LASIK / FAQs

LASIK or PRK may exacerbate herpes outbreaks. So you should not have the surgery unless the outbreaks have been rare and have not occurred for some time.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

After PRK or LASIK, the cornea is reshaped to match the rest of the eye, in order to obtain the best vision possible. Because your eye has changed in many subtle ways since you saw 20/20 as a child, the corneal shape will not be identical.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

It is difficult to determine who is a great doctor and who is not. I would recommend looking at their background and credentials, and doing as much research on the internet as you feel appropriate. What kind of honors have they received? Do they have a lot of lawsuits or other problems that you can discover on the internet?

Andrew Caster, MD FACS
www.CasterVision.com

A person with lazy eye can get LASIK, if the eye isn’t too lazy. This will not cure the “laziness”, so the vision will not be corrected to 20/20. It will be corrected as well as the eye can be corrected with glasses or contacts.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

I use both, but personally prefer the microkeratome for most cases.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

With vision correctable to 20/30 in your amblyopic eye, most doctors would feel comfortable recommending LASIK to you. Although LASIK is extremely safe in terms of major vision-treatening complications, it is best to evaluate what a person’s life would be like if they had a horrible complication in their good eye. For this reason, I will not perform LASIK on a person with only one functioning eye. With vision correctable to 20/30, life would still be tolerable if, theoretically, that were to be your only eye. Severely compromised vision is exceedingly rare after LASIK, but this is the thought process that I bring to this issue.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

ACC is not LASIK; it is the same as PRK, which is LASIK without a flap. Although both LASIK and PRK use the same laser and achieve the same long term results, the negative aspect to PRK (ACC) is that there is a much slower healing pattern. If you are uncomfortable with the concept of making a flap, then you should have PRK, which will achieve the same results. You will, however, have blurry vision for one or more weeks, and will also have a greater degree of post-op discomfort.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

You will have to see an eye doctor to determine what it is.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

Mental stress can affect the body in a myriad of ways, and can affect the healing pattern.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

It is very difficult to evaluate the merits of the different equipment types. Each has advantages and disadvantages. My personal favorite at this time is the Alcon, followed by the Visx.
Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

Looking at an old monitor can certainly cause eye strain. It does not cause permanently blurry vision, however.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

Wondering the best way to go about finding a good doctor for LASIK, is there any kind of independant rating system one can look at. What things should I look for. Thanks

TThe only independent rating system that I am aware of is the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance (USAeyes.org).

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

Looking at an old monitor can certainly cause eye strain. It does not cause permanently blurry vision, however.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

You can have the eyes adjusted for distance, or have one eye for distance and one for near. LASIK is possible after cataract surgery.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com

Most people have glare/halos even without the surgery, so our concern is in not increasing the glare/halos. With a lower correction such as you have, and with the custom wavefront treatment, the odds of significantly increasing your glare/halos is very low. In fact, the odds of decreasing your existing glare/halos are higher than the odds of increasing your existing glare/halos.

Andrew Caster, MD
www.CasterVision.com