LASIK Guidelines - Who is a Good Candidate?
Although there are numerous factors to be considered when determining if a patient is a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery, there are six major guidelines ophthalmologists check when determining LASIK candidacy. At times, LASIK may not be the best refractive procedure for your vision correction.
Eye Health
The first thing an ophthalmologist is going to want to know is if your eyes are healthy. You shouldn't have a condition that would cause your eyes not to respond to the surgery. Some of the conditions that would put you on an unhealthy list and recommend you against LASIK eye surgery include dry eyes, cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, and more. LASIK doesn't fix cataracts and glaucoma so these conditions would also disqualify you. There are other procedures you may talk to the doctor about.
Age of Patient
LASIK is used for correcting vision in adults. By law, doctors are not allowed to perform this on children under the age of 18 years of age. Some procedures even require the person to be 21 years old. There are exceptions to this rule but it is usually a rare case.
Stability of Vision
When you are being considered for LASIK your vision has to be stable. This means that if you have had changes in your eyeglasses and contacts repeatedly with different prescriptions then you are not the right person for this procedure. Younger people notice big changes in their vision often. In your 20s your vision tends to stabilize. You are not a good candidate unless your vision has been stable for a minimum of one year.
Pregnancy Status
Pregnant women cannot undergo LASIK. This is because when the body is pregnant there are many hormonal changes that are responsible for causing changes in the shape of the cornea and the vision. The hormones in the body need to be normal and the vision needs to be stable. LASIK should be postponed after pregnancy to let the eyes be at their normal vision.
Overall Health
There are many degenerative and autoimmune diseases that you might have which may disqualify you for LASIK. These include AIDS, HIV, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and more. This is because when the body has a problem healing the outcome of the refractive surgery may not be as expected. There are too many risks associated that doctors don't want to be responsible for.
Too Poor Vision
Your eyeglasses or contacts prescription needs to be within a specific limit. LASIK will not be performed if your vision is too far off. If you have myopia that is extreme then you may need too much corneal tissue removed. If you are not a candidate for LASIK, there are other refractive procedures, including IOL placement, clear lens extraction, Visian ICLTM implantation, limbal relaxing incisions, and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). To find out if LASIK is right for you or if you should consider other corrective treatments, talk to your refractive surgeon/ophthalmologist.