Suffering from short-sightedness since he was in school, Mark relied on contact lenses for most of his adult life but found that they had started to cause him minor discomfort in recent years. Deciding to partially switch to glasses to avoid dry eyes and itchiness, he grew increasingly frustrated with the ongoing cost of his contact lenses, which continued to add up despite him often being unable to wear them.

Keen to find a vision correction solution that would be more comfortable and also economical, he decided to book in for a free consultation at Optical Express to discuss his options.  

“I couldn’t use them, they would start getting a bit itchy. During lockdown, I stopped my prescription to stop paying, because it was £51 a month for contact lenses and I wasn’t really using them. So, I thought at the end of the day this is madness, I might as well look into lens replacement surgery,” he explains. Also becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impact of his contact lenses, he was eager to opt for a solution that would have a positive impact on both his quality of life and on our planet: “All of a sudden it does bring it home actually, how many have I thrown away in my lifetime? And they are not biodegradable, so they are going to affect the environment.”

Booking in for treatment at our Dartford clinic, Mark has been continuously impressed with the care and service he received from the team and his surgeon, Dr Dimitris Kazakos. “He’s done a fantastic job you know, from my point of view it’s perfect. What I can see now is fantastic compared to what it was beforehand,” he says. While he was slightly nervous in the run-up to his appointment, he was surprised to find that he had actually felt relaxed throughout the entire process, remarking that it had been ‘smooth sailing’.

Mark was ecstatic to find that his vision had already improved significantly within just 24 hours, particularly noticing how much brighter everything appeared: “First thing I noticed was how much brighter everything was, it’s quite shocking actually. Everything is clearer, everything is brighter. The blues are bluer, the greens are greener, it’s incredible. I didn’t realise how much difference it would make.”

Delighted with his restored vision, Mark wouldn’t hesitate to recommend lens replacement surgery to others suffering from poor vision: “I would use or recommend Optical Express as I’ve had a fantastic experience with them. I can’t speak highly enough of it. I must admit that it’s emotional to be fair, it’s one of those things where you think ‘wow’.”