LASIK FAQs
Q: Is laser vision correction the same as LASIK?
A: LASIK is but one of many laser vision corrective surgeries that are available. If a patient is not currently eligible for LASIK, Dr. Cutarelli may suggest an alternative.Q: How long has LASIK been available?
A: United States FDA approval was granted in 1995. Though excimer laser technology was developed in the United States, most of the original patients received LASIK eye surgery elsewhere. This is because the United States FDA approval process is more extensive, requiring comprehensive, 5-year scientific and clinical studies. Every year, over 1 million Americans benefit from laser eye surgery.
Q: What is Personal Best Vision?
A: Personal Best Vision is the highest achievable vision within the physical limitations of your eyes. Because your eyes are not like anyone else's, every individual is unique, customized technology was created that you may benefit from laser vision correction tailored just for you. For the first time in history, we are able to measure and correct the unique characteristics of your vision, with the potential of providing you with your Personal Best Vision.
Q: How is Personal Best Vision correction achieved?
A: Individualized laser vision correction is possible through CustomVue wavefront technology, which enables Dr. Cutarelli to measure and correct the unique imperfections in your vision. Many of these imperfections could never be measured before using standard methods for glasses and contact lenses.
Q: What is Wavefront LASIK technology?
A: Wavefront technology, also called Wavefront LASIK or wavefront sensing, was originally developed for use in high-powered telescopes to reduce distortions when viewing distant objects in space. This technology has now been applied to laser vision correction, which identifies and can measure imperfections in your eyes 25 times more precisely than standard methods. Dr. Cutarelli uses this information to create an individualized prescription for your laser vision procedure.
Q: Why is wavefront technology so important to LASIK?
A: Until now, physicians had to practice one-size-fits-all LASIK correction. Such an approach can correct your vision fairly well, but not as precisely as LASIK wavefront mapping, which uniquely tailors your prescription to your individual 'fingerprint' of vision. Now, with LASIK wavefront mapping, Dr. Cutarelli can custom-tailor a correction for the unique characteristics of your eyes.
Q: What does 'better than' 20/20 mean?
A: 20/20 is the current standard for excellence in vision. But, with the combination of wavefront and CustomVue LASIK technology, individuals have the potential to have even better than 20/20 vision. In fact, six months after a CustomVue LASIK procedure more than 74% percent of clinical study participants saw 20/16 or better.
Q: How can LASIK help my vision?
A: If you are nearsighted or farsighted, LASIK may be able to significantly improve your vision. With nearsightedness (myopia), the goal is to flatten the too-steep cornea ; with farsightedness (hyperopia), a steeper cornea is desired. Astigmatism can also be corrected by smoothing an irregular cornea into a more normal shape.
Q: Can everyone have LASIK?
A: Most people can. However, about five percent of applicants do not qualify for LASIK. This may be because of their overall medical history, the health of their eyes, the thickness of their corneas, or the degree of their eye correction.
Q: Can I have LASIK if I have had RK (Radial Keratotomy)?
A: Yes, usually. However, Dr. Cutarelli will need to evaluate your candidacy to be sure. With Radial Keratotomy, cuts were made around the cornea to create the effect of corneal change whereas the laser used today is significantly more precise. Because of the less precise nature of RK, sometimes the corneal change was not exactly correct. Furthermore, the eye was weakened by RK, and the possible subsequent instability of vision refraction may persist even after LASIK correction.
Q: Am I a good candidate for LASIK Eye Surgery?
A: Most eyeglass and contact lens wearers who are in good health will find that they are probably good candidates for LASIK with certain considerations. A specifically trained eye care professional can determine your candidacy for laser eye surgery during a thorough eye examination. The following are the minimal conditions: At least 18 years of age. Not pregnant. Have stable vision with no significant changes in prescription for the last two years. Have eyes free from disease and complicating injury. Have a prescription in a correctable range. The only way to definitively find out if you are a good LASIK candidate is to have a examination and consultation with an experienced LASIK surgeon, such as Dr. Cutarelli. He will be able to determine if you meet all of the criteria for getting good results.
Q: Can both eyes be done the same day?
A: Yes. LASIK Treatment can be performed on both eyes on the same day. This decreases the troublesome effect of being nearsighted in only one eye between the two treatments. However, it is possible to treat one eye at a time. Dr. Cutarelli will help decide which option is right for you.
Q: Is LASIK safe?
A: Over 1 million laser eye procedures are preformed every year. While all surgery involves some risk, laser vision surgery is less risky than more invasive procedures. LASIK is a highly technical process using a computer-controlled light beam under the guidance of Dr. Cutarelli's specifically trained and certified experience.
Q: How do I prepare for LASIK?
A: To find out what your options are, call for an appointment for a complementary initial exam. We also suggest you read over the information contained on our web site. We have a page specifically for preparing for surgery. If you have any questions, please call us at: (303) 486-2020.
Q: Will I need to remove my contacts before my exam?
A: If you presently wear contact lenses you will need to leave them out for a specified time period before your comprehensive LASIK eye exam. Wearing contact lenses can change the curvature of your cornea and removing them for a time allows the cornea to return to its natural shape. This is vital for proper measurements to be made, before your procedure can be scheduled. The time required for you to leave out your contact lenses depends on the type. For details see our pre-op exam section.
Q: How long will my procedure take?
