LASIK Surgery Reading PA

You likely have many friends and family members who have had LASIK surgery, and based on their great experiences, you might be considering LASIK for yourself. LASIK surgery in Reading PA is available at Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania. Let’s explore one of our most frequently asked questions we get from our patients.

LASIK Tests

Our patients are very interesting in LASIK, but often ask our team how much testing is involved. Proper testing is important so that we can adequately screen you as a candidate for LASIK. The testing is fairly similar in duration to the testing you have as part of your regular eye exam.

With LASIK, it is very important to accurately measure pupil size, and we do so with special devices. People with larger pupils are sometimes at higher risk for glare and halos around lights after LASIK surgery, so we want to be sure to do these measurements thoroughly.

The topography, or surface characteristics, of the cornea are extremely important. In fact, we make a customized map of the cornea prior to surgery, and the surgeon uses that map to reshape the cornea during LASIK surgery. You probably learned about topography in geography class. In our case, corneal topography is a method we use to provide a surface image of the cornea. It provides detail on the contours and front and back surfaces of the cornea, and provides information on the corneal thickness. If your corneas are too thin, you may not be a candidate for LASIK. However, most people have a sufficient thickness to the cornea.

Dry Eye Testing

If you have dry eye prior to LASIK, you will have a higher risk of having the condition after surgery. We measure the time it takes for the tear film to break up, which gives us information on the quality of the tear film. A test called the Shirmers test determines tear film quantity to make sure you have sufficient tears. If we detect dry eye prior to surgery, we begin treatment so that the situation is remedied by the time surgery occurs. We use artificial tear therapies to replenish the tear film prior to surgery, and may recommend nutrient supplements like fish oil or flax to replenish the omega oils in the tear film. We will re-evaluate you before LASIK is performed.

Other Tests

We may also need to perform a contrast sensitivity test such as the Hamilton-Veale Contrast Sensitivity Test or the Mars Letter Contrast Sensitivity Test to understand your functional vision. This test goes beyond the standard Snellen chart used during a regular eye exam to have you contrast images.

If we suspect that you have higher order aberrations (HOA), we may perform wavefront testing. HOA are refractive errors more complex than standard nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. HOA cannot be corrected with regular eyeglasses or contact lenses, nor can they be corrected with standard LASIK. The HOA may cause significant problems with night vision or even double vision. The wavefront test helps us better see and examine these aberrations so that we can determine any impact the HOA have on your vision. We may opt to use wavefront guided LASIK rather than standard LASIK; this technique can reduce the HOA so that you have a better visual outcome of your LASIK procedure.

Leave the Testing To Us

If you are interested in LASIK surgery, come see us. For those of you who live or work in Reading PA, LASIK surgery is right here in town at Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania. Give us a call today to become our next new patient.