I first contacted Optical Express for a LipiFlow treatment due to them being one of the only providers in the Manchester area. When I rang to book the appointment I was told someone would get back to me to organise a time and date but this never happened and I had to chase this up twice. The Glasgow head office were helpful but the Bridgewater service team had terrible customer service and would not get back to me as promised and no communication between them all.
When I was finally booked in for a consultation, on a Saturday morning, arriving slightly early, I was the only person there and it was quiet. I waited to see a practitioner, and when I started to ask him details around the procedure and raise any concerns, he said he was very busy and didn’t have time to talk through it all, I should read their leaflet instead.
He spent 5 minutes scanning my eyes on a machine and sent me back to reception with a leaflet about LipiFlow along with a consent form, and told me to read it and give the signed documents to reception.
I had already done hours of research on LipiFlow so I was happy to proceed with the treatment, but uneasy with the man’s attitude. I signed the agreement, paid and booked to come back another day for the procedure.
There are a couple of practitioners at that clinic so they gave me options with both. I decided to go with the woman I hadn’t met as I wanted to avoid the previous unhelpful man with an attitude. When we met on the day she was much more welcoming and tried answering my questions, but she was hesitant and didn’t seem to know a great deal.
We did a few scans, took the oil % of my eyes and started the LipiFlow but I complained I could only feel it on my upper lids (when the issue is predominately my lower). She tried moving it around a few times as it was going, but it finished eventually and I asked if we could then inspect my glands to see if they had been cleared. She said this isn’t something that can be done and you can’t check anything just after.
I was told to come back in two weeks if I still have concerns, which I did and they scanned the oil % again and one eye improved a few % and the other stayed the same. I requested they do it again and they said they’d do the worse eye, and I told them beforehand there was an issue last time and it didn’t work on my lower lids. Again they tried manoeuvring the equipment while it was working on my eyes and didn’t have much luck.
I went to my local ophthalmologist weeks after, who actually inspected my glands for me and told me they were still blocked and I still have issues with them now. I then started looking to london for more clinics and came across this forum and found that my experience wasn’t an anomaly, and although they offer a cheaper price than most, it was a waste of money.
I would recommend you spend that bit more for someone who knows what they’re doing and actually wants to help you.
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admin: Suffering with MGD after laser eye surgery in 2011, I have LipiFlow regularly, and can assure you this is not how it should be done: LipiFlow provided correctly involves more than simply sticking the cups on your eyes, and they should not be moved around if not fitted correctly! The process should have been stopped, the cups repositioned, and machine restarted.
I’m interested to know if the ‘practitioner’ was an optometrist, what training they’d had, and how many times they’d applied LipiFlow.
To discuss, please email: info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk