The most important step when considering refractive surgery is to be evaluated to see if you are a candidate. Not everyone is a candidate for surgery and we find that approximately one out of three people considering surgery should not have it done.

We like to spend about an hour making an evaluation in the office. If you are a contact lens wearer, you can wear your lenses for this evaluation. We do detailed mapping of the corneal surface, measure the amount of prescription that needs to be corrected, measure optical aberrations that are on the corneal surface and inside the eye use a wavescan device. We also measure the tear film, corneal thickness and pupil size both in dim and bright light. We examine the cornea with a slit lamp and check for cataract. The pupil is not dilated during this exam so driving home is not affected. We can then see if you are in the safe range and discuss your own likely outcome. Every person is different and unique. If you are a candidate we can then make plans. A comprehensive detailed exam is then scheduled to be preformed prior to surgery which requires contact lenses to be out and also to have the pupil dilated.