LASIK / FAQs

Sadly, I think there is no treatment that could return your aunt’s vision.

Andrew Caster, MD

There is no eye transplantation that can be done. There is corneal transplantation, in which the cornea (the clear window in the front of the eye) is taken from a deceased donor and sewn into the eye, replacing the exisiting damaged cornea. This typically will not cure night blindness.

Andrew Caster, MD

I would suggest that you don’t have LASIK. Most experts suggest against this elective procedure when you have only one functioning eye.

Andrew Caster, MD

The results of the LASIK procedure are permanent. However, LASIK will not stop your eyes from any changes which they would have undergone in the future without the LASIK. But once you reach your early 20s, it is unusual to have changes in your distance vision.

Andrew Caster, MD

Wavefront-guided and wavefront-optimized give fairly similar results in the average patient. For patients with larger amounts of higher order aberrations, the wavefront-guided is superior.

Andrew Caster, MD

There has been some concern that flattening the cornea beyond a certain range could result in some decrease in the quality of the vision, particularly at night, but this is not known for sure and is in fact debated.

Andrew Caster, MD FACS

:It is necessary to know what the medical diagnosis of his problem is. There are many different conditions with different treatments that could be cause of his problem.

Andrew Caster, MD

There is no absolute agreement within our profession as to how long people should stay out of their contacts. For extended wear users, I take the more conservative approach of 10-14 days without the lenses.

Andrew Caster, MD

There is no safe way to change your eye color at this time.

Andrew Caster, MD

People with keratoconus are recommended not to have laser vision correction, except in extremely unusual situations.

Andrew Caster, MD

It is common to undercorrect one eye only, which is called monovision. However, I think that this is something that should be discussed with the patient, and the patient should choose it if they want. You do not have to have one or both eyes undercorrected, and can have an enhancement to have the vision optimized for distance.

Andrew Caster, MD

There are some laser procedures that can be helpful in some cases of ectopic pupil, but there are limits. Your prescription in the left eye is too high for laser vision correction. All procedures, including phakic implants, are limited by the ectopic pupils.

Andrew Caster, MD

By performing a corneal topography test, it can usually (but not always) be determined that a person had some form of laser vision correction. Looking at the eye under a microscope, an eye doctor can sometimes (but not always) see the edge of the corneal flap, whether the flap is made with a keratome or the IntraLase laser (it is typically easier to see the edge of the IntraLase flap). In the case of LASEK, PRK, or epiLasik, you can sometimes see the minor haze that often occurs, but of course that haze could be due to other things, so a doctor could not say for certain that these procedures took place.

Andrew Caster, MD

There are certain levels of steepness of the cornea which would preclude a person from having laser eye surgery. However, it is important to view these in terms of the overall correction needed, as well as the overall curvature. So I cannot answer your question without examining the patient.

Andrew Caster, MD