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I want laser eye surgery, Do I qualify, and what are the costs?

I’m nearsighted with a stigmatism and can only wear gas permiable contacts. They are very expensive. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to have the surgery and do I qualify?

1. There is laser surgery that can help astigmatism. My husbalasikd moderate astigmatism and hyperopia and had LASIK.

2. You really need a consult with a good surgeon. They will do a full dilated eye exam, measure your astigmatism, measure your corneal thickness, and will measure the degree of your astigmatism.

3. When you schedule your appointment, it is recommended to have gas permeable lenses out 2 weeks prior to surgery, so do keep that in mind. It would also be a good idea to have them out about 2 weeks prior to your consult for the cornea to “go back” to it’s regular shape for the most accurate measurements.

4. Cost/benefit ratio…Once you have your consult and have found out what technology would be best for your eyes, calculate out how quick the ‘payoff’ is according to what you spend for your contacts and glasses on a yearly basis now.

5. There are different technologies…I had PRK using the Wavefront Technology as a corneal sparing procedure. It is more expensive than the other technologies, but in cases of moderate astigmatism and moderate to high corrections, a corneal sparing procedure MAY be recommended using the wavefront technology.

6. The nationwide average per eye is about $1250-2100. Mine personally was $3800 but I got a discount cause of my vision insurance and who I work for…ended up being about $3400. I had the wavefront…which is the most expensive technology out there.

If you are interested in laser correction surgery, the best thing you can do is to research the surgeons in your area and make a consult to find out if you are a candidate. NO ONE can tell you even 50% if you are a candidate over the internet…it’s just impossible.

When scheduling your consult appointment, let them know you are wearing gas permeable lenses and find out what the surgeon prefers as to length of time to have them out of your eyes before he sees you and they will help schedule appropriately.

You’ll read about the ‘train wrecks’ of people who have had bad experiences with LASIK…but there are risks to ANY surgery…and the failure/complication rate is actually quite low at about 5%.

Good luck…just do not jump into making decisions…read, research your surgeon, get the consult, and ask as many questions (I took a list of about 20!) as you need to for information, both on the procedures available that are being recommended for YOUR eyes and the surgeon’s experience with that particular technology.