LASIK & TLC - Am I a Candidate?
(See Video Below of how Bladeless LASIK works!)
Dr. Louis Probst MD
As National Medical Director of TLC, Dr. Louis Probst is one of the most experienced surgeons in the world having performed more than 100,000 LASIK procedures in almost 20 years. Dr. Probst is a fellowship trained ophthalmologist with subspecialty training in corneal transplant/anterior segment and refractive surgery at the University of Minnesota.
For the last ten years, Dr. Probst has performed exclusively refractive surgery and currently specializes in bladeless all-laser LASIK.
Education/Training
Dr. Probst completed his ophthalmology residency at the University of Western Ontario where he received four awards from his peers for outstanding achievement. He was selected among ophthalmologists across North America for a surgical corneal fellowship in corneal transplantation and refractive surgery at the University of Minnesota.
Memberships/Affiliations
Dr. Probst is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. International Society of Refractive Surgery and Florida Medical Association.
Honors/Accomplishments
He has received 16 awards including the Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Probst has given over 300 national and international lectures and provides training to surgeons and eye doctors on LASIK and PRK at conferences throughout the world. He has published 7 textbooks, 72 book chapters, and over 50 peer-reviewed articles on refractive surgery and LASIK. As a leader in LASIK, he developed ten instruments specifically for LASIK.
The primary objective of your LASIK consultation is to determine whether you are a candidate for laser eye surgery, and if so, which procedure is most appropriate for you. We will educate you about why LASIK surgery is, or is not right for you, and about the benefits and risks associated with this type of surgery.
Before LASIK eye surgery, we will help you understand what results you can reasonably expect after the procedure, given your particular prescription and individual circumstances. Remember that scheduling a consultation DOES NOT obligate you to move forward with the procedure.
Candidates for Laser Eye Surgery Should Generally Meet the Following Criteria:
- Age: Candidates must be at least 18 years old.
- General health: LASIK candidates must be in good general health, and should not have certain health problems, including uncontrolled diabetes, autoimmune or collagen vascular disease, or take any medication or have any condition that compromises the immune response.
- Eye health: Candidates should be free of eye diseases including keratoconus, glaucoma, cataracts, corneal disease and certain retinal and optic nerve diseases. LASIK surgery candidates should not have certain eye conditions including herpes simplex and herpes zoster.
- Eye problems: LASIK patients should make their eye doctor aware of certain eye problems including amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (muscle imbalance), or any recurrent, residual or active eye conditions that may influence healing. Other conditions that should be discussed with the doctor include keloid scarring with previous surgical healing, back problems and claustrophobia. Please make your eye doctor aware of any mental health conditions, as these may also affect your LASIK surgery or recovery.
- Eye injury: Patients should not have any eye infections or injury.
- Nursing/pregnancy: Candidates should not be nursing or pregnant when undergoing the LASIK procedure. Hormones may affect the stability of your prescription, so pregnant or nursing women are not eligible to pursue LASIK surgery until three menstrual cycles after nursing has been discontinued.
- Dry eye condition: Patients should not continuously suffer from dry eyes.
- Stable vision: Candidates’ vision must be stable for at least one year prior to the procedure date.
- Contacts: Prior to your LASIK surgery consultation and LASIK procedure, you must not wear contact lenses for a certain length of time. The precise length will be determined by your doctor on an individual basis. This ensures corneal stability and accurate assessment of your prescription prior to the LASIK surgery procedure.
- Corneal thickness plays an important role in determining proper candidacy for LASIK. Due to the nature of the procedure, candidates must have a minimum corneal thickness of approximately 0.5 mm.