Dr. Shapiro will only recommend surgery if he feels that you are a good candidate, so some people will be turned away. The following are some basic guidelines if you are considering LASIK:

• Patients should be 18 years of age or older, and should have a prescription which has been stable for 18 months. There is no upper age limit for the procedure.
  
  
• Patients should have healthy corneas.
  
  
• Women should not be pregnant or within eight weeks of either pregnancy or nursing.
  
  
• Patients with active rheumatoid arthritis or lupus should not have LASIK.
  
  
• Some patients with diabetes should not have the surgery, but those with good blood sugar control and without diabetic eye disease may still have surgery.
  
  
• Patients with actively growing cataracts should not have LASIK, as the advancing cataract will continue to change the optics of the eye. If necessary, LASIK can be performed after cataract removal.
  
  
• Some patients may be too nearsighted, too farsighted or have too much astigmatism to benefit fully from LASIK. Other patients may have corneal curvatures that make them less than ideal candidates. These issues will be assessed during the preoperative examination.
• Patients currently taking Immatrex (a migraine medication), amioderone (a heart medication), or Acutane (an acne medication) should not undergo laser vision correction. Laser vision correction can often be performed if these medicines are temporarily halted with the permission of the patient's primary care physician.
  
  
• Patients with very thin corneas may not be candidates for LASIK, but may benefit from other refractive surgical options such as PRK or LASEK.
  
  
• Patients with very small pupils may not be candidates for customized wavefront LASIK, but may still have conventional LASIK.