If you have one of the following medical conditions, we need to approach cautiously when considering  vision correction. Here’s why:

Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis:
With Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis or any other collagen vascular / connective tissue disorder, the healing may be unpredictable, possibly giving you an unstable visual result if not managed carefully.  Here’s what we would do:

Diabetic Retinopathy or Macular Degeneration:
We do not recommend vision correction for people who suffer from either of these conditions, as the procedures will do little to improve their sight. Both of these diseases affect your vision in a similar manner; by damaging the retina (the light-sensitive nerve tissue at the back of the eye that transmits visual images to the brain). There are medical treatments that may help stabilize your vision, but the vision correction treatments we offer all affect the front portion of the eye, and will do little to improve eyesight affected by these conditions.

Keratoconus or Pellucid Marginal Degeneration:
These often progressive diseases cause thinning of the cornea. Procedures that affect the cornea (such as LASIK & PRK) could accelerate this thinning to the point of instability. The good news is that there are treatments such as corneal cross-linking (CXL) and corneal rings that can help stabilize the progression of these diseases for many patients. The most promising treatment appears to be cross linking, as FDA trials have shown significant success with study patients. To learn more about cross linking, click here.