Examination Prior to LASIK
Before You Arrive at the Doctors Office
If you wear contacts stop wearing them prior to surgery - at least 2 weeks for soft contacts or 1 month for wear hard contacts. This is because contact lenses can cause mild warping of the corneal shape, which can interfere with the preoperative measurements of the eye and calculations for LASIK surgery.
Tests You May Have at the Doctors Office
Evaluation for LASIK surgery typically includes a complete eye exam of the front and back of the eye, plus several additional tests including:
- Your vision will be tested, with and without glasses. In addition your refraction will be tested to determine if your current vision differs markedly from the vision corrected in your current glasses. If they do differ markedly, you may need to return for another visit several weeks later for a repeat refraction to insure that your prescription is not changing.
- The thickness of your corneas will also be tested. Since LASIK surgery removes some corneal tissue during the reshaping process of vision correction, a minimum amount of corneal thickness is required.
- Your pupil size will also be examined. People with large pupils may be at increased risk for night vision symptoms, such as glare and halos, after refractive surgery.
- Lastly, several machines may be used to assess the shape of your cornea, including a topographer and/or a tomographer and possibly a wavescan abberometer. Your doctor will review the information from these machines in order to determine if your corneas are regularly shaped. Individuals with abnormally shaped corneas may not be ideal candidates for LASIK, though other excimer laser refractive surgeries, such as PRK may still be an option.
