Am I eligible?

Eligibility

The vast majority of people who wear glasses or contact lenses are also suitable for
laser eye surgery. However, surgery may not be appropriate if certain eye disorders
or general health conditions are present. A consultation is needed in order to confirm suitability.

To be suitable for laser surgery patients must:

• Have had no significant change in optical prescription over the last 12 months
• Have no eye disease
• Be in good general health
• Not have unstable or uncontrolled diabetes
• Not have Keratoconus
• Not have unreasonable expectations of what can be achieved by surgery

Is age a factor?

• Yes, age is an important factor when considering laser surgery.
• Age 18 is the minimum at which surgery is generally advisable, because the
  optical prescription is generally stable by then.
• There is no upper age limit for having the surgery, but other factors (e.g. onset
  of cataract) may be more relevant.
• People who are older than 45 years of age are generally wearing bifocal (or multifocal) glasses or reading glasses. In these cases the laser can be used to make one eye see clearly for long distance and the other eye see clearly for reading and close-up work. This is called "monovision", and although it sounds odd to have the two eyes see things differently, clinical experience over many years has shown that it can work very well. Monovision can quickly and easily be demonstrated using contact lenses, and this helps determine a patient's suitability. For people who wear only reading glasses, it is possible to have the laser treatment to only one eye, in order to make it the 'reading eye' -- the other eye remains untouched so that it continues to see clearly for distance. For people over 45 years of age who are having laser eye surgery, monovision is a very convenient form of optical correction as it avoids the need to carry around reading glasses all the time.