Are You A Good LASIK Candidate?

Despite the effectiveness and high success rate of LASIK, not everyone is a suitable candidate for LASIK. Therefore, you must undergo a strict vetting process to ensure you are eligible for the procedure. Here are signs you are a good LASIK candidate:

Your Vision is Stable

To be eligible for LASIK, your vision should be stable. If your vision changes often, LASIK could be ineffective for you. Remember, LASIK only corrects vision for your current refractive error. So, if your vision constantly changes, you might need another surgery or will need to resume wearing glasses or contacts.

Your vision can be unstable due to hormonal changes, e.g. if you are an adolescent or are pregnant. The hormonal changes in your body can greatly affect your eyesight. Therefore, if you are currently experiencing hormonal changes, you will need to wait until you deliver in the case of pregnancy or until you pass the adolescent stage to undergo LASIK. Suitable candidates should have an unchanged vision for at least 12 months before the procedure.

You are of Age

Generally, you must have attained the age of 18 to be eligible for LASIK. This is because the FDA only approves the procedure for adults older than 18. But depending on your refractive eye problem and the procedure, you might need to be older than 21 or 25. Most ophthalmologists recommend LASIK for people in their mid-twenties since your eyes could continue growing even after 18 years into your twenties.

There isn’t an age limit after which you cannot undergo laser eye surgery. However, if you are 40 and above, you might need to use glasses for reading due to an age-related eye problem called presbyopia.

You Are Generally Healthy

While LASIK is eye surgery, your overall body needs to be healthy to qualify for LASIK. During the procedure, an incision will be made on your cornea, and your body needs to be healthy to heal well and fight any potential infections.

If you suffer from medical conditions like diabetes and autoimmune disorders, they could make you prone to suffering an infection. Other illnesses could also affect your body’s natural healing process. So, disclose any medical conditions you may have, including chronic pain, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, or conditions that inhibit healing during your LASIK consultation.

Your Cornea Is Thick Enough

LASIK surgery is a procedure that corrects vision by reshaping your cornea using lasers. Thus, your cornea should be sufficiently thick to withstand the reshaping. If your cornea is thin or has an irregular shape, it could reduce the effectiveness of the results and impair your vision.

However, thanks to technology, there are no other alternatives to LASIK for people with thin corneas. If your cornea doesn’t meet the desired level of thickness, your surgeon can use femtosecond lasers instead of a microkeratome to preserve underlying corneal tissue.

You Have All The Facts

A common rule is not to engage in what you don’t understand. Similar to how you familiarize yourself with an investment before putting your money into it, you should do the same with LASIK.

You are a good candidate for LASIK if you are well informed and educated about the procedure. We have free LASIK consultations where you can get all the information you need on LASIK before proceeding to book your surgery.

Other Alternatives

From our guide above, do you think you are a good candidate for LASIK? You can never be too sure until you schedule a LASIK consultation. So schedule a free LASIK consultation with us. We will run some tests to see if you are a good candidate. We will also explain more about the procedure during the consultation.