deals may be taking a step too far.

Groupon and Living Social put up deals that are described as up to 60% off the normal price or even more in some cases.

 

Looking at Laser eye surgery and you will find such deals. Unfortunately, that is not the whole story. The offer price disguises additional costs that the clinic will wish to add if you wish to enjoy the very latest and safest forms of laser eye surgery.

The offer may also be restrictive if you have a high or complex prescription.

So what is left? A reasonably good priced treatment at a clinic that you may not have chosen in the first place with the need to spend additional money to get the treatment plan you would expect any self respecting clinic to include if they had the patients interest at heart.

If you are looking for a clinic to permanently alter the way you see, surely it is better to go with a clinic you trust?

The cost of laser eye surgery should never be the reason to choose a clinic, just imagine the quality of surgery you would receive if you were sent to the cheapest surgeon and not the one best suited to your condition.

Charlene has suffered from keratoconus for over 9 years. Her journey has been a frustrating and painful experience. Today, she can see clearly through both her eyes for the first time in 9 years and cannot believe how effective the Keratoconus treatment has been. Read her story here.

Dear fellow keratoconics,

It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to share my journey suffering with this condition of kerataconus. I first noticed a problem with my sight from the age of 18 where I was severely short sighted (otherwise known as myopic vision). I struggled to see text in the lecture theatre, watch movies in the cinema and sometimes struggled to notice my friends on the street. At this point I booked an appointment at my local opticians and I was satisfied with the glasses they had prescribed for about a year.

From the age of 19, I noticed my eyes became increasingly irritable where I was constantly scratching, rubbing and removing discharge from my eyes. My friends and family noticed that I was doing this almost every ten minutes in front of the mirror. This reaction was understandably worrying. I also noticed my glasses were not as effective and I was squinting more frequently.

During the course of a few years, my glasses prescription changed several times, until one day my optician advised me that my prescription had reached the maximum strength. This was not sufficient for my sight and I was referred to an optometrist.

As you can imagine, I was quite concerned about the future of my sight. During my first appointment at the optometrist I was diagnosed with kerataconus, I was frightened because I had not heard of this condition. I was told the condition was severely advanced in my right eye and correcting my sight in this eye would be a challenge i.e. I could not even see text on a Snellen chart. I knew the future concerning my sight would be long and frustrating. This was particularly noticeable during my driving lessons.

The optometrist suggested wearing rigid gas permeable lenses (RGPs) in my left eye. It took me approximately one month to adapt to the RGPs as they were very uncomfortable, irritable and I slowly became sensitive to light.

For a couple of years, my sight was solely from my left eye. The optometrist trialled some RGPs for my right eye, however due to my degree of conning in the right eye, it was difficult to get the fitting right.

In the interim, the RGPs for my left eye managed to see me through the success of my driving test and generally getting by for 6-12 months. Soon after, the RGPs became uncomfortable (e.g. more rubbing). Eventually the optometrist showed concern about the disease advancing in my left eye. I was referred to an ophthalmologist in the hospital, who managed to design better RGPs that were bigger and more comfortable.

During several consultations the ophthalmologist introduced new treatment options, such as intacs and collagen cross linking (CXL). In addition, they even considered corneal transplantation for my right eye. This led me to carrying out further research on these treatment options. I learnt these options were not available on the NHS, so this team suggested I had the treatment options privately. Unfortunately, after ringing them an ample number of times, they never got back to me.

I returned home to London and continued to manage with the RGPs, in my left eye. It was not until I lost the RGP that I realised how much I was dependent on it so I began to research treatment centres for Keratoconus. I came across Accuvision who are renowned to provide optimal care for Keratoconus. I knew from my first initial consultation that I had definitely come to the right place. The staff was very friendly and definitely empathised with my struggle with keratoconus. They were very understanding, frank and trustworthy.

