Emma North

Emma North, a beauty journalist for Woman and Home magazine, found that poor sight was impacting on her self-confidence and mental health. Relying on glasses and contact lenses to correct her vision, she struggled with the daily inconvenience of them, and grew increasingly wary of the environmental impact of her vision correction choices. Eager to find an alternative solution that would give her the freedom and hassle-free vision she desired, she decided to book in for a free consultation at Optical Express and was ecstatic to find that she was a suitable candidate for laser eye surgery.

“It was such a pain having to put in daily contacts, and to remember to change them and take them out at night. And wearing glasses, especially with a mask, they just fog up and they’re always smudgy and always disgusting,” she explains. When Emma also learned that her disposable contact lenses were harming the environment, as throwing used lenses down the sink meant that they would end up polluting our waterways and ocean, she decided that it was time to opt for an alternative solution that would improve her day-to-day life and help reduce her environmental footprint: “I was really worried about the environmental impact of wearing contact lenses, especially daily contact lenses, because I was throwing them down the sink and then they would end up in the environment. So, I was always worried about that and I always felt bad about it.”

Emma was treated by Dr Ghabra, one of the renowned ophthalmic surgeons active at Optical Express. “Dr Ghabra was brilliant. He was so lovely and so calm and just really reassuring, and put me at ease because I was nervous,” she says. Her nerves quickly subsided, however, as she realised that the procedure was a lot more relaxed and comfortable than she had anticipated: “I thought the experience would be a lot more intense than it was. It was so much more relaxed and so much more thorough than I thought it would be as well. I really thought that it would be a huge ordeal, but it was actually very, very simple and very quick.”

Waking up the morning after her surgery, Emma was delighted to find that her vision was both clearer and sharper, describing the experience as ‘surreal’. Being able to see things clearly has already massively improved her self-esteem, and has meant that she no longer has to suffer from the anxiety resulting from her poor vision. “I definitely think that eye health and mental health are linked. I would suffer with quite bad anxiety about not being able to feel comfortable in a situation because I couldn’t see. I wouldn’t feel my best when I was wearing my glasses, and it made a huge impact because my confidence has come back, and you just feel liberated,” she explains.

Delighted with her journey at Optical Express, Emma wouldn’t hesitate to recommend laser eye surgery to anyone struggling with outdated vision correction solutions such as glasses and contact lenses. When asked if she had any advice for those considering treatment, she commented: “Really research where you’re going to go. Optical Express have been incredible with my laser eye surgery and really taken me by the hand through every step of the process and been really thorough. My second advice would be, don’t be scared, because it’s really easy.”