Will take around an hour and will involve a series of examinations and testing of your eyes. Not all people who want to have refractive surgery are suitable. It is necessary to go through a series of steps to ensure that someone seeking surgery has a good chance of a successful result and understands the risks as well as the benefits. Laser Vision Clinic Central Coast has the some of the most sophisticated diagnostic equipment for assessment of patients.
You will be asked to provide your current glasses prescription, ideally containing recent measurements by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist.
If you wear soft contact lenses you will be asked to leave these out for 48 hours prior to initial assessment. If you wear hard or RGP contact lenses, you may be asked to wear glasses for one month prior to your assessment. LVCCC offer same day consultation and treatment for those patients who have a long preparation time.
At the initial suitability assessment we will:
You will have an opportunity to ask any questions at this time.
If after the initial assessment you are suitable for vision correction, then you can proceed to a detailed consultation with one of our highly experienced surgeons.
The medical assessment is with the eye surgeon. During this appointment we will check your focusing carefully and the general health of your eyes.
The eye surgeon will further examine your eyes and confirm your suitability. The eye surgeon will then discuss the available options and determine a treatment plan with you. At this time, the surgeon will go through the expected results, possible risks and provide you with an opportunity to ask further questions.
It is important to understand that you will be under no obligation to proceed with the surgery and you can withdraw at any time if you wish. You will be charged a fee for the surgeons medical consultation.
If you decide to proceed, an appointment for surgery will be made at a convenient time for you.
ReLEx SMILE® is a “day surgery” procedure where you walk in and walk out afterwards. The entire experience will take around two hours, but the procedure itself is usually over in less than 20 minutes.
When you arrive at Laser Vision Clinic Central Coast on the day of the procedure:
Most people experience little or no pain, though some discomfort is possible. You’ll be awake for the procedure and you will be given a mild oral sedative, to help keep you relaxed and comfortable.
Your eye surgeon will want you to rest and when satisfied with your condition, you will be released to go home. You won’t be ready to drive yet, so someone should be with you. Your eye surgeon may give you protective sunglasses or shields to wear to protect your eyes.
Following ReLEx SMILE® and Bladeless LASIK visual recovery is rapid with most patients seeing very well the next day and their eyes feeling fairly normal.
Following ASLA vision may be fuzzy during the first week. However, most people have good functional vision even at the first day after surgery with most patients seeing at least 6/12 (half way down the eye chart).
Following ReLEx SMILE® and Bladeless LASIK the clinical team will perform a quick check to ensure your eye is healing as expected.
Following ASLA by the 4th-6th day, when the bandage contact lens is removed and most patients are expected to be well enough to drive. Your vision will improve rapidly in the first few weeks after surgery, but can take around one month to fully stabilise.