Things to Consider before having the LASIK procedure performed

There are a few important points that Drs. Sommers and Ramirez need you to know in considering Lasik surgery. Reasonable expectations are crucial to a successful outcome.

1. Our hope is to get you to a point where glasses are not needed. Realistically, it is common for people to need glasses, even after the procedure, to allow you to see optimally. There may be some residual prescription that would need to be worn for driving or reading.
   
2. The surgery will not prevent your eyes getting worse as they naturally may have anyway. Enhancement surgery may be an option.
   
3. We expect some glare especially at night. This does get better with time.
   
4. Dry eyes are an initial side effect of the surgery.
   
5. It is possible that your best corrected vision may not be as good as it is now. Sometimes after the surgery, even with the best lens in place, you are not able to see as well as you can now with your glasses.
   
6. Everyone needs reading glasses when they approach their mid forties. This does not change with the surgery. Lasik corrects your distance vision. You will still need reading glasses to see up close. In some cases we do monovision in which we correct one eye for distance and one eye for reading. This needs to be discussed at length before doing it and should be experienced with contact lenses prior to doing surgery.
   
7. Nearsighted people have to understand another important issue. Many nearsighted individuals can remove their glasses and see very well up close. This will change with the surgery. After surgery you will not be able to see very close as well as you do now without glasses, and when you get in your early forties you will not be able to see nearby without reading glasses. If you do not do the laser vision correction you may very well always, even after forty, be able to see close by without glasses. So the Lasik reduces your ability to see close without your glasses especially as you get older.
   

All that said many of our patients are delighted with the freedom that Lasik surgery offers them. They love the opportunity of being active without visual correction. Sport, swimming and partying become more enjoyable. They also enjoy the sense of security of being able to see without glasses or contacts.