Can I Have Laser Eye Surgery if I Have Prisms?

If you have strabismus – or a “squint” – you may well be familiar with an optical element known as a “prism”. These are elements that are added to glasses to account for double vision and to enhance visual comfort for people with strabismus. They can also help with associated symptoms such as eye strain and headaches.

Somewhat of a unique feature of glasses, prisms work by moving the image of an object either vertically or horizontally, depending on the direction and power of the lens. This simple change helps to redirect the alignment of the eyes.

As Laser Eye Surgery is chiefly concerned with correcting refractive errors such as short-sightedness (myopia) and long-sightedness (hyperopia) and not with the realignment of the eyes, the procedure is unable to replicate the action of prism lens glasses.

However, there is some good news. While it may not be able to rid you of your need for prism glasses, having strabismus will most likely not affect your suitability for Laser Eye Surgery.

Having Laser Eye Surgery if you use prisms

Patients with strabismus can still undergo Laser Eye Surgery to address other refractive errors, as Mr Carp explains in the video below. However, you may still need to wear prism glasses if you experience double vision with contact lenses or non-prism glasses.

Youtube video link

In the video above, Mr Carp explains how Laser Eye Surgery is able to deal with refractive error but not the prism effect, and outlines a few options for dealing with this.

Laser Eye Surgey is now able to address a wide range of vision problems. Therefore, Laser Eye Surgery may still be an option to eradicate refractive errors, despite being unable to improve eye alignment.

Unfortunately, this obviously means you may still require glasses after Laser Eye Surgery; however, there may be other options. For example, muscle surgery can often be an effective option for correcting strabismus, thereby removing the need for a prism.

Laser Eye Surgery may be used in combination with such muscle surgeries to offer a viable and effective solution to improve strabismus and refractive errors.

To find out if Laser Eye surgery could be an option for you, speak with one of our friendly clinic coordinators or Book a Consultation today.