Wearing contact lenses from a young age, Richard switched to glasses as he got older but never really grew accustomed to wearing them. Having a very active lifestyle, he had always been keen to participate in a triathlon, but found that his glasses impacted his ability to swim.

Eager to overcome this obstacle, he booked in for a consultation at Optical Express and was delighted to find that he was a suitable candidate for lens replacement surgery.

Also working as a Paramedic throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he grew increasingly frustrated with having to deal with his glasses constantly steaming up as a result of face coverings: “It’s been quite difficult wearing masks all the time, going in and out of people’s houses, and glasses steaming up. I’ve found that it’s been much better since I’ve had the operation and not to have those issues.”

Richard was treated at our Chelmsford clinic and is now a few weeks into his recovery period. He has already noticed a major improvement in his vision, commenting: “The distance vision and everything else is absolutely back to normal so, no problems whatsoever.” Life without glasses has taken some getting used to, as he often finds himself reaching for them out of habit. “I wake up in the morning and I instinctively lean over to put my glasses on, and then realise I don’t have any. They’re the kind of odd moment when you do that, but it’s quite nice,” he says.

Delighted with his new-found visual freedom, Richard is eager to jump back into his active lifestyle and hopes to achieve his goal of participating in a triathlon soon. “I can’t really swim and the glasses were quite an impediment, so the thing I’d like to do is to have a go at doing a triathlon, and the swimming is the bit I need to overcome,” he explains.  

When asked if he would recommend lens replacement surgery to others struggling with poor vision, he commented: “I think the end results are well worth having, and if you want to do any kind of activities and sports, they’re the big wins. Particularly having to wear protective personal equipment (PPE), that’s been the big issue, seeing patients, that’s been my big driver. I’ve been very happy with the service I had from Optical Express. The surgery was very good and it’s produced very good results for me.”