Home > Am I a Candidate?Determine If You Are a Candidate for LASIK!
In most cases, LASIK can treat severe degrees of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Candidates must have realistic expectations about their results. LASIK is not right for everyone. The goal of LASIK is to reduce your dependency on glasses or contact lenses. LASIK does not guarantee 20/20 vision, however most cases are certainly successful in improving ones visual acuity.
That's why TLC Laser Eye Centers affiliated doctors must be prudent when determining if you are a candidate.
To be a potential candidate for LASIK you must meet the following;
1. Must be 18 years of age or older
2. Your eyes need to be healthy; no glaucoma, cataracts or corneal disease
3. May not be nursing or pregnant
4. Not continuously suffer from dry eyes
5. Have any eye infections or injury
6. Vision must be stable for at least 1 year prior to procedure date
*Corneal thickness will also play an important role in determining if you are a proper candidate for LASIK. Due to the nature of the procedure you must have a minimum corneal thickness of at least .5/.6mm. Only an in-depth examination of your eyes, your individual case, your expectations and your lifestyle by an experienced, licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist can determine if you are a candidate for LASIK.
Prior to your LASIK consultation and LASIK procedure, you must be contact lens free for a minimum of 14 days. Situations will vary. It will be determined by the TLC LASIK Surgeon on an individual bases. The reason for this is to ensure corneal stability prior to the LASIK procedure.
* Contact Lenses and your LASIK procedure
When considering any kind of laser vision correction refractive procedure to correct your vision, it is important to understand how the everyday use of your contact lenses can affect not only your LASIK consultation but also your LASIK procedure day. While contact lenses are a fantastic alternative to glasses, continued long term wear can actually alter the original shape of your corneas. This can cause your LASIK consultation to be influenced by incorrect visual acuity results. Once you discontinue use of your contact lenses after a certain period of time (to be determined by your LASIK doctor) your corneas will go back to their original shape, this is when laser vision correction can be performed. If your eyes are mapped for your LASIK procedure, and they have not returned to their natural shape, it can change your visual mapping results and therefore what is programmed into the laser, for your laser vision correction procedure, is not entirely reflective of your visual inaccuracies. It is important to advise your optometrist/ophthalmologist about the length of time you have been using contact lenses and what type of contact lenses you are currently using. From there your doctor can give you a more accurate representation of how long you need to be out of them prior to beginning the LASIK process. This will help to ensure that your LASIK surgeon can get the most accurate picture of your visual correction needs. Please advise upon booking your consultation so your specific case be reviewed confirmed by your doctor For more information on LASIK candidacy and contact lenses visit our TLC LASIK blog.  |
