Boston Vision

4.9

4430 reviews

Sort By:

Diana A. Via Yelp - Brookline

12 years ago

Got LASIK in Feb 2013. Dr Melki and his associates were wonderful. Got LASIK at 730. In 12 minutes I was done, but they do keep you there another 30 minutes and the fellow checks on you before leaving. Went home and it felt like my eyes burned a bit after but other than that no pain. Slept for 4 hours then woke up and had 20/20 vision. The consultation did take about 3 hours but honestly it went by so fast. Dr Melki only does surgeries on Fridays so I had to wait two weeks until I had another day off. By Saturday I was back at work and they were accompdating by taking me in Saturday for my 1 day follow up at 11am. Overall everyone was kind helpful and I actually referred my sister as well!!

Ingrid Rosa Ramirez Via Google Business Profile - Brookline

12 years ago

AMAZING! Almost a year has gone by since my surgery with Dr. Melki and I couldn't be more pleased. Let me start by saying that I am very happy to have found Boston Laser as I had already been evaluated at another Lasik center in NY. I knew that I should get a second opinion and I followed my "gut". As it turns out, I made the right choice. It is always important to find out what your options are and Lasik may be just one of them, this was my case. I had a significant prescription and after being evaluated by Dr.Melki I was told that Lasik was not the best option and that in fact, he would not perform it as my results would not be as successful as someone with a lower prescription. There is no use in getting your vision corrected if the results aren't going to be 100%. I respect that Dr. Melki was honest and also surprised that I still had the option to get another procedure; I was a good candidate for Visian ICL; an implantable contact lens. Dr. Melki explained the procedure and risks. (At the other Lasik center in NY I was never given any other option to correct my eyesight)I had my surgery April 2012 (right eye) and May 2012 (left eye) and it's been great. I was able to see immediately after the procedure. Dr. Melki, Dr.Felix and the rest of the team were amazing.Everyone's experience is different and there are always side effects that should be taken into consideration, however, I always felt I was in safe hands and I am extremely happy with the results! :-)

Amit K. Via Yelp - Brookline

12 years ago

Lasek surgery performed in Jan 2013. Summary: Note, I've given 5 stars based solely on the surgeon himself. At the end of the day, the single important thing is the quality of vision you receive from the procedure. The price, customer service, amount of hand-holding, atmosphere, etc. are all secondary. At the time of the writing of this review, the place has 3.5 stars, which is surprising given the credentials of the surgeon. He used to work at one of the top eye hospitals in the world. He probably quit in order to take advantage of the lucrative aspects of privatization. Nonetheless, I've provided the below review to comment on all aforementioned items. Lasek: Note, this section is a review of the lasEK procedure (different than lasIK). Lasek is a rather new procedure that is a variation of PRK. It provides a slightly better recovery time with all else being almost the same as PRK. Due to my high prescription (-7.00) and thin corneas, I was not a strong candidate for lasik. I had also undergone a consult at TLC in Providence, RI and they had the same conclusion for the same reasons. Dr. Melki ultimately recommended lasEK. The laser used to correct the prescription is identical to lasik and PRK. The only difference is that the recovery is slightly better than PRK. Immediately after the surgery, I was very sensitive to light and could hardly see from the dryness and discomfort. The vision itself was blurry but definitely a vast improvement from my original prescription. By the weeks end, I was about 20/40 in both eyes with little to no discomfort. It takes about a month before the eyes heal completely and seeing 20/20. I would recommend taking a week off of work since you will be nearly incapacitated for at least the first few days. It is also very helpful to have someone help you during the first week. Medical drops have to be put in hourly, so it is nice to have someone to help with that as well. The saying with lasik is you will be seeing good in a day, great in a week. The saying with lasek/PRK is that you will be seeing good in a week, great in a month. Keep that in mind in your planning. Boston Laser: This place has the feel of a highly rushed place. All the employees are very busy and the clinic goes through a high volume of patients each day. Yet, I found everyone to be courteous and professional. They seemed to know what they were doing. They answered all my questions knowledgably. Nonetheless, I highly recommend coming in prepared with a list of questions. They also tend to give vague answers, probably due to liability issues. For example, if I asked how long the recovery time was, the answer would be, "varies patient to patient." This is an obvious answer. An answer including general numbers would be much more helpful such as, "varies patient to patient, but we typically see patients recover to be functional in 1 week, and seeing very well in 1 month." Toward the end of the consultation, you will finally meet the surgeon, Dr. Melki. He is very knowledgeable on the subject, but you MUST ask questions. Doing this day in and day out is probably like repeating the ABCs for him, so we have to come prepared with specific questions. Since I had never heard of lasek prior to the consult (all my questions prepared were for lasik), I couldn't ask many questions during the meeting. Nonetheless, he was very helpful over email and answered all my questions promptly. At the end of the consult, you will meet Rick, the head of the business end of the practice. He handles all the money/payment stuff. He is a nice guy who has been doing this for over 10 years. While not a doctor himself, he too is knowledgeable in refractive surgeries. For the surgery day itself, they provide a very useful information sheet as well as a "goodie bag" for the post-op care. They also advise you to fill prescriptions beforehand. This made the recovery a lot easier to deal with. Opportunities for Improvement: As mentioned in the previous section, they could improve their customer service. The medical care they provide is fine and that's not what I'm referring to. It's the small things. For example, their automated phone menu system takes you in circles sometimes. You have to pay for parking, although there is plenty of metered parking. When they answer questions, they tend to provide vague, conservative answers. For example, "the procedure will reduce your dependency on glasses." A better answer, "the procedure cannot guarantee 20/20 vision, but we typically notice patients similar to yourself achieve 20/20 vision." Final Notes Overall, I highly recommend this place. It is on the pricey side, but healthcare is not something to skimp out on. The surgeon is highly qualified. I had done a few consults, and am glad that I chose Dr. Melki to perform the surgery. I hope this review is helpful to you. I know Boston Laser also reads yelp review so I hope it's helpful for them too.