After thorough examination of my eyes the specialists at Accuvision suggested CXL for my left eye only as my right cornea was too thin for the procedure. The operation was done soon after my initial consultation. As you can imagine I was very apprehensive and worked myself up into a state, prior to surgery. However during the procedure the staff was very friendly and informative and the treatment was practically pain free. The first stage of the procedure involved cleaning the eye and administering local anesthetic, this was followed by scraping of the cornea, which lasted all of five minutes, then numerous drops or Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and staring at a UV light for an hour. This ended with the placement of a bandage contact lens over the eye, which was kept in place for seven days. One of the first things I noticed after the operation was that I became extremely sensitive to sunlight, this effect was dampened by wearing UV protected sunglasses. Day one post op was pain free; I spent most of my time in darkness with my eyes closed. Day two post op I experienced quite intense pain and watering of the eye, this settled the following day. The staff at Accuvision was happy with the way the eye was healing and my vision was similar to looking underwater, which was expected.

Several weeks after CXL my left eye, the team at Accuvision wanted to focus on trialing out some RGPs for my right eye. Of course in the back of mind I thought there was no way they would find a lens to fit because of the issues I had in the past with previous optometrists struggling to find RGPS to fit the right eye. As the disease is so advance in my right eye I had no expectations. However, to my surprise and after several fittings of various scleral lenses, which are bigger and more comfortable than RGPs, I managed to see out of my right eye for the first time in years. I was very emotional and it was almost a miracle that they had accomplished this. As well as optimising my sight they suggested easing the comfort wear of the scleral lenses with putting a soft lens on first and then placing the hard scleral lenses on top. This technique is known as piggy-backing. I was highly impressed. The following week, they piggy-backed my left eye and for the first time ever, I could see crystal clear from both eyes. I could see objects and people around me in a different light. I describe this as previously looking through black and white television to now seeing things in high definition. This has been life changing for me, my family and friends, as living with this condition has been long and frustrating.

Now, I am more than satisfied with my vision and Accuvision have really impressed me with their approach, timing and highly skilled operation to optimise my vision. Living with keratoconus has been a long, frustrating and emotional journey but Accuvision have proven that with patience and determination anything is possible. Unfortunately, I definitely feel like there are many pitfalls in the NHS with diagnosing, screening and treatment options for keratoconus and there is a need for national combined efforts to combat the progression of this disease.

By Charlene Twum-Barima

Where are we with regard to treating the keratoconic patients in 2011?
The treatment paradigm has changed, but the arena set by the NHS and Optometric management of KC is failing patients. The wait and watch philosophy changed 10 years ago for many of the worlds leading specialist, with the advent of corneal cross linking.

The first line of defense should be to treat the underlying pathology at the earliest opportunity with subsequent visual rehabilitation with contact lenses.

Whereas in the UK the standard route is to keep patients in contact lenses and mask. Like a plaster over an infected wound, it masks the condition and allows the disease to progress unseen. Early treatment is more effective and less invasive with improved outcomes. Once the disease process has been halted then a bandage (contact lenses) can be worn, knowing the cause of the condition has been arrested.

Without treatment things just get worse and the prognosis deteriorates.

What is the typical in the UK?
The norm in the UK is to keep patients in contact lenses as long as possible. May be it is to reduce the burden on overworked surgeons or because the opticians want to keep the revenue.

This is unacceptable standard of care and unfortunately some optometrist are passing sentence on young patients in keeping them in CL without treating the underlying disease process.

What tends to happen in the UK is to keep patients in CLs as long as possible, with the often inevitable progression of the cone and ensuing intolerance to CLs with the normal plight of sore eyes, poor vision and frustration. This policy resigns patients to more aggressive surgeries such as corneal graft or continued loss in visual quality. Contact Lenses can no longer be seen as the only way of caring for KC patients and in many cases early intervention can arrest the condition in its’ mildest form.

Optometrists or the NHS are doing the patients a dis-service by masking this progressive condition until patients are frustrated by poor vision quality or discomfort with CLs. By this stage the patient has missed the boat regarding less invasive treatments. More especially the corneal thinning may have reached a stage where Cross Linking may not be possible.

