Frequently Asked Questions

LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis and is a surgery performed for vision correction. LASIK treatment is known to be undertaken to correct eye problems such as myopia (short-sightedness), hyperopia (long-sightedness) and astigmatism. The basic treatment involves an incision made in the eye for the surgeon to make adjustments to the cornea. The flap is then replaced and strict aftercare is prescribed for healing. However, not all are considered suitable for the procedure so you should consult your doctor before making any final decisions.

LASIK Treatment soared to popularity in 2001. The actual procedure in itself was spurred on by the discovery of the excimer laser on animal tissue which left no scarring after incision. It is dated back to the 1980s and was considered a revolutionary step forward in the surgical treatment of humans. Today, the procedure is popular in many parts of the world although you must exercise a lot of care and conduct a great deal of research before locking down a place.

Although prior to making a decision you absolutely must consult your doctor, LASIK treatment has proven to be very popular for a number of reasons:

• Patients who have undergone the procedure have reported improvement in their vision within the next 2 days.
• Ability to get back to your daily life fairly quickly.
• Reduced/ eliminated need for your glasses or contact lenses.

Considering laser eye surgery primarily deals with the cornea and adjusting of its tissues, the surgeon should be someone who is a corneal expert. They should have adequate experience in handling the cornea and be able to identify even the smallest issues with it that could hinder chances for a successful LASIK treatment. When recommending laser eye surgery to you, listen carefully to see whether they are advising you taking your long-term vision health into consideration.

Given the delicate nature of LASIK treatment, aftercare needs to be meticulous. Although this differs from person to person on their individual requirement, some aspects remain the same such as:

• Dry eyes: Your doctor will prescribe eye drops to combat this. Do not use any other types of drops. Stick to your prescription.
• Pain/Discomfort: Antibiotics and painkillers will be allocated for you to take. Amongst these will be sleeping pills that will help you get some rest as you need to keep your eyes closed for a couple of hours after surgery. Do not worry as this pain is not as bad as you think it to be. Anesthesia and numbing drops are used and you only feel a mild discomfort the next day.
• Imbalanced vision: It might take a bit of time for your eyes to get adjusted to the changes which could lead to fluctuating vision. While this should go away, if it persists consult your doctor.
• Glare: Again though normal after the surgery, get it checked if it does not go away.

Although this is rare with LASIK treatment, it does happen. You will need to go in for regular check-ups so that your doctor can keep tabs on you and see how you are progressing. If there is no improvement, your doctors will conduct a number of tests to see what the issue is and why the surgery has not helped. Following this, they will book you in for another procedure to help improve your situation. Although rare, it is not unheard of as some need surgery twice to rectify the problem depending on how severe it is. I’ve heard there are some drawbacks to LASIK eye surgery. What are they? Yes, just as with any kind of medical treatment you undertake, there are some risks involved. Whilst some can be avoided through adequate care, the others are risks that are simply part of LASIK treatment as seen below:

• LASIK eye surgery cannot be reversed. Future improvements can be made to further correct vision, but nothing can be taken back.
• If you choose an inexperienced doctor, you could suffer irreparable damage with the flap in your cornea.
• What is known as ‘best vision’ can be lost around a year following the surgery. This vision is the highest vision you have with glasses or lenses.

You can have UltraLasik at the same age that you can have conventional LASIK. It is best to wait till your eyes stop changing, which is usually after 18 years of age.

You can have UltraLasik at the same age that you can have conventional LASIK. It is best to wait till your eyes stop changing, which is usually after 18 years of age.Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.

It depends on the degree of laziness. You will need to be examined by a LASIK specialist. [more about amblyopia]

As far as age limits go, you must be over the age of 18 to qualify for LASIK treatment as our eyes are still changing before that. The eye tends to change even in those over 18 and your doctor may look for stable vision for a period of at least a year before considering you for surgery. Those under the age of 18 will have to depend on their glasses and lenses for a while longer as they are the safer options. Aside from age, your health will be taken into consideration as well, especially other eye diseases such as cataract and glaucoma which could prevent surgery.

What actually takes up time with this treatment is the consultation as your doctor will need to conduct a few tests and have an in-depth discussion with you regarding your health and family history. The actual surgery in itself takes approximately 10-15 minutes per eye. And yes, you can have treatment done in both eyes, but if you are going for this option you need to make sure you have someone on hand to help you get home and assist you with your daily activities as you will need to get plenty of rest. As for cost, it depends on your requirement although your insurance is not known to cover this type of surgery by default. You can check with them to see if you can have LASIK treatment included in your cover.

The other may have developed an acute, but nearly undetectable, keratoconus. It can display or stay that way with symptoms.

The doctors independently measure each eye, then prescribe the lenses accordingly. You’d better speak with your doctor about this problem.

Yes laser eye surgery is the broader term used to cover the 4 treatments carried out under it. LASIK is one of them along with PRK, LASEK and EpiLASIK. LASIK is the most popular of the four, followed by PRK which stands for Photorefractive Keratectomy. This choice of surgery as well as LASEK is sometimes advised to patients who do not qualify for LASIK. Also, as it does not involve a corneal flap, some do prefer this over LASIK treatment. However, both procedures require the use of the same laser, known as the excimer laser.

Balance relies on input from the inner ear, the visual system and the neurological system. Different lenses will affect your balance in the keratoconus, so consult your doctor to fix the problem. Since balance issues may have other triggers, speak to your doctor about this primarily if it worsens.

It might. Consider epi-LASIK, which is a modified and better approach to PRK with less chance of scarring. Read more about epi-LASIK.

It is an option, but the eye will only see to its best potential, which may be less than 20/20.

There are a number of different solutions, depending on your age. You could have a procedure called astigmatic keratectomy to correct most of your astigmatism and then have LASIK to correct the rest. Alternatively, you could have an intraocular procedure to correct both the astigmatism and the farsightedness at the same time.

There are no tests that can absolutely tell us if a person will have dry eye after LASIK, but we can get some indication of who is more likely to experience this problem. The most important information has to do with the degree of dry eye before LASIK: those with severe dry eye who cannot wear contacts and who have dry eye with their glasses are at the highest risk, and should consider PRK or LASEK, which do not increase dry eye.