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Six Things You Should Know Before Having LASIK
March 24, 2008
1. Who should have LASIK?
People who want to be less dependent on their glasses or contact lenses should consider LASIK. Patients who are nearsighted and/or have astigmatism have the best results. LASIK is the most common vision correction procedure in the United States because the procedure is safe, predictable, and because patients appreciate the speedy recovery. However, LASIK is not recommended for every spectacle-weary patient. Surgeons advise patients against LASIK surgery for a variety of reasons with the overall health and long-term integrity of each eye as the main goal.
Before having LASIK you should have a competent eye evaluation with an ophthalmologist who uses measurements from advanced equipment such as an Orbscan or the Pentacam. Other vision correction procedures may be the answer for people who cannot have LASIK. Some people will get a better result from another procedure such as PRK, (Photorefractive Keratectomy,) the Visian ICLs (Implantable Contact Lenses,) multifocal IOLs (IntraOcular Lenses,) or NearVision CK (Conductive Keratoplasty).
2. What Laser is used for LASIK?
There are a variety of lasers used today in medicine. Two separate lasers can be used when a surgeon performs LASIK. The first laser is a femtosecond (FS) laser which creates a thin corneal flap. The faster (60 kHz speed) FS lasers produce a smoother flap resulting in a better quality of vision for patients.
Once the flap is created and lifted to the side, an excimer laser reshapes the cornea. The small spot lasers are known for being superior to the traditional broad-beam lasers because they apply a smooth scanning technology to reduce halos or glare after surgery.
“Laser radar” is extremely important with excimer lasers. The radar is an active tracking system that can follow rapid involuntary eye movements during surgery. The eye tracking radar locks on to a specific point on each eye and allows the small spot laser beam to apply the precise amount of treatment to the exact area of the cornea. The excimer laser also reshapes the cornea for Custom-LASIK or PRK. Be sure to ask the surgery center you visit if it has the newest upgrade for their laser.
3. Is Your Surgeon Board Certified?
Not every doctor is board certified. A board certified doctor has not only completed medical school and a residency program, but has also passed a national examination in the specific field of medicine in which he or she will practice. You can find out if your eye doctor is board certified in ophthalmology through the American Academy of Ophthalmology website. Go to www.aao.org and enter your doctor’s name, city and state in the fields for “Find An Eye M.D.” When the doctor’s name appears, click on it to see the details of his or her career. “American Board Ophthalmology” will be entered if the doctor is board certified.
Not only should you meet your surgeon before surgery, you should expect to see him or her for some of your post-operative appointments. The standard of quality care does include seeing your doctor more than just the day of surgery.
4. How much does LASIK cost?
Premier Eye Care Group has contracted with several vision insurance plans to give a discount LASIK price to their participants. Every patient should speak with our surgical counselors to learn his or her exact price. Once we quote you a price it is good for a year. Our quoted price includes your consultation with the surgical counselor, the evaluation with the doctor, all pre-operative testing, the surgery and all post-operative appointments for one year.
Many patients pay for LASIK with cash or on a credit card, but financing is available with Care Credit and Chase Health Advance. For a low-monthly payment we offer 36 or 48-month payment plans. Our most popular financing plan is the 18-months, no-interest option.
5. How long do I need to be out of my contacts?
Wearing a contact lens affects the shape of your eye. Every contact lens patient desiring LASIK must suffer through a period of time without contacts for your eyes to achieve their natural shape. You must be sure your eyes have completely unmolded from you contacts for your surgery to be successful. The period of time you must be out of your contacts depends on what type of contacts you wear and how long you have worn them. The minimal time to unmold from contact lens wear is as follows:
Soft, spherical contacts 2 weeks
Soft, toric contacts 3 weeks
Rigid Gas Perm contacts 1 - 6 months (A good benchmark is 1 month for every decade of wearing RGP lenses)
6. What if I wear bifocals?
LASIK for a twenty year old is different than for someone over forty-five. LASIK involves reshaping the cornea but does not alter the lens inside the eye. Presbyopia refers to the aging of one’s lens inside the eye which loses its flexibility and inhibits the ability to easily change focus from far to near. Most patients notice presbyopia during their forties and usually wear reading glasses for near vision.
Monovision may be an option for some presbyopic patients. Monovision is the ability for the dominant eye to focus clearly on items far away and the other eye to focus up close. Doctors can use contact lenses or refractive surgery to treat a patient with monovision. You should try monovision with contact lenses before you attempt monovision through LASIK.
If monovision is frustrating to a patient because of a significant difference between the two eyes, a patient may want to try modified-monovision, also called “blended vision.” Modified-monovision is when a patient’s dominant eye is corrected for distance and the other eye is slightly under-corrected. The difference in correction between the two eyes is usually not as noticeable to patients during their daily activities. However, the slightly under-corrected eye allows patients to see things that are near or at an intermediate distance more clearly.
Anne Quist, MBA
Community Education and Marketing Analyst
Premier Eye Care Group