What should be the gold standard of care?
The ideal we should pursue is early detection and treatment. This leaves all the options open. Whilst we cannot “cure” KC we have tools that allow us to arrest the development of the condition and leaving the patient with improved vision through simple soft contact lenses.

This overcomes the plight of patients struggling on with progressively complex and less comfortable CLs (or complex corneal grafts with the ramification of poor vision and tissue rejection). Patients need to demand better standards of care and offered effective early treatment strategies rather the “patch it up” and “put up” philosophy that is endemic in the UK.

Is there a “cure”?
NO there is no “CURE”.

In many early or mid stage KC patients there is effective stabilisation by Cross linking. It will not solve the need for contact lenses but it will make fitting easier and improved patient satisfaction. This is achieved because soft lens options might be appropriate, not just Kerasoft but a range of more standard disposable lenses with realistic chance of comfortable full day wear…..This is a goal many KC patients would appreciate.

A published paper by Rostron et al involving Moorfields and Accuvision has mirrored other international successes with TCAT and Cross Linking. This provides hope for reversing some of the topographic changes caused by KC although is dependent on early detection of KC.

What part do Contact lenses play in the management of Keratoconus?
Contact lenses alone in KC is treating the symptoms not the cause. Simply bandaging and masking the progressive nature of KC. It makes no sense in allowing the condition to deteriorate when there is a proven and effective way of halting the progress of this degenerative condition.
The Gold Standard is to first treat the cause of the condition and then visually rehabilitate the eyes with contact lenses. Treating the disease process with Cross Linking, will often make contact lens wear more comfortable and improve visual acuity. More importantly retain quality of vision for the future.

Where are we with regard to Cross Linking?
My personal experience with patients undertaking Cross Linking over the last 5 years is this. Cross linking halts the progression in KC and in some cases reverses some of the losses over the period of months and years. Most world leading specialist would consider that, 12 years following the first Cross Linking Treatment, this is not experimental and that it is an established procedure. Indeed this is the case in many parts of the world. However in the UK, for whatever reason, the NHS is slow in taking on Cross Linking.

There is a wealth of published papers to support the efficacy of Corneal Cross-linking. It is vital that clinicians and patients make themselves aware of the facts and wake up to this treatment strategy.

Where are we now in 2011?
The bar has been raised by the last decade of Corneal Cross-linking. Patients need to demand more from Optometrists and Surgeons. To bury ones head in the sand and accept contact lenses as a treatment, is accepting the inevitable degenerative nature of Keratoconus, and the plight that is associated with advanced Keratoconus.

The goal should be treat the underlying condition and the visually rehabilitate to the patients through means of Contact Lenses, IOLs or Corneal Devices such as Intacs. Contact lenses offer better vision than spectacles but should be seen as an adjunct to the treatment of the disease not a primary treatment strategy.

Check out the Part I of the Interview: click here

A recent study of NHS GP’s has found that over 25% of them are seeing the effects of changing qualifying criteria by Primary Care Trusts for cataract operations.

It now appears that the qualifying criteria will mean patients eyesight may need to deteriorate to the limits of a driving test before corrective treatment can be offered. Naturally this will mean that of the 720,000 patients who are diagnosed with cataracts each month, around 200,000 will have to wait longer for treatment.

Eyesight deterioration can be very gradual with cataracts and so patients may not notice in good time that they are in need of help. Once the effect of a cataract are noticeable it plays on the patients mind and they try to seek treatment as soon as they can.

The new qualifying criteria could mean treatment could be delayed by a further 15 weeks so this will have a significant impact on quality of life for hundreds and thousands of patients who may still rely on driving or who may feel vulnerable walking in dim light because of their impaired vision.

The potential for accidents among people aged over 65 could increase if they are having to live with impaired vision for longer, which ultimately could mean increased costs for the NHS in the long run.

When the going gets tough…Matt Prior gets going. Matt Prior used his very sharp vision acquired at Accuvision Laser Eye Surgery Clinics to put England back into a strong position in the first test at Lords.

