The first step in undergoing LASIK is the pre-operative evaluation. This process involves a series of diagnostic tests that determine the overall health of your eyes. Your cornea thickness is a critical component to your LASIK candidacy. If you do not have the proper amount of cornea thickness the procedure is not recommended. If you are a candidate after LASIK eye surgery we also suggest having a discussion with the actual surgeon who will be performing the surgery. The surgeon will be able to help you determine how successful the surgery could be. Expectations for LASIK surgery will be vital to your happiness so make sure to listen to your doctor’s synopsis. 

LASIK Candidacy Requirements

• The patient must be over the age of 18
• The patient must have necessary amount of corneal thickness
• The patient must have had a stable glasses or contact lens prescription
• The patient’s prescription must be within the treatable parameters
• The patient must discuss expectations with the staff or surgeon
• The patient must not have an extreme case of dry eye syndrome

If you have been wearing contact lenses, you should consult your LASIK coordinator. It is best to start wearing glasses all the time if you are serious about getting LASIK eye surgery. By wearing glasses and not contacts, the practice can properly assess your visual requirements. Contact lenses do change the shape of the cornea making it difficult to properly evaluate the cornea. By not removing the contact lenses at least 2 weeks prior to the exam inaccurate measurements could be taken. These measurements are vital to the success of the surgery because they determine the amount of corneal tissue that will need to be removed. 

If you wear:

• soft contact lenses, you should stop wearing them for 2 weeks before your initial evaluation.
• toric soft lenses or rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses, you should stop wearing them for at least 3 weeks before your initial evaluation.
• hard lenses, you should stop wearing them for at least 4 weeks before your initial evaluation.