Question
The main consideration in your situation is really that you are old enough that your vision has more or less stabilized – by 18/19 this should be the case.
I would say 1 month is sufficient time to allocate for recovery before the start of medical school, just to err on the side of caution in your case.
Absolutely YAY! As long as your spectacle refraction has stabilised, you have been off your contact lenses for over 5 days, and are over 18 (please bring a parent or legal guardian to give us permission to do the surgery), or 21 years old (You can come by yourself or bring a friend for moral support!) you may certainly consider coming for an assessment and performance of LASIK! Doing so earlier in your life means that you get to enjoy your spectacle-free vision for an even longer period of time.
For a long-time many patients always wondered why their Ophthalmologist was still wearing glasses? There are many of the current generation of Ophthalmologists that have had their laser-refractive surgery done already so don’t let the ambition of a micro-surgical residency dissuade you from LASIK. The options of LASIK, PiXL or ICL now means that there is an option suitable for everyone.
Hi Susanne In the first step of the LASIK procedure, a ‘flap’ is created using a femtosecond laser (or, in the past, a special blade called a microkeratome). During this step, the laser is ‘connected’/docked to the eye with a ring-like device that grips the white part of your eye. You can watch an animation here: There are many small blood vessels on this part of the eye, and sometimes the suction pressure providing the grip may cause some of the blood vessels to leak some blood, causing red patches after the LASIK.
Punctal plugs are very effective for treating dry eyes that occur during waking hours, whether or not the situation is associated with LASIK. They help to reduce the need for eyedrops, so are very useful for people who have to use artificial tears very frequently eg instead of having to use the eyedrops every 2-3 hourly, sometimes after the plugs are placed, the eyedrops might only be needed every 4-6 hourly. As long as there is no active eye inflammation (eg persistent eye redness/discharge), punctal plugs can help anyone with moderate dry eyes requiring frequent eyedrop instillation.
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