Am I Suitable for Laser Eye Surgery?
If you are considering laser eye surgery, you must undergo a thorough eye examination at the Vision Laser Clinic with Dr Patrick Versace to determine your suitability. Only after this examination, in consultation with you, can a decision be made as to whether or not refractive surgery is appropriate and suitable. In particular, Dr Patrick Versace can diagnose any conditions that may make surgery a poor choice for you, and recommend an alternative solution.
Most Suitable Candidate
You are over 18 years of age and have had a stable glasses or contact lens prescription for at least two years.
You are affected by one of the common types of refractive error such as shortsightedness, long-sightedness, or astigmatism.
You do not suffer from any disease, ocular or general, that may affect the effectiveness of the surgery, or the ability to heal properly and quickly. You are in good general health.
You are adequately informed about the benefits and risks of the procedure, as well as any suitable alternatives. These include non-surgical solutions, such as glasses, contact lenses, or orthokeratology (ortho-K), and other surgical procedures, such as radial keratotomy (RK), conductive keratoplasty (CK), lens implant, or lensectomy with intra-ocular lens implants.
You have realistic expectations, and understand that the surgery should reduce your dependency on glasses and contact lenses, but may not completely eliminate them.
Less Suitable Candidate
The surgeon may still be able to perform the surgery safely in some cases, provided you and the surgeon have discussed the risks, benefits and expected results.
You have certain eye problems or a history of eye problems, such as amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (muscle imbalance), severe dry eyes, previous eye surgery or injury, or any recurrent, residual or active eye conditions which may affect healing. Other conditions that you should tell your doctor include keloid scarring with previous surgical healing, back problems, claustrophobia or other psychological problems, which may affect the surgery or recovery.
You are undergoing treatment with medications such as steroids and immuno-suppressants. Any medication that renders you immuno-compromised can adversely affect the healing process.
You are suffering from conditions or diseases that slow healing (e.g. auto-immune or collagen-vascular disorders, uncontrolled diabetes), or certain eye viruses including herpes simplex and herpes zoster.
You have significant scarring of the cornea.
May be a Suitable Candidate in Future
Prevailing circumstances may make you unsuitable for laser eye surgery immediately, but do not necessarily preclude future treatment.
You are under 18 years old.
You have unstable vision, which means that there have been fluctuations within the past two years.
You are pregnant or nursing. Women may be eligible for laser eye surgery two months after nursing has been discontinued. This is to allow for stabilisation of hormone levels so as to ensure effective surgery and prescriptions.
You have a history of ocular herpes within one year prior to having surgery. Surgery can be considered after one year has passed since diagnosis of the condition.
You have refractive errors outside the range for treatment with current available technology:
Short-sightedness (myopia) over -12.0 diopters.
Long-sightedness (hyperopia) over +6 diopters.
Astigmatism higher than 6 diopters.
Primary source: The Eye Surgery Education Council ‘LASIK Surgery Screening Guidelines for Patients’ Medical Advisory Board.
How Successful is Laser Eye Surgery?
Nevertheless, people interested in having the laser eye surgery need to keep in mind that it is not possible to exactly predict the level of vision that will occur after surgery. This is because, like any surgery, the healing characteristics of your eyes are not the same as another persons. However, based on the clinical measurements obtained at the initial consultation, your surgeon will be able to indicate the expected result.
Experience has shown that, after LASIK treatment, the vast majority of people with low to moderate short-sightedness (myopia) achieve 20/40 vision or better, which is the level required to pass the vision test for obtaining a driver’s licence in most States. Many people can and do achieve 20/20 vision. However, even if 20/20 is not achieved, most people find that laser eye surgery has improved their vision to an extent that they are able to perform daily activities without glasses or contact lenses, and they enjoy significant freedom from having improved their vision.
Occasionally, the outcome may not meet all expectations. In some instances, a follow-up procedure, called an enhancement, can help to achieve more precise vision correction. If you are not happy with your outcome, you should talk to your surgeon because there is often something that can be done to improve the situation.
At Vision Laser, the vast majority of people are very satisfied with their results and the freedom it provides. In fact they often tell us – “I wish I had this done years ago”.
