Frequently Asked Questions

For every surgery, the surgeon is of paramount importance. In LASIK and SafeSight TransPRK a capable surgeon will keep surgical complications in check. Furthermore, reduced time taken during surgery done by a capable surgeon will result in an accurate results. As such, you may want to make sure the surgeon is well capable in laser refractive procedures and is board certified. You may also want to check if he has a good reputation in the community, and if he is committed to his patients before, during and after the surgery.

No, the procedure is done completely under local anesthesia via eye drops. The eye drops are instilled just before the surgery and will numb the eyes so that there is no pain felt throughout the procedure.

If you’re a contact lens wearer, you must stop wearing them for about 2 to 3 days, for soft contact lens and 10 days for hard contact lens/ Ortho-K lens) prior to the surgery. 

You should rest at home and observe good hygiene. Do not touch your eyes and eyelids with dirty hands or apply the prescribed eyedrops without first washing your hands clean. Avoid crowded and dirty places and take care to ensure that dirty water from washing your face or hair do not get into your eyes. You should also refrain from rubbing your eyes for the first five days post surgery. At this first sign of severe pain or redness of the eyes or abnormal eye discharges, you should contact your eye doctor for an immediate eye review to avoid an eye infection.

There is no minimum power i.e. people with 100 degrees of myopia can still go for refractive surgery. The maximum power for safe myopia correction is usually limited to 1,300 degrees. For astigmatism, we usually do not treat patients with more than 400 degrees of astigmatism. For hyperopia of more than 300 degrees or for those suffering from more than 1,300 degrees of myopia, lens implant or ICL surgery is the suitable option.

Enhancement surgery may be recommended for some patients who have significant amounts of residual eye power six months or more after the initial procedure. However, this depends on whether there is enough cornea tissue thickness to allow safe enhancement. For ReLEx SMILE patients, enhancement is possible only through a different technique i.e. Advanced Surface Ablation methods such as SafeSight TransPRK. For LASIK patients who need enhancements, if the residual cornea thickness beneath the flap is too thin, Advanced Surface Ablation methods such as SafeSight TransPRK can be done on the flap surface.

Most people have the misconception that the laser itself is what could cause the blindness (from watching horror movies etc.) But in reality, eye infection after the surgery is the real cause of any form of complications leading to visual impairment. That being said, it is very rare and if infection does occur, it is typically minor.

When laser vision correction started, the industry standard was to do one eye at a time. However with advances in technology and technique, it is acceptable and safe to go for bilateral laser vision correction as the risk of serious simultaneous bilateral complications is low. Today, Many patients (over 98%) will opt to do the surgery on both eyes at the same time for convenience in terms of taking medical leave and having to go through the discomfort of the recovery process twice. Furthermore, if patients opt to do one eye at a time, they will feel the discomfort and disruption of having imbalance vision during the interim period between the first and the second eye.

The procedure is contra-indicated in pregnancy. Women who are breastfeeding should not go for the procedure unless the baby is over eighteen months of age where the risk of eye drops medications affecting the child is low. But if you want to be completely safe, go for the surgery only after you have stopped breastfeeding your child.

Yes, soft contact lenses, including cosmetic lenses can still be worn but only after 3 months. Hard lenses cannot be worn as they tend to slip due to the altered cornea curvatures.

No, as laser vision correction surgery and cataract surgery take place at a different parts of the eye. Your eye surgeon will need to factor in the new cornea curvature when making the calculation and selection of the intra-ocular lens implant for the cataract surgery.