Am I suitable for laser eye surgery?
If you're over battling with glasses or dried-out contact lenses, laser eye surgery has probably crossed your mind. For the right person, it can be life-changing, but suitability is everything. Before you seriously consider treatment, it’s worth asking, “Am I suitable for laser eye surgery?”
At Re:Vision, our surgeons have performed over 50,000 laser eye surgeries. While we can only determine your suitability for laser vision correction during an assessment, we've put this guide together to give you insight into the kind of things we look for.
7 signs you might be a great candidate for laser eye surgery
For those who don't have time to get into the nitty-gritty of this article, here's a quick overview of the key signs you’re suitable to undergo laser eye surgery:
- You're an adult with a stable prescription
- Your prescription is within a treatable range
- Your corneas are healthy and suitable for treatment
- Your eyes are generally healthy
- Your risk of dry eye is manageable
- Your general health supports healing
- Your lifestyle and expectations are a good fit for the procedure
Now, we'll get into each of these factors in a bit more detail:
1. You're an adult with a stable prescription
When we say 'stable prescription', we mean that your short-sightedness, long-sightedness or astigmatism isn't shifting anymore. Having a stable prescription is important because when you have laser refractive surgery, it treats the prescription you have at the time. Hence, if your prescription continues to change after surgery, so will your vision.
You're more likely to experience changes to your prescription as a teenager or in your early 20s. There are other factors that can influence prescription changes. For example, pregnancy, breastfeeding, hormonal changes, diabetes, and taking various medications.
If your prescription is still changing, don't worry. It certainly doesn't mean you can never have laser eye surgery. It just means you can't have it yet.
2. Your prescription is within a treatable range
Aside from the stability of your prescription, the strength of your prescription is an important determining factor in your laser eye surgery suitability. For example, mild short-sightedness, such as -1.50, is a very different case from a higher prescription like -8.00.
Don't worry, though. A high prescription doesn't automatically mean you're unsuitable for laser eye surgery. It could mean that LASIK surgery or PRK aren't a great fit, but another option, like ICL, could be something to consider.
At our laser eye clinic in Auckland, our aim is never just to reduce your dependence on glasses or contact lenses. We want to choose the treatment option that gives you the safest and most predictable visual result.
3. Your corneas are healthy and suitable for treatment
The cornea is the clear front surface of your eye. When focusing, it's the cornea that does the heavy lifting before light reaches the retina.
Laser eye surgery changes the shape of your cornea. So, it needs to be strong enough, thick enough, and regular enough for treatment. And while your cornea may look perfectly normal during a routine eye test, it could show signs of weakness or distortion when we do more detailed scans. This is why these scans (known as corneal mapping) form such an important part of your laser eye surgery assessment.
If your corneas are thin, irregularly shaped, or showing signs of structural weakness, LASIK may not be right for you because it involves creating a corneal flap. PRK doesn't involve a flap, so it may still be an option. And ICL could also be worth considering because it corrects vision without reshaping the cornea.
4. Your eyes are generally healthy
Before we recommend any laser eye surgery treatment options, we check for conditions that could affect the safety of the surgery, how well your eyes heal, or the quality of your vision afterwards. Examples of these include:
- keratoconus
- glaucoma
- cataracts
- active infection or inflammation
- retinal problems
- previous eye injury; and
- previous eye surgery.
Some of these conditions are quite obvious and hard to miss. Others can be subtle, especially those that don't always cause symptoms in the early stages.
5. Your risk of dry eye is manageable
If you suffer from dry eyes, it can affect both your comfort and vision quality after laser eye surgery.
You might notice burning, stinging, or gritty-feeling eyes. Or you might have tired eyes, fluctuating vision, or just feel like you need to blink a lot. It's common for these symptoms to get worse after screen time, wearing contact lenses, or being in air-conditioned spaces.
The issue here is that sometimes laser eye surgery can temporarily make dry eye symptoms worse. So, while having dry eyes doesn't mean you're ruled out, it means that your tear film and eye surface will need a more thorough assessment.
In a mild case, we might recommend treating it before laser surgery. If it's significant, however, it might mean that LASIK is off the list. PRK or ICL could still be potential laser treatment options for improved vision, depending on the cause of your eye dryness.
Of course, clear vision is the goal. But it has to feel comfortable too!
6. Your general health supports good healing
As with any surgery, your overall health can influence how well your eyes heal after laser eye surgery. Certain health factors can affect your suitability, including:
- medical conditions
- medications
- autoimmune disease
- diabetes
- hormonal changes
- previous healing problems
- allergies; and
- history of eye infection or inflammation.
For example, diabetes that isn't well-controlled can affect your healing and vision stability. Some autoimmune conditions can increase the risk of inflammation. And various medications can contribute to dry eyes or prescription changes. Pregnancy and breastfeeding can also temporarily change the way your eyes focus.
None of these factors automatically mean you're not a suitable candidate. But they need to be considered carefully when determining if laser eye surgery is safe, suitable, and likely to give you a stable result.
7. Your lifestyle and expectations are a good fit for the procedure
Suitability for laser eye surgery goes beyond your eyes. It's important that the procedure fits your lifestyle and that you understand what laser surgery can and can't do.
Your work, screen use, night driving, sport, and hobbies all need to be considered. You might need a different treatment approach from someone with the same prescription but a very different routine.
Realistic expectations come into it too. Laser eye surgery can dramatically reduce your dependence on glasses and contact lenses, but it doesn't stop normal ageing. From your mid-40s onward, near vision usually changes because of presbyopia, so you may still need reading glasses later on.
Trusted Laser Eye Surgery in Auckland
You may be an excellent LASIK candidate, better suited to PRK or ICL, or just not ready for laser eye surgery yet.
The only way to know for sure is to have a laser eye surgery assessment.
At Re:Vision, which has 900+ five-star Google reviews, you’ll be in the hands of New Zealand’s most experienced laser team. We're committed to helping you make a confident, informed decision.
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