Fred Fred Via Google Business Profile - Brookline

12 years ago

I don't often write reviews for products or services, but I feel this event warrants a review as it deals with an elective surgery which may change your quality of life forever. I have considered Lasik surgery for a couple of years now, but I have been hesitant to go in for a consultation. I spend most of my days behind computer screen. I consider my eyesight my most valuable sense and for that reason I have been extremely careful in my evaluation of potential laser eye surgeons. I have informed myself quite a bit on the available technologies, the surgeries, the pros/cons, risks, side-effects. Also to select an eye surgeon, I looked at experience, number of surgeries performed, teaching and research experience, academic training, publications, and expertise beyond Lasik. Among the several laser eye surgeons I evaluated, Dr. Samir Melki and his practice (Boston Laser) ranked highly: Dr. Melki has several thousand surgeries under his belt, has trained under globally known eye surgeons, currently teaches at Harvard Medical School, wrote several books, and is also specialized in cataract and corneal surgery. Again, it is vital to stress that you are essentially making a conscious decision to put your eyesight in the hands of a surgeon: as with any surgery, Lasik/PRK/Lasek present risks to your eyes, no matter how small, risks that may adversely affect your eyesight forever! That is why you should be very wary of surgeons who will tell you that this is a zero-risk surgery, or who will use price discounts as the primary means of getting you into the door. Your eyesight is far too precious for that! I traveled all the way from NYC to Boston in order to meet with Dr.Melki for an initial consultation. Dr. Melki's manners were impeccable, his knowledge, honesty, and patience impressive. He took the time to answer all of my questions, and then some. He also presented the surgery options, as well as their benefits, risks and potential side-effects. He was able to put things in perspective in a way that made me feel comfortable making a decision. In the end, it is all about trust. And dr. Melki earned my trust. The Boston Laser clinic seems to have invested in the latest technologies for laser eye correction procedures, including wavefront lasik. Keep in mind, this was the only clinic I found that had their own outcomes independently reviewed every year. Once there, the clinic design made me feel comfortable, and the staff was not only friendly, but also knowledgeable. I came in the day of my surgery, and after a bit of prepping I was ready for the procedure. The whole thing took only a few minutes, and Dr. Melki described to me each step as he was operating (which made me feel comfortable). Dr. Melki peformed the Lasek (PRK) procedure on my eyes, which corrected for both myopia (short-sightedness) and astigmatism. In additional to using wavefront technology, he also performed the 'monovision' procedure, to delay even more the need for wearing reading glasses in the future. You need to keep in mind that no matter how good your eyesight is today, one day in the future, when you grow older, you will need to wear glasses for reading up-close. Dr. Melki's technique pushes back by several years the date at which you may need reading glasses. Finally Dr. Melki and his team followed-up with me for several weeks after the procedure, to insure I was doing ok. I have today 20/20 eyesight, I can see distant objects (and actually read small characters better than when I was wearing glasses), and can read books up close with no prolem, and most importantly I can stare at my computer screen for hours on end without getting tired! If you are considering laser eye surgery, I can only highly recommend Dr. Samir Melki and the Boston Laser Clinic. His procedure significantly improved I evaluated, Dr. Melki & his team are IT. But don't take my quality of life forever, and I don't have to worry about glasses anymore. Among all the laser eye surgeons my word for it, do your homework, set up an initial consultation, and see for yourself !

Michael S. Via Yelp - Brookline

12 years ago

The first time I've ever spent that much money, and got instant gratification. I was first case, took the valium, was done by 9:00am, went home and slept till 3:00PM and headed to a Restaurant for sushi... Seeing the Boston Skyline after lasik was done was like watch my Denver Broncos for the first time in HD!!! SO Worth it! The Doctors' and staff were all amazing!! Special thanks to Drs. Melki and Felix. I'm what one might call a pain in the butt patient; You know the ones, they asks millions of questions, they're demanding but does require the best. Well two months later, and my sight bi-laterally is 20/15. I'm so glad I came to this office first because when it comes to the eyes, you only get one shot!