I assume you are talking about laser surgery. I had it done last month, my mrs had it done back in march.
I really suggest you have a good look here to see how the procedures works,
Optical Express – Opticians and Laser Eye Surgery UK
You can't have it done if your perscription has not been stable for at least a year. Also as you get older you will still most likely need reading glasses though not for long vision.
The basically cut through your cornier and peel it back. Then a laser vapourises the liquid in your lens which alters its shape. They then put the cornier back and job done.
Actual procedure is realativily quick. About 15 minutes or so, though it feels a LOT longer due to the discomfort. Its not painful as such due to anesthic drops you can't feel it laser though your eyelids are taped open and a ring placed in your eye to stop it blinking. As I said more discomfort then pain.
Straight after it feels like having sand in your eye but you absolutly cannot rub as it could move the flap in the cornier. You can see clear straight away but things are blury, like looking through water I guess. TBH, I could barely open my eyelids afterwards. They will keep you there for around an hour after the procedure then basic advice it go home and sleep. By evening I could open my eyelids. They give you drops to take for a week to control imflamation and anti-bacterial as the biggest risk it aftercare infections.
I actually drove back from the clinic the next day and could have gone back to work the day after at a stretch though I recommend living it longer depending on what you do. Night time vision has a lot halo for a up to a week making night time driving difficult.
BTW, you can exercise after a week but no contact sports (martial arts, football, rugby, etc) or swimming for a month. So if you plan on doing a grading or something then be aware.
Cost can vary depending on what you have done. Basic starts from £400 an eye upwards though realistically you are looking at £2k and upwards. Two variables are if you want to have wavefront done or not in which they bitmap your eye and apply 'better' correction, not everyone needs this but it adds around a grand to the price. Second variable is how they cut the flap, either mechanically with a blade or with a laser. Laser adds around £500 to the price but recovery is supposed to be quicker and also for some people, they don't recommend mechanical if your cornier is thin. My mrs had mechnical cut and her recovery was closer to a week. So with wavefront and laser cut, cost is around £3.5k though you can bargin with them and if you are willing to be flexiable with dates, again you can save cost.
Optical express offer free consultation to see what is possible (you won't be able to drive for a couple of hours after this due to drops they use) and have lots of locations in conviant places. There are other places offering same procedure for less (no fancy high street shop overhead, etc) so look around.
Overall, it is a couple of days of discomfort but results are definately worth it for me. I would say I wish I had it done years ago but the technology didn't exist back then, lol.
if you are serious then I have some optical express recommendation vouchers that could get you some money off but you might be better of bargining.
