Have you ever lost a contact lens to the drain of your bathroom sink? Or had to wipe fog off the lenses on your glasses after taking a sip of piping hot coffee? If you’ve worn glasses or contact lenses, then we ‘d wager that these have most likely happened to you in the past. So if this sounds familiar to you, you’ve most likely got a good idea of just how aggravating wearing either glasses, or contacts can be.
For these reasons — and many other ones — people are turning to laser vision correction procedures to help treat their eyesight. However, before you take this leap to remedy your vision, you first require to find out what qualities your surgeon will look at to determine whether a vision correction treatment is right for you.
Not sure if you’re old enough for LASIK? Would like to know if a vision correction procedure can treat your specific eye condition? You’ve landed on the right post! Frequently, we’ve heard patients question if they meet the required requirements for a successful LASIK surgery. This explainer post can work as a primary step towards finding all of that out.
Do You Need Eye Surgery?
Why you need to (seriously) consider a vision correction treatment.
Convenience plays a role in why many people choose to get a vision correction procedure in the first place. Your LASIK life is all about simplicity, so if you’re somebody tired of messing around with contact lenses every day (and every night before bed), then your desire to let go of the troubles of glasses and contacts is possibly the first criteria.
Does LASIK Will Meet My Expectation?
The relaxed lifestyle that this type of surgery promotes merely is among the (various) benefits that past patients can settle on. Plus, it’s the sort of surgery that may benefit a lot of different people, from millennials to baby boomers, the severe athlete to the amateur yogi. With a vision correction procedure, you no longer have to fret about bringing your glasses to the beach with you. You won’t need to insert your contact lenses before spinning class, either. A vision correction treatment produces a get-up-and-go way of living– isn’t it time you started living yours?
Because LASIK procedures first acquired approval from both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada in the nineties, they have only become more regular — because everyone wants to make life a little less complicated.
Your Age and LASIK
Normally speaking, if you are in between the ages of 18 to 65, and your eyes are in excellent health, then you may be a fantastic candidate for a vision correction procedure. Your age and ocular health are 2 aspects that your surgeon will take a look at when deciding the type of surgery best-suited for you and your eyes.
It’s important to note that this is case-by-case. In many cases, patients much more youthful than 18 can undergo laser vision correction. For a more correct decision on this, though, your best bet is to talk to a doctor about your own vision concerns, and whether your age (or eye condition) can be dealt with surgically.
Here are the general age-related guidelines that health specialists take into consideration with vision correction treatments:
- If you are more youthful than 18, eye surgeons choose to hold back on carrying out surgery. This is because it’s normal for vision to change into early adulthood. After the age of 19, assuming your eyes are in good health, you’ll likely be provided the go-ahead to get a procedure.
- If you’re older than 40, then you may appropriate for a different kind of procedure. If you’ve discovered blurry reading vision, it’s time to find out what the problem at hand is (presbyopia). Contact your medical professional: They may propose an alternative service for your eyesight. Many people go their whole lives without needing reading glasses … till reaching a certain age.
- For individuals who have cataracts (usually affecting people aged 70 and over), a lens replacement procedure may be the best solution. Cataract — masses of proteins that gather on the surface area of the eye’s lens — will affect the majority of the senior population. While a necessary LASIK surgery itself cannot correct a condition like cataracts, other procedures offered can enhance vision at this stage.
Prescription vs. LASIK
While numerous believe their prescription must stabilize before they are all set to get LASIK, this isn’t necessarily the case. In other words, your visual prescription does not need to be stable to get LASIK For the most part, any changes to your vision after the age of 18 will be minor which implies a surgeon can treat you once you’re ready for the treatment. But, as a general guideline, lots of surgeons want to see that your prescription hasn’t changed too dramatically for at least a year before they perform surgery on you. A 12-month duration provides your eyes an appropriate amount of time to “settle into” their prescription before getting LASIK.
