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Pain after laser treatment

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,406
Location
Ireland
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
On Monday I had laser treatment with an anaesthetic injection because the last session was stopped as it was soooooo painful. I am not afraid of needles or injections but the idea of a needle near my eye was horrifying. I resorted to hypnotherapy to try and get through it. It seems to have worked because it was only a little stressful. Even when I saw the needle I just found it interesting that there was a curve in it and didn't freak out. The pain after the laser was extraordinary. Like a really bad migraine. Afterwards the whole emotional tidal wave about complications and blindness hit me. I have lived in total fear of it for 27 yrs. My eye is still very bloodshot and there is still some pain/discomfort and blurred vision. Is this normal? I'm probably being a huge wuss but I just want to put it behind me and can't stop worrying

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Hi Thundercat, needles, injection , the eye area :shock: You are a braver person than me, just writing this has made my stomach fill with butterflies and I have my teeth clenched :sick:

I find laser treatment very uncomfortable but afterwards, nothing that you have experienced. Could you telephone the department that gave you the laser treatment and have a phone consultation, even just to put your mind as rest. Sorry that I haven't been able to contribute much.

Take it easy and if anything untoward happens with your eye, then it might be beneficial to go to A & E.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and good luck
RRB
 
Thanks RRB. I'm hoping it's just because all the laser can be done at once with the anaesthetic. I've tried ringing clinic but no luck getting through.

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I had to have emergency laser treatment for a retinal tear recently and found that the initial pain/discomfort took a couple of days to settle down. I took regular painkillers until the pain response had gone.


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Ouch, braver than me! Have to say well done for having it, hope ur on the mend soon and its just taking a while to settle down after the procedure

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I too found it extremely uncomfortable after a couple of sessions, the reason being they sometimes they hit old scar tissue that's been lasered before.

I didn't fancy the injection and asked if I could take pain killers several hours before and leading up to the session, Ophthalmologist said that was fine and it helped a lot taking the edge off the pain, might be worth a try but it all boils down to your pain threshold, each of us are different when it comes to what we can and cannot tolerate.
 
Thanks everyone. I feel reassured that it's a normal after effect. I usually have a high enough pain threshold and if I had the same level of pain anywhere else I would have handled it better. I think the bundle of emotions going with it and the stress made it so much harder. I wish I had thought of taking pain killers in advance. Genius! Thanks so much again for all your replies

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I recently had eye surgery to replace my natural lens due to cataracts. This is the second eye to be done. After discussion with my ophthalmologist (who is the head of the hospital Opthalmology Department) we agreed to use a sedative as well as local anaesthetic. The sedative is an IV managed by an anaesthesiologist and is started before the ophthalmologist starts his work. Local anaesthetic is first eyedrops followed by needle. Through the entire procedure pain was minimal.
 
the degree of discomfort felt afer laser depends on the intensity of the lasr. The quality of the equipment and the skill of the person operating it are also factors . nother facor is the amount of treatment you ave head previously as Noblehead pointed out..

Unfortunately or rather =forunately few people will have enough sessions of laser o discover all this for themselves or to do anything about it.
after several years I would now bcome genuinely ill if I had o chance having laser fro m cerain people.
I don't say this to put anyone off -rather that there are various facors at play and one exd a bad experience on one occasion doesn't mean it will always be the same.

I have had catarac surgery on both eyes too and I would say that for most people it can be much easier than anything ut he briefest laser session.

Thats because in catarac surgery the patient is not required o do anyhing but lie still and you are evn helped to do thsat,
Wih laser reatment you are required to be proactive.

In a prolonged laser session , your position can becomecramped , there is an element of anxiey aboout moving at the wrong ime or looking in the wrong dorecion or just generally losing concenration.
if your eyes are sensiive and you have intense laser the huge blocks of light are all you see and this can cause stress -an dfor a few hours afterwards you continue to see these blocks and nothing else.-resulting in headaches and dizziness.
Laser is by no means the easier procedure -although a short session of laser can cause inimal or no problems.

Just because its non-invasive doesn' mean its necessarily simle straighforward and rikfree.

Personally , if I felt real pain during laser treatment I would ask the person using the laser to stop and tell them why.
It is not supposed to be painful . Some pain afterwards at times is more understandable.

When I first sarted atending he eye clinic I would hear oher paients refusing more laser because they foind it "too painful".
I was reallly worried that I might have to have it. Of course I did and have continued on a regular basis for the last six years
but I never experienced that sort of pain and have never heard it menioned since -why? Because the dep upgraded the laser equipment -to make it more "commortable " ie less painful and for patients requiring more than a minimal laser session referred hem o a laser clinic staffed by consultants rather than regisrars etc.

Each hospital has its own way of doing things but its well worth askig questios and talking to other patiients and nurses ec should you face a long period of laser treatment.
 


Hi noblehead

I hope you don't mind me asking, but I have my first Ophthalmology appointment on Friday the 9th August at my local hospital and I was wondering what to expect. This appointment was made before I saw Mr K and the up coming referral appointment in Southampton. Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks RRB
 


You don't say if it's for treatment or a check-up RRB. Normally for a retinopathy check you go in and sit down after telling the receptionist you have arrived, then a nurse will call you in then checks your vision, after this they put dilating drops in the eyes and you are told to go back to the waiting area.

After 20 mins (it has to be a minimum of 20 mins to allow time for the eyes to dilate) the Ophthalmologist will call your name and check your eyes, this is done on a slit lamp and you will be told to look up & down and left to right, after the examination they will discuss any concerns with you.

Waiting times in the clinic's can be long as they treat emergency cases all the time, I've been lucky lately as I've been in & out in 30 mins.
 

Well, no one has said anything about treatment, as it's the first appointment I'm assuming it's just a check up to see what's going on. I've had many eye clinic appointments, but this is the first with at the Ophthalmology clinic.

Thanks Noblehead

RRB
 
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