Carter Eye Lasik Vision Correction Blog

When you start to look for a good LASIK surgeon, it is best to take your time about it and be thorough. Look into each surgeon’s background, qualifications and experience because you would not want to entrust your vision to someone unqualified or a doctor who would be practicing on your eyes.

You can collect some names by doing Google searches for your area, such as “LASIK surgeon Dallas” or “Houston Eye surgeon”. Each website will have a page on the surgeon’s training and qualifications. Make sure it states that the surgeon is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, because that certification makes it legal for the doctor to practice in the U.S.

When you have a short list of potential LASIK surgeons, contact each one to schedule a free consultation. Bring a written list of all your questions. If a surgeon does not seem to have time to answer them clearly, move on to the next surgeon. You would want to choose one who communicates clearly and takes time to make sure you understand your vision correction surgery.

The Surgeon’s Experience
When you are talking with each LASIK surgeon, ask him or her how long they have been in practice and how many times they have performed LASIK (expect 1,000 or more times). Make sure they offer Custom LASIK rather than only traditional LASIK. Custom LASIK gives better results, especially for night vision.

LASIK Costs
Be sure and ask about cost. Make sure that any prices quoted to you are the complete cost. There may be hidden costs, especially if the price seems very low. On average, LASIK costs range between about $1600 to $2300 per eye, depending on what exact procedure is done and whether Wavefront technology is used. Expect some financing help from the surgeon’s office. Many work with a third party healthcare financing company and you can obtain excellent terms.

Once you have chosen your LASIK surgeon, follow his or her instructions exactly. You are paying for this expertise and knowledge born of experience, as well as for the long years of schooling. LASIK complications are sometimes the result of the patient’s ignoring the surgeon’s recovery instructions.

By choosing your LASIK surgeon wisely and then following his or her instructions, you can ensure best results for your laser vision correction. Please contact Carter Eye Center today to schedule your free consultation and learn more about how LASIK can improve your vision.

IntraLase (also called IntraLASIK and blade-free LASIK) is one of the LASIK alternative procedures. It is often an excellent option for people who are not good candidates for LASIK because of their corneal thickness.

IntraLase uses a second laser to create the corneal flap before treatment begins. The LASIK flap requires a minimum corneal thickness but not everyone has that. But if you have thinner-than-average corneas, you can still have laser vision correction (other things being equal), and IntraLase is a choice we offer here at Carter Eye Center.

Two Lasers Used
The second laser is an extraordinarily fast-pulsed laser and highly programmable. According to your treatment plan, Dr. Carter will set this laser to penetrate only so far into the cornea, and only within the designated treatment area. Each pulse creates a microscopically tiny bubble beneath the corneal surface and the laser scans back and forth across the treatment area until it is entirely filled with these bubbles. It takes only seconds.

This has the effect of loosening surface tissue in a very precise way. Dr. Carter can then gently lift a thin layer of cells, move it to the side, and proceed safely with your vision correction plan. The IntraLase laser creates a custom-thin flap that will heal by itself with no stitches necessary. In LASIK, the flap is created with a microkeratome, a sophisticated and very precise blade. But it cannot create as thin a flap as the IntraLase laser can.

Vision improvement after IntraLase can be as dramatic as after LASIK. You can have the same Wavefront diagnosis that is done for Custom LASIK, and this gives a more precise treatment than was done in the early LASIK procedures before Wavefront technology was developed.

If you would like to know more about LASIK, IntraLase, and another alternative we offer called LASEK, please call or email our vision correction office today to schedule a free personal consultation.