Eye health resource
Are You a Good Candidate for LASIK?
LASIK candidacy depends on more than age or prescription. Learn how prescription stability, corneal shape and thickness, dry eye, health history, medications, pregnancy, and realistic expectations affect whether laser vision correction may be appropriate.
Reviewed for accuracy by Justin Bazan, OD on .
The only reliable way to know whether LASIK is appropriate for you is to have a refractive-surgery evaluation. Being an adult with nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism is not enough by itself. The surgeon needs to consider your prescription, corneal measurements, eye health, medical history, medications, visual goals, and tolerance for the procedure's tradeoffs.
Park Slope Eye does not perform LASIK or PRK onsite. We can help with preoperative discussion and eye-health assessment, referral to an ophthalmic surgeon, and postoperative co-management when appropriate. The surgeon makes the final candidacy and procedure decision.
Your Prescription Should Be Stable
LASIK permanently changes corneal focusing power, so an actively changing prescription can make the surgical result less predictable. A surgeon will review whether your prescription has been reasonably stable and whether the amount and type of refractive error fall within the treatment range of the planned laser system.
A prescription that changed during the past year may be a reason to delay surgery rather than rush into it.
Your Corneas Need to Be Suitable for Surgery
LASIK involves creating a corneal flap and reshaping tissue underneath it. Corneal shape and thickness therefore matter. Screening commonly looks for conditions or patterns that could make the cornea less safe to treat, including keratoconus or other abnormal corneal topography.
Someone who is not an ideal LASIK candidate may sometimes be better suited to PRK or another option, but that decision belongs to the refractive surgeon after complete testing.
Dry Eye and Ocular-Surface Health Matter
LASIK can worsen dry-eye symptoms, sometimes substantially. If you already have burning, fluctuating vision, grittiness, contact-lens intolerance, or frequent artificial-tear use, those symptoms should be discussed before final surgical measurements.
Treating significant ocular-surface disease first may improve comfort and the reliability of preoperative measurements.
Your General Health and Medications Matter Too
Conditions or medications that affect healing can influence whether refractive surgery is advisable or when it should be performed. The surgeon should know about autoimmune disease, diabetes, immune-system problems, previous eye disease or surgery, and all prescription and over-the-counter medicines that may be relevant.
Do not stop a prescribed medication on your own in preparation for LASIK. Medication changes should be directed by the appropriate clinician.
Pregnancy or Breastfeeding Can Affect Timing
Pregnancy and breastfeeding can be associated with temporary prescription and corneal changes. Rather than relying on a generic online rule about waiting a specific number of months, discuss timing with the refractive surgeon once your vision and health have stabilized.
Age 18 Is a Minimum, Not a Guarantee of Candidacy
LASIK lasers are not approved in the United States for people under age 18. But turning 18 does not automatically make someone a good candidate. Prescription stability, corneal development, lifestyle, eye health, and expectations still matter, and some younger adults may benefit from waiting.
Realistic Expectations Are Part of Being a Good Candidate
LASIK can reduce dependence on glasses or contact lenses, but it cannot promise perfect vision for every task or guarantee that you will never need eyewear again.
Possible tradeoffs include dry eye, glare, halos, starbursts, night-vision difficulty, under-correction, over-correction, and the possibility of needing glasses, contact lenses, or an enhancement afterward.
LASIK also does not stop presbyopia, the age-related loss of near focusing ability. Someone who has excellent distance vision after surgery may still need reading correction as they get older.
What Happens Next?
If you are interested in laser vision correction, start with a current eye-health and prescription assessment and a discussion of your goals. Park Slope Eye can help determine whether referral for a surgical evaluation makes sense and can coordinate care with an outside surgeon when appropriate.
Learn more about LASIK and PRK co-management, or book an appointment online.
Originally published . Substantially updated .