If you are accustomed to wearing glasses or contacts, it may seem unlikely that you could have good eyesight without them. However, candidates for LASIK surgery are inspired by the incredible visual outcomes from laser vision correction and PRK. Two good questions to start with are:
- Am I a good LASIK candidate?
- How can I find the best LASIK surgeon?
Am I a Good Candidate for LASIK?
Determination of your candidacy will ultimately be done by your eye surgeon, after he or she has done a preoperative evaluation. Good LASIK candidates share some basic characteristics.
- Ideal Age
A good candidate is at least eighteen years old because vision can continue to change on many individuals through their early twenties.
- Stable Prescription
Regardless of your age, a stable prescription is required to be regarded as a good LASIK candidate. If your glasses or contacts are at least one year old and you still see well with them, your prescription is considered to be stable.
- Treatable Eyesight Parameters
A good LASIK candidate has a prescription within certain parameters.
- If you are nearsighted, you may have myopia of up to -12.00 diopters
- If you are farsighted, your hyperopia may be up to +6.00 diopters
- Your level of astigmatism may be as high as 6.00 diopters.
Generally speaking, these are normal parameters; however, they can vary among patients and among doctors.
- Surgically Ideal Eyes
The preoperative examination will tell your surgeon whether your eyes meet the required LASIK standards. These include:
- A cornea thick enough (not too thin)
- A structurally normal cornea (not irregularly shaped)
- Generally good eye health (no disease or injury that might impair the outcome)
Conditions That May Prevent Lasik Surgery
As stated earlier, several factors determine the candidacy for LASIK. The only way to truly determine whether LASIK surgery is right for you is through a comprehensive evaluation and consultation with an experienced surgeon.
Severe Refractive Error
If your prescription is so strong that it falls outside the standard treatable parameters, you may not be a good candidate for LASIK. Correction of extreme nearsightedness or farsightedness requires too much corneal reshaping for your vision safety. Other methods may be preferable, such as an implantable contact lens Please consult your ophthalmologist to determine the best option.
Other Disqualifying Health Conditions
These conditions are usually contraindications for LASIK. However, none are absolute contraindications. If you have one of these conditions, an experienced LASIK surgeon will be able to determine whether you may still have a LASIK surgery procedure.
- Thin cornea if your cornea is unusually thin, LASIK may weaken it, impairing your vision. PRK may be a better option.
- Abnormally structured cornea this condition is not treatable with LASIK.
- Pregnancy during pregnancy, especially during the third trimester, vision can be unstable. Therefore the measured refraction may be incorrect. However, if the pregnancy is still in an early stage, and vision has not changed, LASIK may sometimes be possible.
- Cataract the lens becomes cloudy, causing blurry vision. A LASIK treatment could intensify this blurring.
- Corneal dystrophies inherited conditions where an accumulation of cloudy material in some part of the cornea impairs normal clarity.
- A history of ocular herpetic keratitis eye infection can be caused by the same herpes virus that causes cold sores on the lips. This creates scarring and blurred vision. It is not sexually transmitted.
- Diabetic retinopathy the retina is damaged by this complication of diabetes, sometimes to the point of blindness. However, when patients have diabetes without retinopathy, they can be good LASIK surgery candidates.
- Severe dry eye severe dry eye can create healing problems after LASIK. Mild to moderate dry eye treated before surgery does not cause healing problems. This condition does not automatically rule a person out for LASIK surgery.
Unrealistic Expectations
Unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment with the LASIK surgery outcome. A patient is responsible for learning exactly what LASIK can and cannot do. For example, after your vision correction, you may still need glasses to watch a subtitled film, for example, or to drive at night. It is best to regard LASIK as potentially reducing your dependence on glasses or contact lenses, and improving your natural vision, rather than as a surefire way of discarding them.
