Is Refractive Surgery Right For You?
Refractive surgery can be the ultimate solution for some individuals who depend on eyeglasses or contacts to fix their vision. LASIK, LASEK, customised LASIK, and PRK procedures all have the potential to correct refractive errors in the eye that cause myopia ( nearsightedness ), hyperopia ( farsightedness ), and astigmatism ( elongation of the cornea ). However, not everybody with vision problems is a candidate for refractive surgery.
How can you tell if you’re a good candidate? Your best option is to line up an appointment with your ophthalmologist to debate your options. Your health practitioner will conduct an in depth primary exam and take your medical history to figure out if refractive surgery is suitable for you.
There are a number of guidelines, though, that will help you quickly pre-screen yourself to determine if you’ve got the potential to be a refractive surgery applicant.
the perfect refractive surgery applicant :
- Is over the age of 18
- o The lasers used for refractive surgery aren’t currently authorized for anyone under the age of 18 years.
- Suffers from myopia, hyperopia, and/or astigmatism.
- Has had a stable eyeglasses or contact lenses prescription for a minimum of the past 2 years.
- o A fluctuating prescription indicates that your eyes are still changing. Any procedure performed while your eyes are changing will only result in a short-term improvement in your sight.
- Is happy with taking risks .
- o Refractive eye surgery isn’t risk free. There is the chance that complications could pop up from the procedure, so if you’re not happy with taking such a risk, refractive surgery isn’t for you.
- Has sufficient corneal thickness to permit for the safe completion of the surgery.
- o Since refractive surgeries involve the reshaping of the cornea, patients need to have a healthy cornea that’s thick enough to house the procedure. Ask your physician if you meet this criterion.
- Isn’t pregnant or nursing.
- o ladies who are pregnant are nursing may find that their vision is impacted by hormones present in their system. Until these hormones are flushed out of the body, it is not possible to get a correct reading of the prescription.
- Isn’t taking any medications that will cause fluctuations in your vision or meddle with the natural healing process
- o Some medication like steroids and retinoic acid may detract from your capability to heal.
- Doesn’t have any sicknesses that will meddle in the correct healing of the eye.
- o Certain diseases and defects can interfere with the body’s natural healing process. People with autoimmune sicknesses such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, immunodeficiencies such as HIV or aids[**] or diabetes might not be good applicants for surgery. Talk with your health practitioner for more information.
- Doesn’t actively take part in heavy contact sports like fighting, wrestling, or karate skills.
- o Activities that present the chance that you are going to receive a blow to the head or eyes are very dangerous for recent refractive surgery patients.
- Doesn’t suffer from ‘dry eyes’.
- o Refractive surgery can actually become worse this condition.
- Isn’t employed in a profession prohibiting refractive processes.
- o Check with your employer.
- Doesn’t have corneal scarring.
- Doesn’t be afflicted by ocular diseases like cataracts, glaucoma, corneal illnesses or corneal thinning anomalies, or other existing eye illnesses that affect or threaten vision.
- o Talk with your doctor for more information.
Although the above rules exemplify the ‘ideal’ refractive surgery applicant, they don’t take rank the standards critical to simply be a’good’ applicants for the procedure. Because you may not meet each single standards above doesn’t mean that you aren’t an acceptable applicant for refractive surgery. Few people meet the rules for the ideal applicant, and only your GP can adequately determine the acceptability of refractive eye surgery as a solution to your visual impairments.
