Your eyes should be free from any infection or disease.
Ocular health is one aspect of evaluating your candidacy. Problematic conditions include:
- Conjunctivitis
- Eye injury or trauma
- Ocular infection
- Severe and persistent dry eyes
Overall, your eyes need to be healthy so that the surgery can be performed correctly and so the eyes will heal successfully afterward. These eye issues can most often be treated and resolved before LASIK, if they are present.
Ask Dr. Walton whether your vision is considered “stable.”
Your prescription must have been stable for a year prior to LASIK. If your prescription fluctuates more often, then you may need to delay LASIK. This is an important part of getting good results.
Find out where your prescription falls.
Prescriptions that are very high need to be evaluated by Dr. Walton. That’s not to say you definitely aren’t a candidate, but Dr. Walton wants to make sure. Very high prescriptions may have less predictable LASIK outcomes.
Get yourself into good overall health first.
A healthy body will be ready for the procedure and the short recovery afterward. Certain health conditions may make it more difficult for your body to heal. Dr. Walton will help you decide what to do next if that is the case. Treatment and management of the health condition may be adequate to make you a LASIK candidate.
Don’t get LASIK while you’re pregnant.
Hormonal changes during pregnancy and breastfeeding actually change the shape of your cornea. Therefore, you want the cornea to stabilize before it gets re-shaped by LASIK. Dr. Walton will help you plan the best timing for this eye surgery.
The issue of corneal thickness.
The cornea needs a certain thickness in order for the LASIK procedure to work. The results may not be satisfactory if the cornea is very thin. No need to try to figure this out on your own – Dr. Walton will determine if your eye anatomy is acceptable for LASIK. Also, if you’ve been told in previous years your corneas were too thin, you should still visit Dr. Walton – modern LASIK procedures can treat corneas in ways that weren’t possible with older technology. There also may be an alternative vision procedure, if your corneas are in fact too thin.
Learn More About Your LASIK Candidacy
Ready to find out if you are a good candidate for LASIK surgery? Dr. Chris Walton is an experienced ophthalmologist who has been performing this procedure for over a decade. He is passionate about achieving outstanding vision results for each and every patient. To arrange your consultation in Mobile, Alabama, please call our staff at 251-341-3385.
