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Do you have a question about LASIK? Our LASIK surgeon panel answered the following questions, so please check there to see if your question about LASIK has already been asked and answered.
Age Q: Is LASIK eye surgery safe for teens? A: LASIK is safe for teens, but it is not recommended for most teenagers. It is best to have LASIK only when you have stopped growing and your eyes have stopped changing, which is frequently in the very late teenage years or during your twenties. If you have LASIK before your eyes stop changing, you will need to come back and have further LASIK after your eyes stop changing. — Andrew Caster, MD, Caster Eye Center, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Q: At what age do you have to be to get custom LASIK? A: You can have custom LASIK at the same age that you can have conventional LASIK. We like to wait until your eyes stop changing, which is usually after 18 years of age. — Andrew Caster, MD, Caster Eye Center, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Q: I'm 19 years old, and I have been wearing contact lenses since I was 11. Right now my left eye is 5.25 and right eye is 5.75. I would really like to get laser eye surgery, but would you recommend I wait a few more years because my eyesight might still be changing? Any information is helpful. A: Your eyes may or may not be changing. If your prescription has been changing, then I would wait. If it has been constant for two years, then you have probably stopped changing. — Andrew Caster, MD, Caster Eye Center, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Q: Let's say I lived in Michigan and my prescription was -2 and -2.25. Now let's say I was 14 years old and would have to pay for this myself. How much would you figure I'd have to pay for LASIK eye surgery in Michigan with such a low prescription? A: The price of LASIK surgery varies at each center. The price usually is dependent on the type of technology used, not on the prescription. LASIK is not FDA-approved for patients under 18, because the eyes have typically not stabilized yet and may continue to change with age. — Jon Dishler, MD, Dishler Laser Institute, Denver, Colo.
Astigmatism, Myopia, Amblyopia, Other Vision Problems Q: I have astigmatism in my left eye of 1.75 -5.50 x 163. What will be my best option with the current technologies to try to solve this? A: There are a number of different solutions, depending on your age. You could have a procedure called astigmatic keratectomy to correct most of your astigmatism and then have LASIK to correct the rest. Alternatively, you could have an intraocular procedure to correct both the astigmatism and the farsightedness at the same time. — Steven Nielsen, MD, The Nielsen Eye Center, Quincy, Mass.
Q: I have a high degree of myopia, though I'm not exactly sure of the number (pretty sure it's worse than -5.00 diopters). Are there complications that increase risk based on level of myopia? Particularly complications that are not correctable? I'm okay with not being 20/20, but just want to be less impaired when not using glasses/lenses. Is there another surgical procedure you recommend for someone with a high level of myopia and astigmatism? A: The risk you face is an increased enhancement rate: that is, not being perfect after the first procedure and having to have it "touched up" a second time. For most patients, there is an approximate risk of 10 percent of this occurring, but for patients with higher nearsightedness the risk is greater. — Steven Nielsen, MD, The Nielsen Eye Center, Quincy, Mass.
Q: I have a lazy eye. Is LASIK surgery possible on people with lazy eye? A: It depends on the degree of laziness. You will need to be examined by a LASIK specialist. — Andrew Caster, MD, Caster Eye Center, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Q: Is LASIK surgery an option for correcting amblyopia (lazy eye)? If not, is there a surgery available? A: It is an option, but the eye will only see to its best potential, which may be less than 20/20. — Marc Michelson, MD, Michelson Laser Vision, Inc., Birmingham, Ala.
Q: Hello. I have amblyopia in both eyes, at -10 and -18, with a pretty bad astigmatism (can't remember the amount exactly). Obviously I was crawling into things at age one and have been wearing glasses/contacts ever since. I'm 32 now and have been looking for a surgical correction possibility. I wouldn't even expect perfection, but the ability to get around without such heavy dependence on contacts is a goal. Do you see any possibilities? My ophthalmologist is great, but she is holistic-oriented rather than surgical-minded, and says there are no options without great risk for me. Do you agree? A: You could now have the Verisyse lens implanted into the eye. This is an intraocular contact lens, which was recently approved by the FDA for your type of vision. — Steven Nielsen, MD, The Nielsen Eye Center, Quincy, Mass.
Q: I see flashes and floaters. My doctor has recommended that I get LASIK surgery. He says that since the sizes of my pupils have changed and I wear safety glasses, I need the surgery. But there's no retina detachment. What should I do? A: LASIK surgery is only for those individuals who wear eyeglasses or contacts for distance and want to try to get out of their lenses. It is not a treatment for flashes and floaters. — Steven Nielsen, MD, The Nielsen Eye Center, Quincy, Mass.
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