Find out if you are a candidate. The screening is free.
LASIK and PRK in our refractive suite at the St. Lucie County office — directly across from the entrance to Lawnwood. Bladeless IntraLase flaps, the VISX excimer laser, and iDesign wavefront guidance.
We are not a storefront LASIK center.
Refractive surgery is elective. You have time to choose carefully, and you should.
Cornea training matters here
LASIK and PRK are corneal surgery. Our corneal specialist's judgment about your corneal thickness, shape and stability is the difference between a good candidate and a bad outcome.
A dedicated refractive suite
Our newest St. Lucie County office was built for this rather than retrofitted for it.
We will tell you no
A meaningful share of people who want LASIK should not have it. We would rather turn you away than deliver a result you regret — and tell you what you are a candidate for.
LASIK or PRK
Both reshape the cornea with a laser. The difference is how we reach the tissue underneath.
LASIK creates a thin flap in the surface of the cornea, which is lifted, reshaped underneath and laid back into place. Recovery is fast; most patients see well within a day with very little discomfort.
PRK removes the surface layer entirely rather than making a flap, and that layer regenerates over several days. Vision takes longer to sharpen and the first few days involve more discomfort. The end result is comparable.
So why choose PRK? Because for some corneas it is the safer procedure. Thin corneas, certain corneal shapes, dry eye, and some occupations and contact sports all point toward it. That recommendation is not a sales decision.
Two lasers, and a map of your eye that no chart can produce.
Laser vision correction is only as good as the measurements it is built on and the platform delivering it. Ours is the combination often marketed as iLASIK.
IntraLase — bladeless
The corneal flap is created with a femtosecond laser rather than a mechanical blade. Greater precision and consistency in flap thickness, and it removes the category of complication that blades introduce.
VISX excimer laser
The laser that does the actual reshaping. It tracks your eye hundreds of times a second, so ordinary movement during treatment does not affect where the pulses land.
iDesign wavefront guidance
Rather than treating you from a glasses prescription, iDesign captures a detailed map of how light actually travels through your eye — including the small aberrations no chart can measure — and builds a treatment specific to that eye.
Two eyes with the identical prescription are not identical eyes. Wavefront-guided treatment is the difference between correcting your number and correcting your eye.
Are you a candidate?
You are more likely to be a good candidate if you:
- Have had a stable prescription for roughly a year
- Have healthy corneas of adequate thickness
- Are not pregnant or nursing
- Have realistic expectations about what the procedure delivers
The screening is free. It takes about an hour, it involves no obligation of any kind, and you will leave knowing whether laser correction is right for your eyes — and if it is not, what is.
You may not be a candidate with keratoconus or another corneal irregularity, uncontrolled dry eye, certain autoimmune conditions, or advanced glaucoma or cataract — though in that last case a lens-based procedure may serve you far better anyway.
Still needed before publishing: the minimum age we treat, and all-inclusive pricing. This audience comparison shops on price, and the practices that publish a number win the click.
What patients ask
Is the screening really free?
Yes. There is no charge and no obligation for the LASIK screening. If it turns out you are not a candidate, we will tell you that and explain what your options are instead.
Is it bladeless?
Yes. We create the flap with the IntraLase femtosecond laser rather than a mechanical blade, then reshape the cornea with the VISX excimer laser using an iDesign wavefront map of your eye.
Does it hurt?
No. Numbing drops handle the procedure itself. You will be aware of pressure and of the light, but not pain. PRK patients experience real discomfort during the first few days of healing; LASIK patients typically do not.
Will I ever need glasses again?
Most patients are glasses-free for distance. Reading glasses still arrive with age for nearly everyone, because that is a lens problem rather than a corneal one, and LASIK does not prevent it.
What if I'm not a candidate?
Then we tell you, and we walk you through the alternatives — including lens-based procedures that often suit people whose corneas rule out laser correction.
Can I drive myself home?
No — a driver is required when you leave. That is a state regulation rather than a rule of ours, so arrange your ride in advance.
Is it still worth it if I'm over 45?
Sometimes yes, sometimes a lens-based approach makes more sense. Once presbyopia is underway the arithmetic changes, and we will be straight with you about which side of that line you are on.
Find out in one visit.
Our refractive suite is at 1707 S. 25th Street, Fort Pierce — across from the entrance to Lawnwood.