Are you a candidate for LASIK Eye Surgery Procedure?

You should certainly consider the excellent results achieved with the LASIK eye surgery procedure. Especially anyone that has poor distance vision, is dependent on glasses and/or contact lenses for daily life, and wants to free themselves from that dependency.

However before investigating further, find out if you are a successful candidate for this type of laser eye correction.

• Candidates for laser vision correction should have a stable lens prescription between -1 and -10 (near-sighted), up to +4(far-sighted) with or without cyclinder up to 6 (astigmatism).
• Candidates should be dependent on glasses for distance vision (glasses that you need to see far like glasses for driving or watching TV, etc. Laser vision correction is not for those with good distance vision and who only wear reading glasses.
• If you are over 40 and currently take your glasses off for reading, or have an additional reading correction in your glasses (multifocal, bifocal), you should be aware that after laser vision correction you will not require glasses for distance, but most likely will require reading glasses. You might consider the monovision technique which can delay the need for reading glasses.
• You should be at least 18 years old with a stable glasses prescription. There is no upper age limit although the older the candidate (over 65), the greater the chance there is of an early cataract or other eye disease being present which makes laser surgery inadvisable.
• Candidates should have healthy eyes apart from needing glasses, with good vision in both eyes with their glasses on. Mild degrees of amblyopia (lazy eye since childhood) are acceptable, but your optometrist will need to know the maximum possible vision with glasses on to make a decision.
• Any eye disease such as severe dryness, actively inflamed eyes, glaucoma, cataract, optic nerve problems, previous trauma etc, often make the LASIK eye surgery procedure inadvisable, or require special consideration so let your ophthalmologist know beforehand so you can be best evaluated for the procedure.
• Certain general bodily diseases make laser vision correction inadvisable or require special consideration such as Lupus and similar inflammatory conditions, diabetes and others. It is very important to let your ophthalmologist know if you suffer from any condition, or are taking any medications.

For people that cannot have LASIK eye surgery procedure performed, there is another option, PRK (PhotoRefractive Keratectomy) and LASEK (Laser SubEpithelial Keratomileusis), which uses an excimer laser to correct the eye vision. PRK and LASEK, which is a form of PRK, are sometimes performed on people who have a thin cornea, an unusual corneal shape and or size, or abnormal corneal surface. Consult with your ophthalmologist to find out if this procedure is suitable for you.

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