LASIK FAQs

Several factors are used to assess your suitability for treatment, these include your age (usually over 20), your vision (preferably unchanged for the previous 12 months), the health of your eyes (free of any eye disease) and your general health. It is also preferable that you are not pregnant.

If you are not suitable for lasik, there are now many other excellent options available please discuss with our doctors.

The procedures we use are among the safest and most successful in the world. You can feel reassured that you are in excellent hands.

You will be given full instructions, prior to your surgery day being confirmed. However, the following is a guide to ensure your comfort and safety:

• Please arrive a few minutes early to your appointment time.
• You will be at our premises for around 2-3 hours.
• Before the operation, you may shower or wash as normal.
• You may like to wash your hair, and it is not recommended you wash your hair again for 2 days after the operation.
• Please avoid wearing any make up or perfume, and do not bring any jewellery with you.
• At the time that your appointment or consultation is made, you will be told how long you should fast for. Please adhere to the guides you are given.
• You should not wear contact lenses for at least 48 hours before your cataract surgery. Depending on your individual circumstances, you may be asked to use eye drops prior to surgery.
• You may take your usual medications. Please bring them with you to the hospital.
• It is recommended that you bring a friend along. They can be present during the operation, and are required to drive you home.
• Ready to see how we can help you?
• We offer FREE Vision Correction, no obligation suitability assessment: we will thoroughly examine and measure your eyes, and discuss the options that will suit your lifestyle and your eyes.

Millions of people undergo this type of operation in complete comfort and safety.

Prior to the operation, your Anaesthetist will ask you about any previous anaesthetic history, and check your heart and blood pressure. A painless local anaesthetic may be applied to your eye, and drops will be inserted to dilate the pupil. The skin around your eye will be cleaned.

During the operation, you are likely to feel drowsy due to the sedation. You will hear what is going on around you and the surgeon’s hands on your face. In fact, your surgeon will usually explain to you what is going on, whilst the procedure is being performed.

Your face and head will be protected by sterile material. Your Anaesthetist will be on hand at all times to monitor your progress. If you feel any discomfort, you should let the Anaesthetists or surgeon know. For most people, all they feel is a slight pressure.

Once the operation is complete, you will need to rest for a little while.

Most patients are able to leave within an hour. However, please remember that you will not be able to drive yourself.

It is recommended that a friend, colleague or family member stay with you, and transport you home.

You won’t experience any pain during the procedure. You may experience a scratchy sensation or mild discomfort for the first four to six hours after the procedure.

What to do after surgery:

• Aim to have a restful day and evening. We encourage you to go home or to other accommodation, and sleep or close your eyes for 3-4 hours
• Avoid rubbing or pressing on the eye
• Avoid prying fingers of a child or baby
• Moderate physical activity is allowed, do not lift heavy weights. Avoid straining and take care not to become constipated
• Use only the prescribed eye drops as directed. You will be instructed as to what drops and when they are to be administered. It is preferable that someone else administers these drops for you. Continue using these drops until told to stop
• Dark glasses may be worn during the day if necessary for comfort
• The eye shields provided should be worn until the morning after surgery, and at night for the first two weeks
• Reading and watching television is allowed. You may wear your glasses if they help
• Driving may be resumed when you feel confident your vision is adequate for it. This typically occurs 12 hours after the operation. If in any doubt please check with your doctor
• Do not wash your hair until after the one-day post-operative visit
• No eye makeup for 7 days
• No swimming for 2 weeks
• No contact sports for 4 weeks
• Some minor discomfort is normal and may be relieved by taking two panadol or panadeine tablets
• Contact your doctor if there is any increase of pain or discomfort, or your eye becomes excessively red
• Check with your doctor when you can return to work
• Glasses, where required, will need changing after your operation, however you may continue to use your old glasses until then. No harm will be done.

For most people, you can resume driving the next day. We would recommend you do not drive for a day or two after surgery.

In most cases you can go back to work the day after your procedure. Most patients regain 90% of their vision within 24 hours however you can expect to notice improvements and minor fluctuations over the next few weeks.

With any medical procedure there is always a level of risk, however with over 20 years history and 10 million procedures performed worldwide lasik procedures are considered to be safe, with very few reported complications. Ensuring you meet the recommended conditions for a lasik procedure, and using experienced surgeons, help reduce the risk factors.

Once the cornea has been reshaped it tends to stay that way. There can be occurrence of regression, which can be corrected with an enhancement but the majority remain stable.

With any medical procedure there is always a risk of complication however lasik complications are rare, and often minor, and generally occur in less than 1% of procedures. Careful selection of your surgeon and ensuring you are a good candidate help reduce the risk of complication, however if you are not comfortable with any risk you should not undergo the procedure.

Yes. Monovision can give you independence from reading glasses. The concept of monovision involves correcting one eye so that it is focused for reading. Monovision is subject to individual adaption and may not be suitable for everyone. Suitability for monovision can be discussed and even trialled at the time of your consultation. You may also be found suitable for multi focal lens technology; another option for reducing dependence on reading glasses.

We're proud to say that we're one of the most experienced corrective eye surgery groups in Australasia.

We have many years of clinical experience correcting the vision of thousands of patients using a variety of techniques, successfully performing tens of thousands of vision correcting procedures. Our surgeons are of the most respected and sought after specialists for training in Refractive surgery and are regularly invited to lecture and speak at medical symposiums.

As an approved vision correction centre, we help develop, test and establish protocols for new, state of the art vision correction procedures.

We're honoured that more than 100 Doctors, Optometrists from around Australia, and their family members have chosen Dr Meades and Dr Bala to perform their surgeries.

Dr Meades

Dr Kerrie Meades is a LASIK pioneer. She was the first female ophthalmologist to perform laser vision correction in Australia and her expertise in refractive surgery is internationally recognised.
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A/Prof Chandra Bala

Associate Professor Bala has completed multiple fellowships under leading surgeons in Australia and throughout Europe. He's a member of the Board of Examiners for Ophthalmic Sciences, RANZCO specialist training programme, and has been published in both national and international peer reviewed journals. He has ongoing involvement in teaching and training undergraduate and post graduate medical students in ophthalmology and visual science.
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Our Lifetime of Vision program provides you with the reassurance that if sometime in the future a re-treatment becomes appropriate to maintain your agreed visual goal, (either distance or near), we will provide this to you at no extra charge.

Although a vast majority of people qualify for Laser Vision Correction, we take a conservative approach to carefully selecting patients. This means that unless we believe we can render you independent from glasses or contact lenses, we will either recommend an alternative procedure better suited to your eye condition; or suggest that you do not proceed with treatment. Approximately one in five people are not suitable for Laser Vision Correction.

Our patient satisfaction rating is considered a benchmark in the industry. More than 98% of our patients are completely satisfied after treatment.

If after exhausting all possible methods of correcting your vision you are not satisfied, and we have not met the agreed visual goal, personalEYES will refund the cost of that procedure.

Read more about our guarentee here

During a free LASIK assessment you'll find out if you're suitable for LASIK and if so, get your unique treatment plan, procedure cost estimate, and the chance to ask all the nagging questions about LASIK - no commitment. The appointment only takes an hour.