How to Choose a Great Lasik Surgeon

Custom Wavefront Lasik...VISX Star S4 excimer laser...Free Consultation...Lasik Specialist... Where do you start when choosing a Lasik surgeon for your eyes? For example in Sacramento, California, there are 18 Lasik Surgeons, 8 Lasik Centers, 4 Different types of lasers for Lasik surgery. How do you know where to go? How do you decide what doctor to see?

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Lasik surgery is performed on approximately one million eyes every year in the world. There are more than five thousand surgeons who perform Lasik surgery. How do you find a truly great laser eye surgeon for your pair of nearsighted or farsighted eye? And, of course, there's always astigmatism...

A good place to start is the nature of the laser vision doctor who will be performing the operation on the only pair of eyes you have. Meet the Lasik surgeon for a free consultation and talk to him/her for a few minutes. Is this someone who treats you

Lasik Surgeon Checklist
# Lasik Cases by Surgeon 500+
% Enhancements 5-10%
Can you talk to past patients? Yes
Complications? Few; none serious
Wavefront Custom Lasik? Yes
20/20 or better 90+%
Who does the measurements Surgeon
Accessibility of Lasik Surgeon Personal telephone number
Postoperative Care Surgeon
Duration of Care Unlimited
Free Lasik Consultation? Yes
Price of Surgery $1500-$2500 per eye
Price of Enhancments Minimal
Price of Plugs Free
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as a unique individual with your own special visual needs? Is this someone who lets you ask your questions and answers them in specifics? Is this someone you feel comfortable with?

Investigate the results of the Lasik surgeon. It is important that he/she has done a minimum of 500 cases – experience counts! Have the results of the surgeries resulted in more than 90% of the patients seeing 20/20 or better? Does the surgeon need to do an enhancement surgery in more than 10% of the cases? Are the patients happy? Can you call or email some of the past patients to see what the procedure was like? What kind of complications has the surgeon experienced? Anything serious? All surgeons have had a few minor complications, so this question may be a test of character.

What kind of surgery will you be having? Custom Wavefront is truly the state of the art procedure. Traditional Lasik began in 1989 and usually results in an 80% chance of seeing 20/20 for nearsighted persons; Wavefront Lasik was approved in 2003 and allows up to a 98% chance of 20/20 for nearsighted person. Everyone who qualifies for the Custom Wavefront Lasik should have it (it also improves night vision and reduces glare.) It is a little more expensive (the laser companies recoup their research money) but it’s worth it.

Who does the measurements and the Custom Wavefront calculations? Is it the Lasik surgeon or a technician whose degree of training may be quite variable? This data is used to treat your eye. It is critical that its gathering and its entry be 100% accurate.

And, the follow-up after surgery… How accessible is the Lasik surgeon? Do you have a cell phone number? A home telephone number? Does the surgeon even live in the community or is he/she doing surgery in another city or state the next day?

It is essential to see the surgeon the day after surgery. It’s unlikely but sometimes flaps need to be adjusted or irrigated – only the Lasik surgeon can do that! And can you see the surgeon on a regular basis after surgery or are you ‘cut off’ after three months or so?

Last of all, the price. Is it worthwhile to cut corners here? The average price in Sacramento is $2,000 per eye which should get you Traditional or Custom Wavefront Lasik. That’s what most people end up paying, even when they bring in the ad that says “$394 per eye”. You get what you pay for…

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