Why do I have to be out of my contact lenses for at least two weeks prior to my dilated eye exam before my LASIK procedure? This is a common question. Patient’s often feel that having to wear their glasses for two weeks or more is the worst part of their preoperative experience. The thought has even made people choose not to have their vision corrected because they hate their glasses and cannot bare the thought of not wearing their contacts!
The reason that you cannot wear your contacts two weeks or more before your dilated eye exam and your refractive surgery procedure is because your corneal measurement will not be correct due to the swelling or distortion of the shape of your eye. We need your eye to be at it’s normal natural shape to get the most accurate readings prior to your procedure. If measurements are taken when you have not been out of lenses for the correct amount of time, you will have inaccurate measurements which your surgeon will use to plan your surgery. This is a risk that you absolutely should not take.
Although wearing your glasses are a pain to wear and yes, we know you would like to wear your contacts, we get it. We want to provide you with the best visual outcome possible! It is worth the time out of contacts and in your glasses, we promise!
