Is LASIK Surgery Co-Management Really Necessary? 

LASIK is one of the most popular forms of surgery used to treat a range of eye conditions, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatisms. It’s a safe and effective treatment performed in an in-office setting. With all the ease and convenience, it can be easy to glance over the surgical aspect of the procedure. This is where the need for co-management comes in.

In this post, a Hackensack, NJ optometrist discusses LASIK surgery co-management and the tasks your eye doctor and eye surgeon carry out during the treatment and recovery process.

What’s Involved with a LASIK Procedure?

Eye conditions like nearsightedness and astigmatisms are caused by irregularities in the cornea, on the front part of the eye. A misshapen cornea can’t focus incoming images on the retina as it should. This results in blurry, unfocused vision. LASIK corrects this problem.

In a nutshell, the procedure remodels the cornea into a symmetrical shape. Once corrected, 20/20 vision is restored.

How Does LASIK Surgery Co-Management Work?

Since LASIK is a form of surgery, the treatment and recovery process requires pre-op and post-op care be administered, just like with any other type of surgical procedure. For these reasons, both an optometrist and an ophthalmologist are involved in the LASIK surgery co-management process. Your optometrist, or eye doctor and ophthalmologist, or surgeon coordinate care throughout with each doctor fulfilling different roles.

Your Eye Doctor’s Role

Your eye doctor manages the pre-op and post-op care stages of the procedure, which includes the following undertakings:

• Performs the initial exam to determine if you’re a good candidate for LASIK
• Takes the eye measurements that will be used by the surgeon performing the procedure
• Makes the referral to the ophthalmologist
• Manages your post-op care
• Keeps your ophthalmologist informed of your recovery progress

While your eye doctor doesn’t perform the surgery, his or her role is critical to ensuring the procedure is done correctly. So be sure to choose a good eye doctor.

Your Surgeon’s Role

While your ophthalmologist’s primary role will be performing the surgery, he or she will also carry out other tasks. Once the referral is made, the ophthalmologist will conduct a second eye exam to assess the condition of your cornea and the overall health of your eyes. After the surgery, follow-up appointments with your surgeon may also be needed depending on how your recovery goes.

If you have more questions about LASIK surgery co-management or wish to schedule a consultation, please don’t hesitate to call our Hackensack, NJ optometry office!