Strabismus and
Lasik, Bladeless Lasik, PRK, etc.

Strabismus is a general term referring to ocular misalignment due to extraocular muscle imbalance. In short, the eyes are crooked and commonly known as crossed eyes, although the misalignment need not be crossed, but can be up, down, in, or out.  Strabismus commonly causes binocular polyopia.

Strabismus is not automatically a contraindication for refractive surgery, however there are several considerations that need to be evaluated before making a decision about conventional or wavefront Lasik, Bladeless Lasik, PRK, LASEK, Epi-Lasik,P-IOL, or RLE.

Refractive surgery techniques alone will not resolve a strabismus problem. Refractive surgery only attempts to change the refractive error of each eye individually.  If ambylopia - lazy eye - has developed due to strabismus, refractive surgery will not be able to restore vision beyond that which is attainable with corrective lenses.

A concern for those with strabismus who use glasses with lenses that add prism correction to accommodate the strabismus is that after refractive surgery there may no longer be a need for correction of myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism, but the need for the prism to help align images may remain.  Even a small amount of prism can make an important difference for image alignment.  Even if refractive surgery resolves sphere and cylinder, glasses may be required to limit binocular polyopia.  As a general rule, a person with mild strabismus who can successfully wear contact lenses may be an appropriate candidate for refractive surgery.

A full evaluation by a competent physician with experience in diagnosing, measuring, and treating strabismus before seeking refractive surgery would be highly recommended.