Given that first becoming extensively available, LASIK cosmetic surgeons were limited in the variety of patients they could deal with. But that’s no longer the case. Today’s innovation has improved vastly, enabling those who have higher prescriptions (high myopes or hyperopes) to be candidates for LASIK. The best method to find out about your prescription, and whether it’s prepared for a vision correction procedure, is by going through regular eye examinations — a minimum of once a year.
Your General Health
There are particular reasons why your total health might preclude you from being candidate for LASIK eye surgery, consisting of:
- Dry eye syndrome: If you have actually experienced or currently cope with serious dry eyes, then you may be suggested an alternative choice than a basic LASIK procedure. Additionally, some medications, such as isotretinoin, can decrease overall hydration, which causes a danger to your eyes. In these events, it is best to wait till after you complete your course of medication before going on with the treatment.
- Pregnancy: If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or are planning on conceiving in the next 6 months or two, then it is best to refrain from getting a vision correction procedure in the immediate. Regrettably, LASIK (and other kinds of vision correction treatments) is not suggested when considering pregnancy. This is since a change to one’s hormonal agents can change our corneas, leading to a short-term change to vision. Therefore, it’s best to wait a few months after giving birth and breastfeeding before thinking about surgery. An optometrist, OBGYN, or GP will assist you in identifying an appropriate amount of time to get LASIK after pregnancy and breastfeeding.
- Certain medical conditions: If you have conditions like diabetes, autoimmune disease, or collagen vascular disease then it is best to consult with your physician before thinking about LASIK.
- Various types of eye conditions: Do you have an eye condition besides myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism, such as keratoconus, or other corneal-thinning disorders, corneal scarring, glaucoma, cataracts, or perhaps ocular herpes? If so, then it is best to talk to a physician or surgeon to identify your LASIK eligibility as they may recommend an alternative treatment service. Among the best ways to understand what eye condition you have, and to get a much better sense of your total eye health, it is suggested to go through periodic eye exams (about as soon as a year). In doing so, you’ll get an idea of your prescription is adequately stable to go through LASIK, or if it’s in your best interest to wait.
Corneal Density
While there’s no other way for you to see the size of your cornea (the surface area layer of the eye), this is something vital in understanding whether or not you’re a prospect for LASIK. Through the safe, diagnostic testing, an eye care professional will measure your cornea — and choose what procedure is best-suited for your eyes Luckily, even if your cornea is too thin, there are alternative procedure choices that can assist free you from glasses and contact lenses, such as any of the ones detailed below.
Alternatives to LASIK
- LASIK is the most common eye treatment and is believed to be among the best elective procedures in modern medicine. Similar treatments like PRK and All-Laser LASIK (a type of LASIK sometimes known as “bladeless” LASIK) suggest waiting till the age of 18 too. Laser eye surgery, for example, is intended for younger patients; however, there’s no reason why people at any age can’t benefit from clear vision.
- Treatment for presbyopia, like Laser PresbyVision ™, is an excellent service for the visual decline you’ll (most likely) experience with age. The aging eye loses flexibility with age, making it harder to focus on neighboring items. This usually starts to occur around the age of 40. The majority of people discover using reading glasses annoying– and seek alternative treatments, like a vision correction treatment. For these individuals, cosmetic surgeons usually recommend a procedure similar to LASIK (we call it Laser PresbyVision ™). For this option, the surgeon will remedy each eye in a different way creating what is called a “mix zone” indicating that one eye is corrected for near vision and the other for range vision, making a “blend zone” that produces clearer vision.
- As formerly mentioned, the quality of our vision can decrease gradually. This condition is referred to as presbyopia, and for the many parts, it has an unfavorable influence on our reading vision. Thankfully, we provide 2 treatment choices for age-related reading vision loss. One example is the ingenious Lens PresbyVision ™ treatment. This surgery helps to fix the vision that has actually changed with age. It also helps avoid cataracts from forming. Lens replacement procedures, like Lens PresbyVision ™, will remove the eye’s natural lens and replace it with a synthetic one, offering clarity at all ranges.
You won’t know which treatment option is best for you until you speak with an eye care specialist.
