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What to Ask Your Doctor During Your LASIK Consultation

December 5th, 2016
doctor consulting patient

You finally did it. You made the call. You’ve wondered about LASIK for years and dreamed of enjoying crisp, clear vision, free from your glasses and contacts. And now it’s time for your LASIK consultation with your Kleiman|Evangelista doctor. Maybe you’re feeling a little nervous, a little uncertain.

Don’t. You’ve taken a great first step and you are on your way to enjoying your life with great vision! Just take a deep breath and know that you can ask as many questions as it takes to make you feel comfortable moving forward with vision correction surgery.

Here are some great questions from the American Academy of Ophthalmology you can tuck in your pocket before your appointment to help you and your ophthalmologist decide whether LASIK surgery is the right choice for you:

  1. Is my refractive error within the approved range?
    LASIK is approved by the FDA to treat specific degrees of nearsightedness, farsightedness and certain types and degrees of astigmatism, alone or in combination with nearsightedness or farsightedness. Individuals with severe refractive error may be better suited for a different vision correction procedure.
  2. What is the ideal age and stage of life in which to have LASIK?
    Eyes and visual acuity can fluctuate and don’t usually stabilize until about age 18. Vision can also fluctuate during pregnancy, breastfeeding or menopause, and after age 40-45 (when presbyopia and other aging eye changes typically begin).
  3. Have my eyes been stable for the last year or so, as confirmed by my contact lens or glasses prescription?
  4. Are my current (and future) lifestyle choices, including work, family life and sports/recreation, compatible with LASIK?
  5. What results can I realistically expect after having LASIK? What are the best and worst case scenarios?
  6. How long does it take for eyes to recover and adjust after LASIK? Can I go back to work right away?
  7. Would any of the medications I take, either prescription or over-the-counter, rule out LASIK or affect the results?
  8. Do I have other general health or eye conditions that might rule out LASIK or need to be treated and resolved before the procedure?
    (Health conditions include: diabetes, autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency states; eye conditions include: dry eye, uveitis and other eye inflammations, eye injuries or previous surgeries, keratoconus, corneal scarring, cataract, glaucoma, retinal disease, ocular herpes)

Sources:
http://www.aao.org/eye-health/treatments/lasik-questions-to-ask

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