Adeel struggled with contact lenses all throughout school but grew increasingly frustrated with the constant hassle and minor irritations that came with wearing them. Finding that the cost of their monthly prescription was quickly starting to add up and that they often left him with dry and irritated eyes, he decided to look into an alternative vision correction solution.

“The main thing a lot of people go through is getting dry eyes and then constantly having to carry around your little contact solution tub. Also, going to the gym while wearing contacts, I try avoiding that as much as possible. If you’re sweating and then touching a lot of weights and things that other people have touched, and you then want to take your contacts out, it’s not really hygienic and there’s probably more chance of you getting an infection,” he explains.

Making the decision to partially switch to glasses, he soon realised that they were having too big an impact on his day-to-day life: “When I go on holiday and with jet-skiing or anything like that, it’s literally impossible to do on holiday. You have the fear of losing your glasses after spending maybe £200 or £300 on a pair.” Wanting to rid himself of the constant hassle and inconvenience, he finally decided to opt for laser eye surgery at Optical Express.

Working for the NHS Track & Trace team, Adeel understands the importance of strict health and safety measures and was impressed with the procedures that had been implemented at his local Optical Express clinic in Birmingham. “Everything did feel really safe. Everything was constantly cleaned and they were always more than 2 metres apart. Even when it came to the surgery itself they were still at a distance, and when I was getting my tests done the machines were cleaned every single time someone was using it,” he says.

Admitting that he was slightly nervous on the day of surgery, he was quickly made to feel at ease by staff members. “Everyone was really nice. Even during surgery, they were so reassuring and always on top of you, asking you if you were okay and telling you that you’re doing fine,” he explains. Delighted with the results of his treatment, Adeel is looking forward to planning a holiday to Turkey and enjoying it to the fullest with his new-found visual freedom: “Straight dive in, no worries about where I put my glasses or what to do if I lose my contacts. It’s a big weight lifted off my shoulders.”

When asked if he would recommend laser eye surgery at Optical Express to friends and family, he commented: “I would 100 million per cent recommend Optical Express. They’ve been amazing from the start till the end.”