“I was 47 years old with a -33 prescription… Laser Eye Surgery gave me my vision back”
London Vision Clinic patient, Inge, had experienced poor vision since birth, with her prescription worsening as she got older. In this article, Inge tells us about her vision journey – and how she ultimately went from a a prescription of -33 to 0 with the help of Laser Eye Surgery.
“As a baby, I was born with a prescription of approximately -5 and with each year that passed, it increased by one or two dioptres. By the time I was 18 years old, my prescription was at -20 which continued to grow until I decided to do something about it, back in 2010, when I was 47, and my prescription has reached -33. To make things worse, I had astigmatism of -5!”
By the age of 14, Inge’s vision had already deteriorated significantly, necessitating very thick and heavy glasses lenses. Naturally, as a young teenager, this took its toll on her self-esteem.
“I really didn’t like the way they made me look, and of course, I tried various styles of frames, but with my extremely high prescription, I was very limited for choice. In addition to this, the thick lenses made my eyes appear very small behind them.
“When I was about 14 years old, I had begun to feel very self-conscious of my appearance in glasses so I had a conversation with my optician and he told me I was able to start with contact lenses.”
Of course, while contact lenses offered Inge the benefit of being discrete, like glasses, they came with their own drawbacks…
“The first hurdle was learning how to put them in my eyes successfully, which any newbie to wearing contact lenses knows isn’t easy! Of course, at this time the lenses weren’t great; they were rigid hard plastic lenses which starved your eyes of oxygen.
“It wasn’t long before I started to suffer with red, aggravated eyes and reacted terribly to any contact with dust – it felt as though every single speck of dust possible was attracted to my eyes, and would get under my contact lenses. It really made my life hell…”
Thankfully, before long, a new generation of contact lenses were introduced. This more modern lenses were an improvement on their predecessors, but Inge still required hard lenses due to her high prescription. Moreover, the tedious routine required soon began to take its toll.
The persistent inconveniences of contact lenses
“Walking out into the street was really difficult when it was windy or stormy, I would get so much in my eyes. If I was to go to the beach on my holiday, it was terrible. No water available to wash the lenses in and everything is covered in sand.
“The convenience was another big limitation for me. I would always have to remember to bring my cleaning liquids if I was staying overnight somewhere or wanted to be spontaneous. Sometimes I would put them in cups with tap water, because I needed to stay there and couldn’t always get home – very frustrating.
“Something which most people take for granted is the freedom to take a nap! I could never do this. If I wanted to take a 10-minute nap, I would have to go through the process of taking out my contact lenses and as you’re not supposed to leave them in. So I could never be spontaneous, I always had to wipe and rinse them, put them away, secure them. I had worn contact lenses for 33 years, so I had come to accept this tedious process as normal for me.”
In spite of the improvements in contact lenses, these weren’t enough to offer Inge relief from irritation and soreness. Eventually, her optician advised her to remove her lenses for a couple of hours a day, to give her eyes a break. But this meant that she would be unable to see to perform certain tasks. And to top things off, at the age of 42, Inge began to notice a deterioration in her reading vision, too.
Discovering the Potential of Laser Eye Surgery
By this point, Inge had resigned herself to a lifetime of issues with her eyes and vision. She believed nothing could be done to correct her extremely high prescription and, as a result, she would be forced to deal with the difficulties of glasses and contact lenses for the rest of her life.
“Luckily, it was around this time that my old school friend suggested I went to see her husband; Professor Dan Reinstein. After speaking with him, I was asked to come into the clinic and underwent many, many tests and scans. I remember it was the very first model of the Artemis Insight VHF-Ultrasound Scanner which played a key part in identifying a viable treatment plan for me. In fact, I was one of the first patients seen at London Vision Clinic with this technology, which precisely mapped my corneas to show what was possible for my eyes.”
And to Inge’s surprise, that was more than she could have ever hoped for! She had previously been told that her short-sightedness was far too severe for intraocular lens surgery (also known as Clear Lens Exchange), due to the significant risk of retinal detachment. In addition, Inge had been told that even the highest powered implantable collamer lenses (ICLs) would still leave her with too much myopia to correct, due to the thinness of her corneas.
But with some extensive testing, the optometrists and surgeons at London Vision Clinic found that that wasn’t necessarily the case.
An Innovative Treatment – Even for Very High Prescriptions
Our founder and surgeon, Professor Reinstein, is one of the leading Laser Eye Surgery experts in the world, even having developed some of the most-cutting edge technology and techniques in the field.
“Professor Reinstein calculated that it might be just possible to correct my vision fully! He concluded that by using a combination of the maximum power ICL combined with a specialised laser technique he developed to treat very high prescriptions even in thin corneas, he could get me fully corrected by subsequent LASIK.”
Using the Carl Zeiss Visumax femtosecond laser and specialised manually programmed customised wavefront guided laser profile settings on the Zeiss MEL90 excimer laser, Professor Reinstein had developed a technique which was safe for the treatment of very high prescriptions, while protecting against night vision problems often associated with such procedures.
Feeling reassured by Professor Reinstein’s experience and expertise, Inge decided to go ahead. Before she knew it, she had undergone ICL surgery – with the highest strength lenses being implanted into her eyes. The remaining prescription (including her presbyopia) was then addressed through PRESBYOND® Laser Blended Vision LASIK treatment.
“It was all done so quickly and I truly didn’t feel a thing. I hadn’t looked elsewhere at the time, as I had simply written off the possibility of vision correction after my struggles, especially Laser Eye Surgery. When I was introduced to Professor Reinstein, it was incredible that I was able to even contemplate life without needing my glasses.”
Choosing an Experienced Surgeon
At the time of her treatment – and possibly still to this day – Inge’s case was the most extreme prescription that Professor Reinstein had treated. The constraints of Inge’s corneal thickness and initial prescription meant that only a meticulously planned, bespoke treatment would have offered the chance of vision correction.
Thankfully, having conducted so much research in ultrasound technology – and even developed the Artemis Insight 100 scanner – Professor Reinstein was the perfect surgeon for the job.
“I truly believe that he may well have been the only surgeon in the world who could have got my eyes from -33 to zero. I would encourage any person feeling like they are ‘probably unsuitable’ to just get in touch, as I didn’t know it was possible. So if it was possible for me, it may well be possible for you! Most of my friends now require reading glasses, and I don’t! It remains liberating, and I feel very lucky every day.”
At London Vision Clinic, our access to the most experienced surgeons and the latest Laser Eye Surgery technology often means we are able to treat even extremely high prescriptions. So, even if you have been turned away by other providers, we may be able to help. Get in touch with one of our friendly clinic coordinators or Book a Consultation today to learn more.
