LASIK for Graduation

Deciding what you get your college graduate as a graduation present can be nearly impossible. Finding something special, memorable, significant, and beneficial may sound suspiciously like the search for the holy grail of graduation gifts: You've heard it's out there, but you're not sure where to start looking.

But what about the gift of a glasses- and contact-free life after graduation? A graduate looking forward to searching for a "real life job" and standing on his or her own feet is sure to be excited at the idea of never having to search for glasses in the morning or put in contacts. In fact, LASIK patients often see better than they did when using glasses or contacts before the procedure.

You don't have to wait for your grad to finish classes before giving him or her a hassle-free vision of the future. Mid-terms and finals will look a lot less daunting when seen without glasses, and graduation pictures, job interviews, and weddings will all look different when seen with glasses- and contacts-free 20/20 vision.

You can make a consultation appointment at the Carter Eye Center in Dallas, Texas for your grad today by visiting our contact us page or calling the phone number at the top right-hand corner of our blog.

Big Names who have had LASIK at Carter Eye Center

Over the years, we have had many well-known names come to Carter Eye Center with the same goal that you have. Their professions may be a little different, as professional football players or media personalities, but they are all looking for 20/20 vision or better vision.

The who's who of CEC patients include:

• Pat Summerall, former professional football player, who had Crystalens says, “It’s changed my life!”
• Norm Hitzges, author and sports talk radio host, said working with CEC to have LASIK done was a piece of cake.
• Preston Pearson, former running back for the Dallas Cowboys, trusted his vision to CEC and is very pleased with the clarity of his vision.

Other celebrities and personalities have worked with CEC to find 20/20 or better vision, and you can find their names on our Who's Had LASIK at CEC page. But you don't have to be a professional football player or a talk show host to have the high-definition vision Tony Castillas talks about.

Whether you are a professional football player or a student in college, you can have clear vision without contacts or glasses. Please contact us today to learn more.

At What Age Should I Get LASIK?

LASIK is most appropriate for patients between the ages of 18 and 40, although age 40 is not an absolute limit. Because of the FDA’s approval for LASIK for those over 18 years old, pediatric LASIK is considered an "off-label" use and is reserved for cases where the child's sight is seriously threatened.

People's natural eye lenses begin losing their flexibility and around age 40 often develop a noticeable decrease in their vision due to presbyopia, the inability of the lens to flex and focus sufficiently. LASIK will not correct presbyopia, so, other procedures should be considered to correct this condition.

Around age 60 people begin developing cataracts. LASIK, again, is not a solution for cataracts, as it can't get rid of the cataract. But lens replacement can correct both the cataract and the refractive error. If older patients' lenses are clear and healthy, they may have the option to choose between refractive lens exchange or RLE (lens replacement) and one of the refractive corrective procedures, such as LASIK. This would be a case where being over age 40 is not a limitation

Eye stability is more important than age, so even if you are over 18, if your vision isn’t stable, your refractive error is very large, or your corneas are very thin, LASIK would not be recommended. There are other procedures that are more appropriate to correct these aberrations.

No matter what your age, if your vision isn't perfect, please contact Dr. Harvey Carter at the Carter Eye Center in Dallas.