If the thought of leaving your eyeglasses and contact lenses behind without losing your ability to see appeals to you, LASIK may hold the key. While this procedure has an excellent track record — up to 98% of people achieve 20/20 vision — LASIK surgery isn’t for everyone.

At VIP Laser Eye Center, with locations in Palm Beach Gardens, Stuart, and Port St. Lucie, Florida, Clifford Salinger, MD, and our team, offer preliminary LASIK exams to determine whether you’re a good candidate for LASIK.

Here’s a quick look at what LASIK surgery can accomplish and whether it’s right for you.

Behind LASIK

Laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is a type of laser refractive surgery that works by reshaping your cornea — the outermost layer of your eye — to improve how light is refracted onto your retina. This procedure is used for the three main types of vision problems:

Nearsightedness (myopia)

If you have no problems seeing things close to you, but your distance vision is blurry, this is likely myopia. With myopia, your eyeball may be longer than normal or your cornea overly curved, which causes light to focus in front of your retina.

Farsightedness (hyperopia)

This eyesight problem is quite the opposite of the first — you’re able to see things at a distance clearly, but not up close. This occurs when your cornea is too flat or your eyeball is shorter than normal, causing light to focus behind your retina.

Astigmatism

If you have overall blurry vision, this is likely astigmatism, which occurs when your cornea is irregularly shaped.

As you can see, these three conditions often stem from problems with your cornea, which is the area that LASIK surgery targets.

Your preliminary LASIK exam

To determine whether LASIK surgery may be right for you, we first thoroughly review your vision issue to see whether it falls within the parameters of LASIK surgery. If, for example, you have a severe refractive error, LASIK may not be right for you, but these types of problems aren’t all that common.

We also thoroughly review your previous and current eye health to rule out any risks. For example, the following pre-existing conditions may rule out LASIK surgery:

• Keratoconus (thinning of your cornea)
• Certain eye infections, such as keratitis or uveitis
• Dry eyes (LASIK may exacerbate this problem)
• Glaucoma
• Cataracts
• Overly large pupils
• Complications from diabetes

Outside of these issues, we also review your lifestyle. For example, if you enjoy contact sports, LASIK surgery may not be right for you. However, if you enjoy an active lifestyle and are bothered by corrective lenses, you may be an ideal candidate for LASIK.

The goal of our preliminary LASIK exam is to ensure that your eyes are in good health and that your goals and expectations are achievable. While we’ve outlined many of the scenarios in which LASIK may not be appropriate, rest assured that in the majority of cases, LASIK can play a valuable role in improving and correcting common vision problems.

If you’d like to explore whether LASIK surgery is right for you, call 561-288-2447 today.