Is LASIK Right for You?
Are you an excellent LASIK candidate?
The best way to know if you are a candidate for LASIK corrective eye surgery is to have a complete evaluation of your eyes and vision by a qualified eye surgeon. But the following are the types of conditions and situations that would mean that you are not a good candidate for LASIK.
Some are temporary conditions. Others mean LASIK is not right for you, but there are other types of vision correction surgery such as PRK and implantable lenses.
LASIK is an FDA-approved procedure for people aged 18 and older or who have achieved ocular maturity—a term that means your eyes have fully developed.
Your organs grow until you are fully grown, and our eyes are among the last of our organs to fully develop. When we are born our eyes are about two-thirds smaller than they will be when we reach adulthood. Newborns have eyes about 16.5 mm in length and a full grown adult’s eye length is about 24mm.
LASIK vision correction permanently reshapes the cornea (the surface of your eye) and that should only happen on eyes that are fully developed.
These are some other determining factors:
General health
Some health conditions and medications such as corticosteroids and acne medication may interfere with the healing process and make you a poor candidate for LASIK. People with conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes, or an autoimmune disease such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis as also not good candidates. Make sure you share your complete medical history with your eye surgeon during your consultation. There may be other surgical corrective procedures that are right for you.
Corneal shape and thickness
LASIK improves vision by reshaping the cornea to help focus light on the retina. If your cornea is too thin or irregularly shaped, you will not be a good candidate for LASIK. But there are other procedures to correct your vision that you may be a good candidate for such as PRK or implantable lenses.
Stable vision
If your contact lens or glasses prescription is still fluctuating you will be asked to wait until your vision has been stable for a minimum of one year.
Dry eyes
Having severe dry eye syndrome can increase the risk of post-LASIK discomfort and possibly worsening of your dry eye symptoms. Your eye doctor can evaluate your dry eye and determine the severity.
Pregnant or nursing
Hormone fluctuations and fluid retention during pregnancy or nursing can cause vision changes that are temporary, and trying to surgically correct vision during this time of hormonal-induced fluctuating vision is not recommended because it can affect the procedure’s accuracy.