India had hurt England badly at the start of the 2nd innings at Lords on Sunday 24th July. In just the 10th Over, Alistair Cook, one of England’s Ashes Hero’s was bowled for 1 with just 20 runs on the scoreboard. Strauss followed for just 32 runs and then it got really bad!

In the next over, replacement Pietersen was bowled for just 1 and his replacement Ian Bell walked on and off Lords for 0 after just 5 balls. In the 27th over Trott follows Ian Bell leaving Morgan on 0 and newly arrived Matt Prior on 0.

England counted their good fortune in the first innings as they were still 250 ahead of India at this time but someone needed to steady the ship.

At lunch England were just 72 for 5 wickets and at the start of the 32nd over Matt Prior took control. Over the next 10 overs, Morgan and Prior got to 19 and 23 before Ishant Sharma struck again.

By the 57th Over Prior had got to 50 and Broad was making a great contribution with 35 to his name.

Broad and Prior then took the game to India and piled on the runs, reaching 74 and 103 respectively by the 71st over when England declared.

Prior played a perfectly controlled innings using his laser sharp eyes to pick out the gaps and deliver perfectly timed shots throughout the innings.

Rachael had passed 50 years and had spent the last 10 years having to cope with glasses after the onset of age-related long-sightedness. Working with young people on a daily basis made her conscious of her age and her compromised vision.

When Rachael embarked on finding out if her eyesight could be corrected through laser eye surgery, she discovered that Accuvision had the capability of taking her eyesight back to what it was 10 years before!

Coming back to the laser room where the surgery had been conducted was quite an emotional experience. It was where Rachael felt that 10 years had not only been taken off her eyesight but her age too!

Immediately after the surgery had taken place Rachael could see the face of her wristwatch for the first time unaided in 10 years. Now just one week after surgery and everything for Rachael has changed.

Rachael describes how she feels so much more confident and capable not having to rely on glasses for work and social life anymore.

Rachael stated, “It has completely changed my life, I look and feel at least 10 years younger than I did before the surgery took place. It’s only been one week and my eyesight can only get better.

I am so thankful that I decided to have it done and very grateful to Accuvision for making it such a success.”

Why are you so passionate about patients with keratoconus?
“Keratoconic patients are being neglected by the care of the NHS in the UK. Most patients are left in limbo between the Hospital Doctors and Optometrists. Techniques such as Corneal Cross Linking have proven to be a strategy of managing Keratoconus that is effective at arresting the progression of KC and in many cases reversing some of the effects.
Every week I see people that could have been helped by appropriate care, but now have to live life with substandard vision.”

Give me an example?
“Good. Seeing a 17 year old lad who noticed vision deterioration in his left eye. Upon questioning he reported a ’stretching of the image’ of ‘tail lights at night’ (he was learning to drive).
These symptoms highlighted the possibility of Keratoconus and so Topographies showed early signs of Keratoconus confirmed with the corneal thinning.
I monitored him for 3 months and results showed progressive changes and so at 17 he had cross linking and on his 18th birthday had the second eye cross linked.
He has retained 6/6 vision in his RE and 6/9 in his left (Corrected with a soft contact lens)
He is now looking forward to entering the Police Force!
Later diagnosis would have restricted his employment opportunities.
EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT HAS PRESERVED THIS YOUNG MANS FUTURE.”

What is the standard level of care for Keratoconus in the UK then?
“The standard of care in the UK is BAD. The “normal” standard of care is to fit contact lenses and watch as things get worse.
To illustrate this I have just seen a man aged 29 yrs who is now struggling to get the vision for driving with semi scleral contact lenses but he is only able to wear these for 5 hours before they become too uncomfortable. Obviously specs don’t correct the vision.
Unfortunately the poor CL fitting he was given and the lack of options about treatment for keratoconus has left the corneas scarred and with blood vessel ingrowth that prohibits Cross Linking. This poor contact lens fitting and lack of intervention has precluded Corneal Cross Linking.”

