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Career Impact
- does your job prohibit refractive surgery? |
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Cost
- can you really afford this procedure? |
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Medical Conditions
- e.g., do you have an autoimmune disease or other major illness?
Do you have a chronic illness that might slow or alter healing? |
| |
Eye Conditions
- do you have or have you ever had any problems with your eyes
other than needing glasses or contacts? |
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Medications
- do you take steroids or other drugs that might prevent healing? |
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Stable Refraction
- has your prescription changed in the last year? |
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High or Low Refractive
Error - do you use glasses/contacts only some of
the time? Do you need an unusually strong prescription? |
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Pupil Size
- are your pupils extra large in dim conditions? |
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Corneal Thickness
- do you have thin corneas? |
| |
Overtreatment or
Undertreatment - are you willing and able to have
more than one surgery to get the desired result? |
| |
May Still Need
Reading Glasses - do you have presbyopia? |
| |
Results May Not
Be Lasting - do you think this is the last correction
you will ever need? Do you realize that long-term results are
not known? |
| |
May Permanently
Lose Vision - do you know some patients may lose
some vision or experience blindness? |
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Development of
Visual Symptoms - do you know about glare, halos,
starbursts, etc. and that night driving might be difficult? |
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Contrast Sensitivity
- do you know your vision could be significantly reduced in
dim light conditions? |
| |
Bilateral Treatment
- do you know the additional risks of having both eyes treated
at the same time? |
| |
Patient Information
- have you read the patient information booklet about the laser
being used for your procedure? |
| |
No contact lenses
prior to evaluation and surgery - can you go for
an extended period of time without wearing contact lenses? |
| |
Have a thorough
exam - have you arranged not to drive or work after
the exam? |
| |
Read and understand
the informed consent - has your doctor given you
an informed consent form to take home and answered all your
questions? |
| |
No makeup before
surgery - can you go 24-36 hours without makeup prior
to surgery? |
| |
Arrange for transportation
- can someone drive you home after surgery? |
| |
Plan to take a
few days to recover - can you take time off to take
it easy for a couple of days if necessary? |
| |
Expect not to see
clearly for a few days - do you know you will not
see clearly immediately? |
| |
Know sights, smells,
sounds of surgery - has your doctor made you feel
comfortable with the actual steps of the procedure? |
| |
Be prepared to
take drops/medications - are you willing and able
to put drops in your eyes at regular intervals? |
| |
Be prepared to
wear an eye shield - do you know you need to protect
the eye for a period of time after surgery to avoid injury? |
| |
Expect some pain/discomfort
- do you know how much pain to expect? |
| |
Know when to seek
help - do you understand what problems could occur
and when to seek medical intervention? |
| |
Know when to expect
your vision to stop changing - are you aware that
final results could take months? |
| |
Make sure your
refraction is stable before any further surgery -
if you don't get the desired result, do you know not to have
an enhancement until the prescription stops changing? |
