Talk to Dr. Thieme about whether that is a good choice for you. Know your options and what the outcome is likely to be, before you commit to a laser eye procedure.
What about the ads I’ve seen for laser eye surgery in Canada or other cities? Would you go to out of town for heart surgery?
Yes, if your family doctor told you that was the best option for your health.
Would you go there for heart surgery if they advertised the lowest price in the country for the surgery?
You would certainly take a look at who is doing the surgery and research it fully before making a decision, I would hope.
You should get this form well in advance so you can read it through completely and have all your questions answered.
This is a precise mapping technique of your cornea which is done to rule out certain eye diseases which could disqualify you from having LASIK.
Pachymetry is a measurement of the thickness of the cornea. If your cornea is too thin, you would not be able to have LASIK.
At Meridian Family Eyecare, Dr. Thieme will carefully examine your past clinical records over the last few years to see if your eyes are in a state of change. If your prescription has fluctuated too much, you should not undergo LASIK. What is too much? A doctor should make that decision, not a technician. A general eye examination is not a pre-operative LASIK examination. Your pre-operative visit should take about an hour. If it is any less than that, some procedures were likely skipped over or not done carefully.
How are outcomes tracked following surgery? Dr. Thieme can give you an idea of what to expect following surgery based on previous statistics and your present refractive condition. There is no substitute for experienced, careful, medical decision making.
For how long after the procedure? At Meridian Family Eyecare we work with laser centers that offer long-term enhancement. The most common time for enhancement is three to six months following the initial procedure. We work with surgeons that offer Lifetime Enhancements.
Call some local eye doctors that you trust to see if there is a good reputation for the clinic. It’s great to talk to other patients, but the doctors can give you a more accurate picture, since they see the good results as well as the poor results. The patients who are the most vocal are the good outcomes and the very poor outcomes. Those with less than perfect outcomes tend to keep quiet. Additionally, just because a friend had a great result, doesn’t guarantee your result. Their prescription may be vastly different from yours, as well as a host of other factors that affect outcomes. Do some research and get all your questions answered.
If the clinic is out of the area, call a few general eye doctors in their area to see if they refer to that center. If they do don’t refer to a place across town, why would you travel across the country to see them?
Yes! Pupil size is one of them. There are others, and Dr. Thieme can go over the variables with you thoroughly.
Are they financially stable? if you need treatment in one year will they still be there?
Do you get to choose who performs your surgery? These are important considerations. You need to be able to choose who does the procedure for you. The skill and experience of the surgeon are paramount.
Just as PRK replaced RK, and LASIK has replaced PRK, there are some new procedures that are being done which are alternatives to LASIK. There are other procedures on the horizon which may replace LASIK. Ask Dr. Thieme about Intacs, corneal rings, intra-ocular lenses, clear lens extraction, orthokeratology and CRT, to name a few.
If you have removed your contact lenses for the proper amount of time, your eyes should be stable (this varies depending upon the type of lens worn, and the individual wearing the lens, and how the lens was worn). Your eye doctor can measure the cornea and refract the eye to see if the prescription has stabilized enough to proceed with LASIK.