What are his options now?
“This is very disappointing. Had he been treated 5 years ago with C3R he would not be on the inevitable course of needing a corneal graft, with all that comes with this last chance treatment option. The poor contact lens fitting and vascularisation adversely effects the graft success.”

What could have been done differently?
“Early diagnosis and treatment is the best care. Retaining quality of vision.
However the norm in the UK is for eye to be fitted with progressively more complex contact lenses that become less and less comfortable. As lenses become more complex they increasingly impact on the corneal and compromise the treatment options and prognosis.
Contact lenses should be regarded as a conduit to KC not a management strategy.”

How should Keratoconus be managed?
“Managing KC “should be to arrest the development of the condition not just let it get worse. The first step should be to consider C3R and then restore vision quality with contact lenses. When possible C3R and TCat offers a chance of stopping the progression and reversing some of visual/corneal distortions.
To just fit contact lenses is tantamount to just sitting and watching whilst things get worse. We wouldn’t consider this as a suitable strategy in other pathologies where an effective treatment is available.
Unfortunately the NHS has been slow to take up C3R whilst it has proven effective since 1999, some 11 years ago.

Is there a cure to Keratoconus?
“There is ‘no cure’ but there are certainly holding strategies such as Cross Linking, Whilst some patients find improvement in contact lens tolerance it is the aim of cross linking to arrest the development of Keratoconus. Over the last 6 years of seeing cross linking patients all have stopped progressing and around 30% show a slight reversal of the apical steepening.

I have also seen many cases where C3R and TCat treatments, conducted by Accuvision. These too have arrested the development of Keratoconus, and many have much improved corneal profiles that have made it possible to refit patients from Hard/Gas Permeable lenses to Soft contact lenses or in many cases can get good vision with spectacles.”

Are the type of treatments offered by Accuvision significant?
This is of significant benefit and, patients are extremely happy to be wearing more comfortable lens options with longer more comfortable vision.
Some patients get significant improvements in best corrected vision, so have returned to driving standards and have been able to return to work following the TCat and C3R.
Accuvision seem to be championing Keratoconus treatments in the UK.
Thank You Nick.

Claire Reynolds had been using contact lenses for work and leisure but was always concerned about the hygiene part of it.

A few years ago when Claire travelled to Mozambique when she was relying on her glasses, somebody came into her tent and accidentally trod on them, leaving her to spend the rest of the month coping with broken lenses and frames. She was not keen to have this experience repeat itself on her latest adventure to clear landmines in Sri Lanka.

Having left the city where Claire spent up to 12 hours forcing her eyes to concentrate on a computer screen, her new role as a land mine clearer demanded the very best vision and concentration and this could not be compromised by any of the common problems experienced with glasses and contact lenses in remote environments such as; no clean water, dirty hands trying to manage contact lenses or dirt and grit getting into the eyes.

Claire comments, “Some of my friends out in Afghanistan and places like that have got contact lenses. When they come back, they have scratches in their eyes. This is because of the less hygienic situations in which they are. I cannot afford for that to happen to my eyes in Sri Lanka.”

“I used to walk past the Accuvision clinic in Fulham, so, when I thought of having laser eye surgery Accuvision was the name that first sprang to mind.”

Like everyone today, she went online to find more details about the clinic, the reviews, the experiences of others patients, the feedback and all were positive.

Claire then came down to the clinic to check the possibilities of her vision being corrected. Everything happened very smoothly for Claire at the Accuvision clinic; she felt very comfortable to ask all kinds of questions about her surgery with the optometrist.

Claire had astigmatism and was short-sighted with -3.00 in one eye and -3.75 in the other. After her laser eye surgery, her vision has improved drastically. She has 20/20 vision in one eye and the other eye is -0.5. Her vision is better than she had with contact lenses and she is so much more confident thanks to her new vision.

“One of the best things is getting up in the morning and not having to worrying about glasses or contact lenses anymore.”

Very shortly Claire will be relying on her new vision to keep her alive as she helps to clear the landmines in Sri Lanka.

We all wish Claire the very best.