If you have complications with your eyesight that require you to wear glasses or contact lenses, it can be frustrating. You have to keep up with your glasses or may do activities that prevent you from wearing them. If you wear contact lenses, there is the hassle of having to take them in and out each day and making sure you don’t tear them while rushing out the door after oversleeping. The worst situations are when you’re out on vacation and have a contact that tears or falls down the drain, and you hope you remembered to pack your glasses.

Whew… that’s a lot to stress about. If you’re through hassling with glasses and contacts, consider corrective laser eye surgery. The Laser Eye Center at UofL Health – Medical Center East offers patients refractive eye surgery procedures including LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses) and PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) procedures. Both procedures can be used to treat eye disorders such as:

  • Nearsightedness (myopia) – when close objects appear clear, but objects that are farther away appear blurry; occurs if the eyeball is too long or the cornea has too much curvature
  • Farsightedness (hyperopia) – when distant objects appear clear, but close objects do not come into clear focus; occurs if the eyeball is too short or the cornea has too little curvature
  • Astigmatism – blurred vision created from the prevention of light properly focusing on the retina; occurs from an irregularly shaped cornea or the irregular curvature of the lens inside the eye

Am I a candidate for these options?

Not everyone is eligible for both LASIK and PRK. Guidelines for a good candidate include:

  • Being at least 18 years of age (21 in cases of astigmatism) because your vision tends to change more frequently in people younger than 18.
  • You should not have this procedure if you are pregnant or breastfeeding because these conditions can affect eye measurements.
  • You should not have this procedure if you take certain prescription drugs, such as Accutane, Cardarone, Imitrex or oral prednisone.
  • You should have healthy eyes with a stable prescription.
  • You should be in good general health. LASIK may not be recommended for patients with diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, glaucoma, herpes infections of the eye or cataracts.
  • You should discuss any other health concerns with your LASIK surgeon before undergoing the procedure.

If you have more questions, be sure to speak with your eye care specialists. UofL Physicians – Eye Specialists offers comprehensive eye care to patients. Offering the largest multispecialty team of ophthalmologists in Louisville, treating a broad range of eye disorders at the Laser Eye Center at Medical Center East. The Laser Eye Center is also the site for the training of residents from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky.

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Article by: UofL Health

UofL Health is a fully integrated regional academic health system with eight hospitals, four medical centers, Brown Cancer Center, Eye Institute, nearly 200 physician practice locations, and more than 1,000 providers in Louisville and the surrounding counties, including southern Indiana. Additional access to UofL Health is provided through a partnership with Carroll County Memorial Hospital. With more than 13,000 team members – physicians, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists and other highly-skilled health care professionals, UofL Health is focused on one mission: to transform the health of communities we serve through compassionate, innovative, patient-centered care.

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