Frequently Asked Questions

01- Does the treatment hurt?

Patients are given a topical anesthetic (eye drops) to numb the eye, so they experience no pain during the procedure There is only mild discomfort during a laser vision correction procedure, usually less than having your teeth cleaned. During the first few days after treatment, there is only minimal discomfort. Most patients say that it was much easier than they expected. See our Surgery Day section

02- Can I lose vision as a result of this treatment?

This is one of the most important concerns that patients have. No patient in our practice has ever suffered any untoward accident or even serious vision compromise as a result of laser treatment

03- How long will it take to realize my final result?

Every patient heals at a different rate; however, the majority of our patients achieve legal driving vision the very next day. Your vision will continue to improve with the final visual results being realized within a period ranging from one week to a few months. See our Post Surgery section

04- Are all lasers the same?

Absolutely not! WaveLIght Allegretto, Visx S4, Schwind Amaris and the Nidek are brand names for Lasers used worldwide. We have used each of these lasers, but by far the most accurate results were obtained with the WaveLight Allegretto laser. Unlike other lasers, all treatments with the WaveLight Allegretto are Custom treatments. Whereas the Visx , the Nidek , Summit or others have enhancement rates around 10%, the enhancement rate with the WaveLight Allegretto is less than half of that - around 4%.

05- If I don't get a full correction, will I be able to have another procedure to improve the results?

Approximately 4% of our patients return for an enhancement procedure. These patients have had a dramatic improvement in their vision, but have not achieved a full correction. "Touch-up" procedures are extremely quick and easy, a "touch-up" or "enhancement” is easier than the original treatment

06- What about the long-term results?

Excimer laser treatment was first performed in 1988. Lasik is a more accurate variation of ALK, which has been performed for over 25 years, and has been proved safe in long-term studies.

07- Will my eyes deteriorate in the future?

Extensive testing has been performed around the world by many different sources and it has been conclusively determined that there are no long-term health problems to the eye from these procedures

08- Are the results achieved from LASIK permanent?

LASIK is a surgical procedure that permanently removes corneal tissue to reshape the eye in order to improve refraction. The physical results are permanent. However, you should be aware that the eyes can change with time, and that LASIK does not affect a number of visual conditions associated with age. For example, LASIK does not prevent presbyopia or affect this condition once it does occur.

09- What if I move during the procedure?

Many patients worry about this, and the concern is sometimes substantial. Almost everyone moves a tiny bit during the procedure. Under the laser microscope, a person's face and eyes can move (slightly) in concert with normal breathing. The Allegretto EYE-Q has an eye-tracker which will follow your eye as it moves 4.000 times/second.

10- Will I be able to see anything during the procedure?

Yes. During the procedure, you will be asked to look at a light. Few seconds after the procedure is completed, you will notice a dramatic improvement in your vision. Many of our patients say that this is one of the most memorable moments in their entire lives.

11- What if I blink when they’re doing the laser?

The eyelids are gently held apart during the laser treatment by a special instrument, which feels a little odd, but doesn’t typically hurt.

12- Will I need to wear an eye patch after the procedure?

No. Wearing sunglasses is enough. Some patients are given a "band-aid” contact lens overnight to promote healing.

13- What are the common problems and complications?

About 10% of patients can experience optical consequences during the healing process, including glare, haloes at night, or ghost images. In almost all cases, these disappear within several weeks or months. See our Lasik Side Effects section.

14- How many people have had PRK and LASIK?

As of early 2009, it is estimated that more than 40 million people worldwide have had laser vision care. However, as we stress on each patient individually, his own eyes and the results in his own case are what matter most, and not the number of patients that have preceded him.

15- How soon can I return to work and other activities?

The answer is different for PRK and LASIK. We recommend a return to full work activities not sooner than 3 days after PRK. For that reason, most people choose to have their PRK on a Thursday or Friday. With LASIK, many patients often feel so good the day after surgery that they feel like going right back to work. It would not be realistic to promise that everyone will feel perfect the next day after LASIK, but certainly the overwhelming majority of individuals have expressed this feeling. Almost all other activities including strenuous exercise, reading, and even driving at night are OK as soon as you feel comfortable. See our Post Surgery section

16- Everyone seems to be talking about Custom treatment. What does this mean?

Custom technology is a major advance in vision correction. Glasses and contact lenses correct each eye with one prescription for the entire eye in order to correct myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. But we know that the eye is not perfectly regular, and that different points on the eye actually focus the light differently. Custom technology allows us to measure and treat different locations on the eye with different prescriptions, which cannot be done with glasses or contact lenses. The result is often vision that is better than can be obtained with glasses or contact lenses.

For more information about Custom Lasik, please click here

17- I had Lasik 6 months ago at another center, and now notice patterns around lights with my nighttime vision. Does this happen to everyone who has Lasik?

These patterns around lights, called glare or halos, are common to some degree in all people, including those who have never had laser vision correction. To demonstrate this for yourself, simply look at a full moon and you will notice that there is a small glow or fuzziness around the edge of the image. It is an inherent part of vision, and most people simply accept it as normal. Immediately after laser vision correction, the glare is usually more pronounced, and in a different pattern, than the glare experienced before the procedure. Typically, this dramatically decreases over a 3-6 months period. For those people who experience this, it is generally something they notice, but not something that interferes with their lifestyle. Glare/halos are more common in

laser vision patients with very large pupils, in particular those whose pupils are larger than the treatment area of the laser
patients with very large degrees of correction
Treatments with older laser technology.

This effect is greatly diminished with the newer laser technologies, which allow treatment zones that are larger than all the largest pupils. With the newer lasers, 11% of patients say that their nighttime driving ability is now significantly better than it was with their glasses or contacts, 1% say that it is now significantly worse than it was with their glasses or contacts, and the remaining 88% say that night driving after laser vision correction is about the same as it was with their glasses or contacts. We will carefully evaluate your pupil size in 3 different light levels during our Pre-Lasik evaluation, and will provide you with the treatment that is most likely to result in the best daytime and nighttime vision for you.

18- Can Lasik correct my reading vision?

Lasik alters the shape of the cornea, which is the clear tissue in the very front of the eye. The need for reading glasses that comes as we get older (known as presbyopia) is a result of the aging of the lens deep inside the eye, behind the colored part of the eye. So Lasik cannot correct presbyopia. However, Lasik can be used to create monovision, just as glasses or contact lenses do, in which one eye is adjusted for distance and one for near. Many people have monovision with their contact lenses and prefer it to the alternative of using reading glasses. We can produce the same effects with Lasik. If you are considering monovision, we highly recommend that you try it first (we do this as part of our routine laser vision consultation).

19- Can my results be guaranteed?

As in any medical intervention, especially any type of surgery or laser therapy, there can be no guarantee of results in any specific case. We work extremely hard to see that each person we care for gets the maximum possible benefit. Even though the laser treatment is exquisitely precise and our experience is quite significant, variations in final visual result can arise due to individual variations in healing, and to other factors.