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The LASIK Procedure

Are You a Candidate for LASIK?

Not everyone who wears glasses or contacts is a candidate for LASIK. You must have the correct corneal thickness, eye health and general health for the procedure to be an effective option.

The only way to know for sure if your eyes are LASIK-ready is to schedule a LASIK Consultation at Carolinas Centers for Sight, P.C. We will perform a comprehensive, comfortable exam of your eyes and recommend the best treatment option for reducing your dependence on glasses or contact lenses:

  • Blade-free LASIK
  • PRK (for patients with high refractive errors or thin corneas)
  • Intraocular Collamer Lens (for patients with high refractive errors or thin corneas)
  • Multifocal Intraocular Lens (IOL) for early cataract removal

Preparing For Your LASIK Consult

  • Bring a driver with you as you will be dilated
  • Bring dark sunglesses because your eyes will be light-sensitive
  • Do not wear soft contacts for two weeks before your consultation, toric lenses for three weeks and gas permeable or hard contacts for five weeks
  • Expect to spend two to three hours for your testing and appointment with Dr. Greene

During your LASIK Consultation, you will meet with Dr. Howard Greene and be able to ask him all your questions about LASIK. Our entire team will provide you with honest, straightforward answers to your questions so you can decide for yourself if LASIK is right for you.

General LASIK Guidelines

  • At least 21 years old
  • Stable vision prescription for at least one year
  • No existing eye disease
  • Good general health

For your first step toward LASIK surgery, take our free online LASIK Self Test. It’s a short questionnaire that gives immediate feedback about your possible candidacy for LASIK. Keep in mind that it does not take the place of an in-office consultation, which includes extensive testing.

Schedule a Consultation to Learn about Your Options

Call to Schedule
(843) 664-9393
LASIK Self Evaluation

What to Expect During a LASIK Procedure

Tech overlay on an eye

LASIK vision correction has been performed on literally millions of people worldwide. At Carolinas Centers for Sight, P.C., Dr. Howard N. Greene performs blade-free LASIK along with excimer laser technology to help patients improve their vision – often resulting in the reduction or elimination of glasses and contacts.

If you are deemed a good candidate for LASIK by Dr. Greene and decide to have the procedure at our South Carolina LASIK Surgery Suite, here are the steps on the day of surgery which is done in the mornings:

  1. Our team will administer numbing eye drops and have you relax until it is time for your surgery.
  2. You will be directed into the LASIK surgery suite for your procedure.
  3. Dr. Greene will use the IntraLase F60 femtosecond laser technology (the blade-free part of the procedure) to create a corneal flap. A special ring and an instrument to gently flatten your cornea is applied immediately prior to using the IntraLase laser. This is not painful, but rather will give you a feeling of slight pressure. This flap creation step takes 15-30 seconds per eye.
  4. Dr. Greene then uses the Allegretto Wave® Eye-Q excimer laser to precisely reshape the corneal tissue. This step is based on earlier 3D Wavelight information about your unique refractive error.
  5. The flap is gently replaced and allowed to begin healing immediately.

The LASIK surgery procedure takes about 10 minutes per eye.  You will be in the office for 2 to 3 hours for your pre-op counseling, prepping for surgery, the procedure and then Dr. Greene will check your flap.  You will come back that same day in the afternoon for a brief post-op appointment.

Typical recovery time for blade-free LASIK is 1 or 2 days. However, your experience may be dependent on the overall health of your eyes.

Benefits of All Laser Blade-Free LASIK

Our IntraLase F60 femtosecond laser provides precise flap-making technology that can lead to safer and superior outcomes due to decreased flap-related complications. To date, over 15 million patients worldwide have chosen IntraLase.

LASIK FAQs

All LASIK and PRK procedures are considered to be painless for most patients. There is little to no discomfort because these surgeries are performed under a topical anesthesia, or numbing eye drops. During the healing period of 2 to 3 days, some patients experience a slight discomfort similar to feeling as if there is an eyelash in the eye. This discomfort is a little greater and may last longer after PRK than after LASIK procedures.

The procedure takes about 15 minutes per eye. However, plan to be in the office for a couple of hours. During this time we will finalize testing to determine the individualized correction needed for your vision and program this information into the laser. The procedure will be explained ahead of time. You will be prepped for surgery and a post-op kit with instructions will be given to you.

This is a state-of-the-art procedure that requires minimal downtime. The great majority of people who have LASIK are able to return to work the following day or the day after. We do require same day, 1 week and 1 month post-op visits and other visits as indicated to monitor your healing progress.

Most patients notice an immediate improvement in their vision. For some, their vision may remain blurry or hazy for the first several hours after surgery, but vision usually improves quickly.

A. One year after surgery, 100% of LASIK patients were able to pass a driving test, over 90% had 20/20 vision or better and 70% could see 20/15 or better.* At Carolinas Centers for Sight, P.C., our goal is to reduce your dependence on corrective lenses. However, not everyone will achieve 20/20 uncorrected vision.

*Source: International Society of Refractive Surgery

Ask questions to make sure you are comparing prices for the same procedure. The primary question to ask is whether a microkeratome blade (conventional LASIK) or a femtosecond laser (blade-free LASIK) will be used to make the flap. Blade-free LASIK using the femtosecond laser is the most advanced laser vision correction technology and is used exclusively at Carolinas Centers for Sight, P.C. Our surgical teams are highly-skilled and use only FDA-approved, state-of-the-art femtosecond and excimer laser equipment. In addition, Wavefront optimized technology provides better outcomes than conventional LASIK. At Carolinas Centers for Sight, P.C., we use Wavefront optimized LASIK and PRK exclusively.

Unfortunately, most insurance providers consider LASIK to be an elective procedure and do not cover it under medical policies. However, we will be happy to contact your insurance provider to determine if there is any coverage or discount offered. Also, some vision policies offer a special add-on for LASIK surgery.  If you have vision insurance and a discount is offered for LASIK, Carolinas Centers for Sight, P.C. will honor this discount for most vision policies.

Schedule a Consultation to Learn about Your Options

The first step to find out if you need LASIK surgery is a comprehensive eye exam with one of our Board Certified Ophthalmologists at Carolinas Center for Sight.

Call to Schedule
(843) 664-9393
Schedule a Consultation

Meet Our LASIK Specialist

Howard N. Greene, MD
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