A: Typically, LASIK Surgery procedures are as an office procedure in the comfort and convenience of an excimer laser eye surgery suite. After the preparation where eye drops are instilled into your eyes so that you are comfortable, the entire treatment takes about 5 to 7 minutes per eye or approximately 15-20 minutes for both eyes. The entire visit will take about two hours.
Q: Is LASIK scary?
A: You will be awake and fully aware during the procedure. As with any strange experience, you might be a little nervous beforehand. This is perfectly normal and a sedative will be available to help you relax. Most patients say that they found the whole experience to be ultimately enjoyable, and often mention how comfortable they were.
Q: Is there any pain involved with LASIK?
A: The LASIK treatment itself is painless. Most patients report that they experienced no pain whatsoever. You will receive a sedative before surgery, and topical anesthetic eye drops just prior. You will feel pressure on and around the eye during treatment as the flap is being created and as the eyelids are supported against blinking by an eyelid speculum. Afterwards, some patients report mild sensations of scratchy, gritty, or watery eyes. These are temporary symptoms and are not a problem for most. Dr. Cutarelli can prescribe pain medication if needed, although he has yet to do so.
Q: What if I sneeze during surgery?
A: We have never had that happen, but it would not be a problem if it did, as the eye tracker would immediately stop the laser. When the eye was repositioned, the laser would be restarted.
Q: What keeps my eyes from drying out during the procedure?
A: During your LASIK procedure, a special retainer will be used to gently and comfortably hold your eyelid open and you will be unable to blink. However, your eye will not dry out because it will be irrigated with a soothing balanced salt solution.
Q: When will I be able to see well?
A: Each patient is different. The eye drop medications cause some blurring, but immediately following laser eye surgery most people notice that their vision is better. However, for several hours it may seem like you are looking through a foggy haze. This clears rapidly. By the next day approximately 80 percent of patients see 20/20 or better. Nearly all have 20/40 or better, and more than 4 out of 5 patients can pass a driving test without glasses or contact lenses after the treatment.
Q: How much time do I need to be off work?
A: This really depends on your job. Most patients are back to work full-time the day after treatment. An additional day or two is rarely required before returning to work. If you can we, recommend that you take it easy for a couple of days. It is critical that you avoid all contact with your eyes, such as rubbing, for several days to allow the outer surface of the cornea to heal properly. PRK requires three to five days of recovery, occasionally longer depending upon original prescription, with a gradual improvement in vision over that time.
Q: When does my new vision become permanent?
A: Vision is usually dramatically improved within first twenty-four hours. Then, it is normal for vision to fluctuate from day to day, especially for first couple of weeks. How quickly your vision clears depends primarily on your prescription. Normally, it takes six to eight weeks for your vision to stabilize completely. The correction achieved is extremely stable and laser eye correction is permanent once healing is complete. This permanence and stability is one of the reasons that laser eye surgery is now so popular and well accepted. However, all eyes can change over time, and no surgery can prevent underlying changes such as cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, or presbyopia .
Q: Can my vision results be guaranteed?
A: Even though LASIK is exceedingly precise, variations in visual outcome can arise due to variations in individual healing and other factors. As in any medical procedure, particularly surgery or LASIK, there can be no absolute guarantee of results in any specific case.
Q: Will I need glasses or contacts after LASIK?
A: The goal of refractive surgery is to reduce your dependence on glasses and/or contact lenses, but LASIK patients still may benefit from reading glasses or distance glasses when they desire perfect near or distance vision. A nominal percentage of patients wear a thin pair of prescription glasses for night driving. The majority of our patients are within one or two lines of 20/20 vision after the procedure. Some patients with extremely high degrees of correction may still require glasses after surgery, but they will have thinner lenses. Six months after the FDA clinical study, without glasses or contacts:
- 100% of participants could pass a driving test
- 94% of participants could see 20/20 or better
- 74% of participants could see better than 20/20
Individuals who wear reading glasses before the surgery will most likely continue to need them afterwards. This is because the need for reading glasses is caused by presbyopia, an age-related condition that happens to all of us somewhere after forty years of age.
Q: Is there a treatment for presbyopia?
A: Presbyopia is the term that refers to the natural weakening of the focusing muscles that occurs in our early to mid 40s, causing us to need the magnification that reading glasses provide. The LASIK treatment does not correct or prevent presbyopia. If you are older than 40 years of age, you will likely need reading glasses unless LASIK monovision eye correction is performed, where one eye is corrected for distance and the other for near vision.
Q: Will I experience glare or halos at night?
A: With the new, expanded treatment zones of the lasers, night vision symptoms have been greatly reduced. The CustomVue Wavefront optimized laser eye surgery procedure will prevent to creation of higher order aberrations which in the past had caused some patients to experience night driving and glare symptoms. Many patients found their night vision was improved after their Wavefront guided LASIK procedure. In fact, in the FDA clinical study, more participants were very satisfied with their night vision after the procedure without glasses or contacts as compared to their night vision before with glasses or contacts.
Q: Does insurance cover LASIK?
A: In most cases, insurance does not cover LASIK. You should expect to pay for your procedure in full at time of surgery. Any available reimbursement by insurance company will be made directly to you. For more information, please refer to our Financing page.
Q: Does Cutarelli Vision offer financing?
A: Yes! At Cutarelli Vision, we believe that financial considerations should not be an obstacle to obtaining this procedure. Being sensitive to the fact that different patients have different needs, we provide several flexible payment options. Please read our LASIK Financing page for more information.
Q: What if I have more questions?
A: CLICK HERE to ask your questions.
