Preparing for Laser Eye Surgery

Written by John Taylor

Laser-assisted refractive surgery is helping millions of Americans improve their vision without having to resort to the inconvenient hassle of traditional eyeglasses and contact lenses. While a broad range of people can benefit from surgeries such as LASIK, LASEK and PRK, there are some people who have conditions or circumstances that may not make them a good candidate for laser-assisted refractive surgery.

That's why pre-surgery consultations are important, because they can help patients determine whether they have any issues that might make them poor candidates for the surgery, and they help good candidates for the surgery prepare for the procedure.

During your pretreatment consultation, your eye doctor will address several issues related to your candidacy for the procedure and what you should do to prepare for the surgery.

One of the most important issues your optometrist, ophthalmologist or optician will address during the pretreatment consultation is your refractive error, or in plain terms your eyeglasses or contact lens prescription. Laser-assisted refractive surgery works best for folks with mild to moderate myopia or hyperopia and/or mild astigmatism. Some potential patients focusing error may be too great for refractive surgery to solve, while others error may be so small that laser-assisted refractive surgery would have a negligible impact.

To assess whether you're a good candidate for laser-assisted refractive surgery, your doctor will perform a series of examinations and ask you some questions about your general health. The examinations will include a standard eye chart exam and more exhaustive tests such as a corneal topography, which is a computer-assisted exam that takes a picture of the shape and curvature of your cornea, another test which will measure the size of your pupil in a lightless setting, and a wavefront measurement of your ability to see.

Your doctor will also measure the thickness of your cornea in a pretreatment consultation. This measurement is very important because it can determine which laser-assisted refractive surgery, if any is right for you. Folks with thin corneal tissue may not be good candidates for LASIK because it involves cutting a flap in the outer layer of the cornea.

In general, you're a good candidate for laser-assisted refractive surgery if your myopia is -5.75 or less or if your hyperopia is less than + 2.75. Folks with astigmatism greater than 2.0 diopters are bad candidates for laser eye surgery.

Economics, unfortunately can prevent some people from getting laser eye surgery. These procedures are still considered elective surgery by most insurers, so chances are that you'll have to pay for it out of your own pocket, and at about $1,000 to $1,500 per eye, this may be out of the price range of many people. Hopefully, in time, the cost of the surgery will decrease and insurers will be pressured by their customers to cover laser-assisted refractive surgery.

In addition to your refractive error, other factors that may play into whether you're a good candidate for laser eye surgery are your age, the stability of your refractive error and other eye diseases or problems. Folks under the age of 18 are generally not considered for laser-assisted refractive surgery because their vision still may change as they grow to adulthood.

Once the doctor has ascertained whether the patient is a good candidate for laser eye surgery, he or she will explain the pros and cons of the procedure, including possible outcomes and complications. Consent forms regarding the surgery will also be presented to the patient to sign.

When preparing for the actual surgery, you'll be asked to stop wearing contact lenses for a few weeks prior to the surgery. In fact, you'll probably have to stop wearing them prior to your pretreatment consultation because contact lenses change the shape of the cornea. Doctors need the best possible representation of your cornea's natural state to work with in surgery, so that's why the contacts must go for a few weeks prior to the exam and surgery.

Also, prior to your surgery, you'll be asked to stop using creams, lotions, perfumes and make-up for at least a week prior to your surgery. These things can facilitate infection, so that's why it's important to avoid them before your surgery. You should also eat a light meal before your surgery and make the necessary transportation arrangements to get you home after the surgery.

Being prepared for your laser-eye surgery experience can make the experience less uncomfortable and more effective. To achieve the best possible results from your laser-assisted refractive surgery, you should follow your doctor's pre-op instructions as closely as possible and cooperate fully in providing your doctor with your medical history. Good communication and cooperation are the keys to the best possible outcome of your surgery.