Are You A Candidate?

Determining if you are a good candidate for LASIK is only possible after a full LASIK exam and Consultation.

Several factors such as life-style, age, general physical health all play a part in determining if you are a proper candidate for LASIK.

Thickness of cornea is the single most important consideration. LASIK changes the shape of your cornea by removing tissue, so it is essential that a person have thick enough corneas to allow for treatment. Corneal thickness varies from person to person and this must be measured with extreme accuracy to ensure that LASIK is the best solution for your vision.

What Happens At Your Free Consultation?

When you arrive for your consultation, you will meet with one of our Refractive Counselors who will generally discuss your vision correction options, your financing options, the technology we use and answer any questions you may have.

Next step is to have a full pre-operative exam with one of our physicians.

• We begin by taking a complete medical history of your eyes and eye health.
• This is followed by corneal topography exams. A corneal topographer examines the curvature of your cornea (the clear covering of your eye) and provides a detailed colored map of the contour and shape of your cornea. Unlike most centers, which only offer one type of corneal measurement, we actually perform three separate corneal evaluations. Determining your cornea’s health and condition is one of the most important factors leading up to LASIK.
• The next step is to determine your overall eye health by taking a Retinal Scan.
• Next we use Wavefront diagnostics to provide a detailed three-dimensional diagram, or map, of your entire optical system, like a 'fingerprint of your vision'. The doctor uses this data to determine if you're a good candidate for laser eye surgery and to personalize your treatment. In some cases, the Wavefront diagnosis indicates that surgery is not advisable at all. No one should consider laser eye surgery without first having a Custom Wavefront diagnostic test.
• Next, a pupilometer allows us to measure pupil size in dim and bright light. Accurate measurements of your pupil along with a custom surgery plan will significantly reduce chance of halos and glare associated with night driving.
• Finally, the doctor will perform a slit lamp exam to additionally diagnose and monitor the health of your eyes, both inside and out.

Following these tests, you will have a personal consultation where the doctor will go over the tests and discuss any quality of life issues in regards to LASIK.

The entire Consultation process takes about 60 minutes and by the end of it you will be ready to make an informed decision about your vision.

FREE LASIK EXAM & CONSULTATION FAQs

Here are answers to the questions we hear most often from those who are scheduled for the Consultation.

How long will the exam take? Will I need a driver after the exam?

Our initial exam usually takes less than two hours and it involves no pain, no cost and no obligation.

What should I bring to the exam?

Please bring your latest pair of eyeglasses… even if you mostly wear contacts or your glasses are very old. Being able to measure the prescription in your glasses helps us gauge how stable your vision has been over the past few years. You can also bring spouses, parents or friends – anyone who is going to help you decide about LASIK – you see, we understand that it can help to talk things over with someone and it may be easier for them to get their questions answered if they come to the exam too.

Anything I shouldn’t bring?

Remember, this exam is free so you won’t need your checkbook, your credit cards or your firstborn! It’s also painless so you can leave your worries at home, too. Just come relaxed and prepared to find out what LASIK at Buckley Chang Eye Institute can do for you.

How do I get to Buckley Chang Eye Institute?

Our address is 3155 North Union Blvd. Colorado Springs.

We have provided a map here for your convenience. If you do have any trouble finding us, just give us a call and we’ll talk you in!

When do I need to stop wearing my contacts?

If you wear contacts, you may be asked to stop wearing them anywhere from one to six weeks before your exam, depending on the type of contacts. If you have soft non toric lenses, and you don't sleep in them, you only need to avoid wearing them for a week.  For those that have toric lenses, two weeks is required, and for RGP's, three weeks is requred, plus an additional three weeks may be needed.  This is not to say you need to stop wearing contacts for your consultation, but for most accurate results on the exam to truly know if you are a candidate, it is a requirement.  We do suggest you try to do the consultation and exam the same day, but this is only possible if the proper time frame out of contacts has been reached. If you wear these kinds of contacts and want to have LASIK on a specific date, please call 719-444-3000 so we can help you be ready for the date that works for you.

Will I have my LASIK on the day of the exam?

Even though blade-free LASIK offers very quick recovery, most people plan their LASIK for a few days or weeks after the exam. The good news is that once you have blade-free LASIK, you can resume most normal activities just a day or two after your procedure. In fact, we perform LASIK on most Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays so that you can be away from your regular life for as little as half a day.

What if I need to cancel or reschedule my exam?

Just give us a call at 719-444-3000 and let us know so that we can let someone else use the time that you have reserved. Remember, we promised that there was no obligation for this exam and we meant it… but we would appreciate the courtesy of a quick call.

I have other questions… who do I ask?

If it is something you feel that you need to know before the exam, give us a call and we’ll be glad to discuss it. Otherwise, just write it down and we’ll have plenty of time to go over it while you are here.

What Happens After I Decide To Have LASIK?

Pre-operative Exam

Once you have decided to bring your vision into the 21st century with LASIK and scheduled your procedure, you will undergo an extensive, 90-minute exam. This exam supplies us with all the additional data to provide you with a fully customized treatment. We will also review the Informed Consent documents and all of your post-operative instructions. Our goal is to answer every question you may have, fully and to your satisfaction by the end of your pre-op exam.

Surgery Day

You should arrive one hour prior to your surgery. Upon check-in, we will review and have you sign the consent form, and handle payment for the procedure. If you are nervous, we will provide relaxation medication. We will then re-check your examination results for final accuracy before treatment. The actual LASIK procedure only takes about 5 minutes per eye. You will not be able to drive immediately after the procedure, so make sure you have someone available to take you home afterwards.

Post-Operative Care

Included in the cost of your LASIK procedure at Buckley Chang Eye Institute are a series of post-operative exams, the first of which will be three days following your procedure. The remainder of these follow up exams will be at ten days, one month, three month, six month and one year after your procedure. These are provided at no additional charge from Buckley Chang Eye Institute. You’ll be happy to know that most patients drive themselves to their exam at their first post-op appointment. You may notice during the brief healing period that your vision fluctuates periodically and you may experience some mild dryness. These symptoms are normal will and disappear over time.