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Is LASIK Right for Me?
Self Test
1. Are you over 18 years of age?
A. Yes- You are eligible for refractive surgery.
B. No- The safety of refractive surgery in children and teenagers has not been established. In addition, refraction continues to change through childhood and the teenage years rendering the surgery an impermanent solution.
2. Have you had significant changes in your glasses or contact lens prescription in the last year?
A. Yes- If your prescription is actively changing the surgery is not recommended. This may be a sign of either normal, continued growth of the eye or in some cases, eye diseases. Refractive surgery does not prevent your eye from continued change and the effect would be variable and impermanent.
B. No- Your refraction is stable and laser correction may be performed.
3. Can you achieve good vision with either glasses or contact lenses?
A. Yes- Your vision may not be good in all circumstances with glasses or contact lenses, but if you can achieve good vision in at least some circumstances it indicates that you have good potential to see with laser vision correction.
B. No- Certain conditions may prevent you from seeing well that are unrelated to optical correction. These are not normally treatable with laser vision correction.
4. Are you nearsighted in the range of –1.00 to –14.00 Diopters and or have astigmatism less then 4 diopters?
A. Yes- Depending on specific factors and measurements of your eye, you are within the treatment range of laser vision correction.
B. No- Your correction falls outside of the range fully treatable by laser vision correction. Partial treatment or alternative treatments may be of benefit to you.
5. Do you require bifocals or special reading glasses for reading or near work?
A. Yes- You may have a condition known as Presbyopia which is part of a natural decrease in focusing ability over time. This condition alone is NOT treatable at this time with Excimer laser vision correction. In addition to Presbyopia, you may also have myopia (nearsightedness), astigmatism or in some cases hyperopia (farsightedness). This portion of your correction may be treatable with laser vision correction.
B. No- The need for reading glasses is called presbyopia and is a normal part of aging. Refractive surgery will not avoid the later need for reading glasses.
6. Do you have significant eye disease such as severe dry eyes, corneal scarring, keratoconus, retinal disease, etc…?
A. Yes- Several medical conditions may make laser eye surgery more complicated and sometimes preclude you from having successful surgery at all. Other conditions may be treated successfully prior to the surgery and allow safe, successful laser vision correction.
B. No- You qualify for laser vision correction.
Personal Outlook Survey
1. I have no problem wearing either glasses or contact lenses and they give me excellent vision for all of my activities.
It is important to remember that this is an elective surgery and will do nothing to halt the progression of near or farsightedness. If other forms of correction are satisfactory and manageable to you, the decision to proceed with any type of surgery should be made very carefully.
2. My work and/or hobbies require me to consistently pay close attention to fine visual details.
Laser refractive surgery is a highly successful surgery for reducing dependence on glasses or contact lenses. In some cases, very fine detail and perception of contrast may be reduced by the surgery and should be considered when weighing the risks and benefits of Excimer refractive surgery.
3. I am the kind of person who does not adapt well to change.
Refractive surgery represents a significant change in the way the world around you is perceived. In most cases, this is an extremely positive change. In other cases, side effects of glare and loss of fine detail can be troubling despite a reduced dependence on glasses.
4. I get stressed easily if things don’t happen just the way I plan or expect.
Although refractive surgery is a highly technical and computerized procedure, it still constitutes surgery with many variables including environmental conditions (which are controlled very tightly in our facility), individual healing responses and inflammatory responses. Most but not all deviations from the normal post-operative course are treatable and should be considered as part of the risk of any surgery.
5. I am a perfectionist.
Again, it is very important to understand that the procedure is to reduce the dependence on glasses and contact lenses even though most patients will have an excellent result.
6. I expect to have perfect vision after the procedure without any use of glasses or contact lenses.
See number 5 above. The type and amount of surgery performed is based on a number of factors including average response of thousands of patients to correction, individual healing and inflammatory responses, etc… The surgery is excellent at providing improved vision without glasses, but less than excellent at providing perfect vision.
7. Having fair vision without the need of corrective lenses is more important than having perfect vision with corrective lenses.
See number 6 above.
Based on GENERAL criteria, you do/do not qualify as a candidate for Excimer Laser refractive surgery.
If you are unsure of any of the answers for the criteria above, please do not hesitate to call the Refractive Surgery Center at (312) 996-2020 or email lasik@uic.edu.
