Successful LASIK Eye Surgery Depends on Being a Good Candidate
If someone is not a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery, there is a greater risk for complications and the candidate may be less likely to experience the positive results of LASIK. The best way to determine if someone is a good candidate for LASIK surgery is to talk to a doctor who specializes in the LASIK procedure. There are a few risk factors that will disqualify someone from having LASIK surgery.
Anyone under the age of 18 years of age will most likely be disqualified from having LASIK eye surgery. Typically those younger than 18 years old do not have a stable enough prescription because refractive errors rarely stabilize before adulthood. In addition, women who are pregnant, nursing or wish to become pregnant should wait to have LASIK surgery.
Hormonal changes that are associated with pregnancy, childbirth and nursing can affect visual acuteness and will disqualify someone from being a candidate. In order to be a good candidate for LASIK surgery someone must have a refractive error and a glasses or contact lens prescription that has been stable for at least one year.
Additional Qualifications for Being a Good LASIK Candidate
Measurement of your pupil size is an important part of your LASIK consultation. When determining if you are a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery, you need to consider the size of your pupils. Large pupils can interfere with LASIK results and will therefore disqualify a patient from having LASIK surgery.
A patient with large pupils may experience side-effects after their LASIK eye surgery. These side-effects can include glare, halos, starbursts or even double vision. These effects can be debilitating, preventing patients from driving at night or in bad weather conditions.Your LASIK doctor will measure your pupil size during the initial examination and this will be a contributing factor in determining if you are a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery.
Thin corneas are another common factor that may disqualify someone from being a good LASIK candidate. A LASIK doctor can measure corneal thickness and determine if a patient has adequate corneal thickness for LASIK surgery. Performing LASIK on thin corneas could result in complications. In some cases, those with thin corneas may find that PRK is a better option in place of LASIK.
Corneal scarring may also disqualify someone from having LASIK surgery. Scarring from an eye injury or previous eye surgery can prevent someone from being a good candidate for LASIK. A LASIK doctor can discover corneal scarring during the Pre-Op eye exam. Other factors that may affect a patient’s eligibility to successfully undergo LASIK can include cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment, dry eyes, keratoconus, ocular herpes, and diabetic retinopathy.
Certain medical conditions, such as autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency states, diabetes and some medications may further interfere with the healing process after LASIK. The presence of any of these conditions can and may disqualify a patient from LASIK surgery.
The Doctor will Determine if You are a Potential LASIK Candidate
To receive the best results from LASIK a doctor must determine that a patient is a good candidate prior to the procedure. In some cases, when one or more of the conditions above are present, a doctor is needed to determine that a patient is not a good candidate for LASIK and not allow them to have the surgery. In these cases it is best to listen to the doctor’s recommendation.
