The eyes have it: Trying out Laser Eye Surgery

It can, say certain spiritual gurus, take a lifetime to change how you view the world; if you are a patient of Dr Nick Mantell, it can take mere minutes.

Mantell is an ophthalmic surgeon (say that after a few drinks) who specialises in laser vision correction and refractive cataracts.

Now, I had heard of laser eye surgery and its ability to alter the shape of the cornea and provide a permanent fix for troubled eyesight. Indeed, I had met a few people who said it had changed their lives, but I was a little reticent. First, it doesn't come cheap. Second, "surgery" sounded potentially painful and usually comes with days, if not weeks, of recovery.

I first discovered I was shortsighted nearly 20 years ago and every day since then have dealt with the "rituals" that come with wearing glasses or contact lenses.

You know: losing your glasses, finding your glasses, looking for your glasses, having other people help you look for your glasses....

Leaving them behind in restaurants, on trains, buses, planes ... losing your glasses on a big night out, sitting on them, scratching them, wearing them underneath sunglasses (not cool), having them splattered with rain or fogged up, get sweaty, or just be plain annoying when playing sport, or when you don't have them on you and everyone else is looking at the dolphins on the horizon or the shooting stars; swimming blind in the ocean, or having to change contact lenses again and again, cluttering up the bathroom bench with the accompanying paraphernalia, or grappling with grit behind your contacts. Read More...