Dr Boothe Laser Center News

How to determine if you are a candidate for LASIK?

LASIK is the perfect procedure for those who look for aneffective and safe treatment for refractive errors. LASIK eye surgery is a painless procedure and most of patients with refractive errors will benefit from having this procedure. LASIK eye procedure is performed on a delicate part of the eyes. Therefore, it is important to determine the right candidate for the procedure. Potential candidates for the surgery should understand the benefits as well as the complications associated with the procedure, patients also have to know the importance of testing to determine who is the right candidate and the patient should have realistic expectations associated with the result of the procedure.

Majority of the people who would like to have the LASIK procedure are the right candidates, but some patients cannot meet certain criteria for performing a successful LASIK eye surgery. Patients who are considering LASIK eye procedure have to undergo a complete eye checkup with the help of Dr. William Boothe of Boothe Laser Center and his assistants. Initial checkup includes complete evaluation of the refraction error and the medical history of the patient. After obtaining the results of eye tests performed, Dr. Boothe will decide whether the patient is a good candidate for the procedure or not. Some alternative treatments may be offered at that time.

First of all, the patients should be of 18 years old or above to become eligible for the LASIK procedure. The eyes should be mature enough to perform the procedure. Stability of vision is required for performing LASIK. Visual stability means that your prescription should be the same for a minimum of one year, or even two years if possible. Patients under 25 years of age or people who are using certain medications often have flexible prescriptions. You should not have eye injuries or infections such as eye herpes, dry eyes, eye inflammation, retinal diseases or corneal diseases which may pose additional complications and risks.

Those who would like to undergo LASIK eye procedure should be free from autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Autoimmune disorders will affect negatively the healing of the wounds. The cornea of the patient should not be abnormal or with scars. Some of the causes of abnormal or scarred corneas are aging, trauma or disease. Keratoconus is a disorder that will affect the shape of the cornea abnormally with round cone shaped cornea. Some of the causes of Keratoconus are hereditary abnormalities and eye injury. Eye diseases like retinopathy, vernal keratoconjuctivitis and retinitis pigmentosa can also cause keratoconus disorder. Systemic diseases like Down’s syndrome, Addison’s disease, Leber’s congenital amaurosis, osteogenesis imperfecta and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome can also cause Keratoconus.

LASIK eye surgery at Boothe Eyecare should not be performed on pregnant or nursing women as the hormonal changes can affect the stability of their vision. The pupil of the eyes should be of adequate size. People with larger pupils may experience starbursts, halos or glares after a LASIK eye procedure. Sufficient corneal thickness is required to become a good candidate for the procedure. Eye professionals will find it difficult to create the corneal flap safely when the cornea is very thin and delicate. LASIK procedure cannot correct any refractive disorder. Patients suffering from severe problems should think about alternative methods like implants. All of this would be discussed in greater details upon your consultation with Dr. William Boothe.

If you are not the right candidate for the LASIK eye procedure, then there are alternative methods for curing the refractive errors of your eyes. LASEK is an alternative for LASIK eye procedure to treat the refractive errors. When the patients have thin corneas that are too delicate to create a corneal flap can undergo LASEK or PRK. LASEK otherwise known as Laser-assisted sub-epithelial keratomiluesis is the recent addition for correcting the refractive errors of the eyes. LASEK is proved same benefits as that of the LASIK eye procedure, but this procedure do not need to remove too much of tissue from the cornea as it is in the case of LASIK.

In LASEK eye procedure, thin epithelial corneal flap is created, but the recovery time required for LASEK is more than that of the LASIK eye surgery. The ophthalmologists usually choose the LASEK eye procedure to minimize the tissue used to create a corneal flap. LASEK does not require the use of microkeratome because the corneal flap is produced using chemicals which help to break down the adhesion between the tissue layers. After performing the LASEK procedure, the corneal flap is brought back into the previous position, and applies a protective shield. The recovery time of LASEK is shorter than the PRK.

PRK or photo refractive keratectomy is also an alternative for the LASIK eye surgery. PRK is good for patients having epithelial problems which make it impossible for creating a good corneal flap mechanically or chemically. In this procedure, the ophthalmologist will scrape some epithelia tissue manually or with the help of a laser. Both LASEK and PRK can be performed on only one eye at a time. Both LASEK and PRK have almost similar complications and side-effects. Both these procedures require some post-operative visits to the doctor than it is in the case of LASIK eye surgery.

Another great alternative for LASIK eye procedure is the implant of intraocular lens. For implanting the intraocular lens the surgeon will remove the natural lens, and replace it with an intraocular lens. Replacement of natural lens is effective in the case of patients with higher levels of refractive errors such as hyperopia. Conductive Keratoplasty is also an alternative for the LASKI. In this procedure, the radiofrequency energy is applied along the corneal periphery in a spherical pattern. The heat energy will make the corneal tissue to shrink which steepens cornea which reduces hyperopia temporarily.

The most popular alternatives which are being used for years are spectacles or contact lenses. Lenses are the most affordable method to correct the refractive errors of your eyes. In order to correct your refractive errors you can consider all the above mentioned options, if you are not the right candidate of LASIK eye procedure. Of course, LASIK eye procedure is the best among all the alternative procedures, but if you are not the good candidate for the LASIK, then you must go for the alternative to correct your vision.