Lasik or Laser In-SItu Keratomilieusis surgery has become a well known remedy for people with problems like myopia, nearsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia etc and are interested to know more about its risks, success rate, after effects, surgery cost, recovery duration etc.

Actually, not everyone with eye sight problems is suitable for the Laser eye surgery. Before even arranging an appointment with a qualified Laser surgeon, go through the following checklist to see if you are a good candidate for the eye correction.

Firstly, younger individuals below 18 years old are defintely not suitable for Lasik eye surgery. Eye problems such as short sightedness will constantly deteroriate during teenages years and will only gradually stablize when the age of mid twenties are reached. The shape of your eyes is being affected by your body growth which stops when puberty, rangeing from age 12 to 25, is fully completed.

Some eye physicians even recommend the cut-off age to be 25 in some cases. There is really no point in trying to correct your eyes this early since any improvements made to the shape of your eyes will be undone by further growth. Furthermore, your vision prescription must have been relatively stable for around a year, indicating there are likely no further growth or changes in the eye shape.

This is necessary such that the shape of your eyes will remain final and constant after the Laser surgery. Your general medical and health history is also an important factor to determine if you can undergo the eye surgery. Your eyes must be healthy and have no existing conditions such as eye infection or injury for the past twelve months. There must not be any scarring on the eye cornea or a history of recurring eye diseases or herpes infection in the eyes. The dilation of your eyes should also be within a certain degree. Women who are pregnant or nursing are not suitable to have Laser. If you have certain chronic conditions such as Lupus, you should not schedule a Lasik procedure.

Finally, the main and most important requirement for adults is to simply have sufficient tear production which is necessary for successful eye healing and lubrication after the surgery. If you tend to have minor dry eyes, your doctor may still deem you as suitable by prescribing eye lubricating medication to aid your healing process. While there is no upper age limit for having Laser eye correction, senior people are more likely to suffer from insufficient tear production. There are already many many patients in their fifties to eighties that have successful Lasik operations and improve their eye sight problems.

The Laser eye surgery is generally very safe and success rate is around 99 percent. Since 1993, LASIK laser eye surgery has been widely performed in the US and according to the FDA, there are now more than a million Lasik procedures being performed US every year in the US. About 1.7% of patients experience some sort of sensitivity to strong light after the Lasik procedure.

The onset of side effects depends on the patient's existing eye conditions, how well the surgey was performed, and the post operation care. Most patients experience some minor discomfort when looking at a bright light source, such as a table lamp or even watching television in a dark room. This generally occurs when the eye pupils are dilating under low light conditions and then a sudden brightness is encountered. Around 3.5% of Lasik patients also see blurry halo patterns around light sources.

Although eye vision improvements can be noticed by some Lasik patients within several hours after surgery, it takes up to a week for the eye conditon to stablize. During this post surgery recovery period, around 2.6% of patients experienced some fluctuations in the clarity of their vision. For example, they may see things in front clearly at a moment but it becomes blur the next instant, while things of the side are always clearly seen.

Finally, around 3% of patients still require some form of corrective eyewear after their Lasik surgery. A second surgery can be performed to correct this problem, although the recommended approach is to wait for the eye conditions to really stablize.

If you want the Laser surgery to improve your lifestyle, do contact established Lasik surgeons in your city for further discussions. You probably want to search for feedback and recommendations from relatives and friends who have undergone Lasik successfully. Go over and read about the guide to selecting lasik surgeons for more details. You can also go opt for a newer procedure that offers reduced vision risks known as the IntraLasik eye operation. Do note that the Laser surgery costs can vary very widely between cities or even among different clinics within the same city.