Candidacy depends on your age, the health of your eyes, the stability of your prescription, and your overall medical history. Most candidates are at least 18 for milder nearsightedness, or at least 21 for higher prescriptions, significant astigmatism, or farsightedness, with a prescription that has been stable for at least a year, since a shifting prescription can affect long-term results. Because iDesign measures so much more of the eye, more people qualify than with earlier LASIK technology, including patients with higher astigmatism and patients over 40 who want better reading vision through monovision.
Your corneas must be thick and healthy enough to be safely reshaped. Keratoconus rules out laser reshaping, and conditions such as dry eye or an active eye infection may need to be managed first. If LASIK is not the right fit, Dr. Boutros may recommend CustomVue PRK, a surface treatment on the same Advanced CustomVue platform, or the EVO Visian ICL, an implantable collamer lens for patients outside the laser treatment range. You will leave your consultation knowing which options are open to you.
Pregnancy and nursing, severe autoimmune disease, and medications such as isotretinoin (Accutane) or amiodarone (Cordarone) can affect healing and eligibility. Patients who are very physically active or who have occupational vision requirements, such as pilots, should raise those needs so the plan can account for them. A thorough consultation with Dr. Boutros is the only way to know for certain whether iDesign 2.0 is right for you.
