Laser Surgery For Eyes - How to Choose a Surgeon

Often, the initial LASIK consult is free. Some Doctors may charge a small fee to schedule the initial pre-LASIK eye exam/screening. They do this to reduce the number of "no show" appointments.

If there is a fee, ask if it is it applied to your surgery? The answer is usually "Yes." If not, then you now know why their price for LASIK may be a little lower than some of the other practices.

After the consult if you decide to move forward with that practice and their process, there is often a full-dilated eye exam. If you make your appointment and receive the full exam but decide not to choose their practice for your LASIK surgery, make sure you ask them if you are going to be charged for the full eye exam.

Contact Lens

There are 2 questions you need to ask about your contacts.

How long before the initial LASIK consultation should I have my contact lenses out?
How long before LASIK surgery should I have my contact lenses out?

The answer often depends on whether you are: Nearsighted or farsighted, wear hard or soft lenses and whether you sleep with your lens in or not.

Your eyes need some time to return to their natural shape as the contact lens reshapes your eye. If you do not stop wearing your contacts for long enough, the measurements that your Ophthalmologist takes will change as your eye shape continues to change.

You can never be out of your contacts too long. If you do not have a pair of glasses, some practices will loan you a pair of prescription glasses. Making sure you do not wear contacts is very important because the only one you are hurting is yourself. Do not wear your contacts for as long as possible.

I have asked various LASIK surgeons this question and have found an incredibly wide range of answers. I have been told anywhere from 48 hours to 10 days. Most practices say at least 3 to 5 days. If you normally wear glasses, then regardless of the time, you should not have a problem. Knowing the time requirements before you go in for your initial appointment will help you gauge when you can actually have the LASIK surgery performed.

Price

How much is the surgery?

Have you seen the ads saying advertise "LASIK for as low as $299 an eye?" If you are going to choose the Doctor with the cheapest price to perform LASIK surgery on you, you need to understand that the lowest price almost always applies ONLY if you do not have any astigmatism and your vision is only slightly worse than 20/20.

ALL EYES have at least SOME astigmatism. This is just one type of marketing strategy to be able to advertise "LASIK for as low as..." They want to get you in the door and then give you the bad news.

Also, if your vision fits the lowest range that comes with the cheap price you probably would not be considering LASIK surgery. Often this “lower price” does not include post surgery visits, the cost of the full-dilated eye exam or enhancements.

Enhancements

Does the cost of LASIK include "enhancements?"

If after 3-6 months your vision needs some tweaking, the LASIK procedure can be redone to further enhance your sight.

For me personally, I need an enhancement. Turns out the 're-do' percentage happens statistically more often for people over 40 than in younger LASIK patients.

Sometimes there is a machine charge or a facility charge if your LASIK doctor does not actually own the laser. Also, you should ask if there is a time limitation on when you can get an enhancement under the original agreement. Better to find out up front than later.

The Doctor

All LASIK doctors have done at least one excellent LASIK surgery. The question is which one will do a great job on your eyes. Here are some questions to ask.

How many surgeries has the LASIK surgeon performed?

While a doctor who has performed 2000 LASIK procedures is not necessarily twice as skilled as the doctor that has only done 1000 surgeries, significant experience is good. Here too, I think it is very difficult to verify how many LASIK eye surgeries a doctor has performed. I might make note of what the LASIK Coordinator tells you on the phone and compare that number to what the Doctor says in person when you go in for an initial consultation.

For more information on choosing a surgeon click here

What type of Laser does the Doctor use?

I like asking this question because it requires the person to at least know what machine is used. A Patient Representative or LASIK Coordinator at a Doctor's office that knows what laser is used, is to me, a practice that I put a greater trust in (regarding the other information they provide) than someone that does not know.

As for which machine is better, when the FDA approved the laser for use the laser had already met a host of criteria; knowing this shifts the focus to expertise and ultimate outcome of the surgery in your Doctor's hands.

What is the LASIK doctor's Enhancement Percentage?

One of the best ways to judge a good LASIK Surgeon is their Enhancement Percentage.

Out of 100 surgeries, how many patients need to go back for an enhancement?

After they tell you, you can always ask, "Is there anyway I can confirm those numbers?" While there really isn't a public way to confirm their claim, you can generally judge by the tone of their voice whether they have been honest with you or not.

Does the Doctor perform the laser surgery on site or at an off site location?

I especially like this question when taken in context with the other questions/answers to provide a more expanded view of the practice, the Doctor, and where LASIK fits into their everyday operation.

The answer to this question is double-sided. An Ophthalmologic practice that owns their own laser machine (which costs about $350,000) is serious about making LASIK a significant part of their eye care services. A LASIK surgeon that uses an outside facility may (and I emphasize may) only do LASIK part time.

The flip side is that by "renting" the use of a facility and a Laser machine, the Doctor is not financially pressured to continue using "old" technology in which they have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also, practices that do not own a laser have the freedom to use the one that is right for the patient. While some Ophthalmologic practices buy multiple laser machines to stay current with changing technology it is the exception, not the rule when it comes to lasers.

Monovision vs. Reading Glasses

Will I need reading glasses after LASIK?

If you have both of your eyes corrected for distance viewing with LASIK, presbyopia will require you to get reading glasses at some point in the future.

While my inner soul has a problem accepting that ALL people in their 40's will experience presbyopia. (Which is a natural part of the aging process of the eye that makes it difficult to focus on close objects.) Presbyopia is responsible for the need for reading glasses. It is not a disease, it cannot be prevented and at this time laser eye surgery cannot correct it.

When you ask this question, a good LASIK Coordinator will bring up something called monovision. If monovision is not mentioned, ask about it

What is monovision?

If you want to delay this seemingly inevitable situation you can usually opt for a LASIK surgery procedure that leaves one eye corrected for distance and one eye for close up vision. This is called monovision. Monovision postpones the need for reading glasses by allowing one eye to handle the up-close vision duties for a while. Mostly this is a procedure for near-sighted people.

I had monovision LASIK surgery and am glad I did. One thing that was not offered to me was a chance to "test drive" my new eyes to see if I was comfortable with Monovision LASIK.

A way to “test drive” your new eyes is by wearing contact lens that would simulate monovision. Doing this first would allow you to know if you can handle using one eye for distance vision and one eye for close up viewing. A good LASIK Coordinator will normally discuss wearing "test drive" contact lens for at least a few days BEFORE you decide whether you want it permanently. I am happy with my monovision, but what if I wasn't comfortable using one eye for distance and one eye for near vision?

Can I read some testimonials from patients (or talk with some patients) that chose the monovision procedure?

Besides selecting a laser eye surgeon to do your LASIK procedure, the only other decision you really have to make is whether or not to undergo a monovision correction. Talking with patients or reading monovision testimonials, if you are considering this procedure, is a must.

Custom LASIK vs. Traditional LASIK

In order to know whether you should get Custom LASIK, the LASIK practice you talk with MUST have a Wavefront machine in order to do a Custom LASIK Wavefront eye examination. So in talking with the practice, you can ask, do you do Custom LASIK or do you have a Waveprint machine?

If they do not, there is no way they can tell you whether you have "higher order aberrations" which are the primary justification to pay the premium to get Custom LASIK.

To learn more about Custom LASIK vs. Traditional LASIK click here.

With this list of questions you are well on your way to making an informed LASIK decision. Good Luck and thanks for using our site.

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