Focus Aesthetics is inside both clinics
Common questions
Short answer
Yes — and ideally well before the date. Surgery is planned from measurements taken off the surface of your eye, and that surface is the tear film. Settle it first and the measurements are more reliable, the healing is smoother and the result lasts better. A healthier eye is a better seeing eye.
Both procedures depend on precise numbers. LASIK reshapes the cornea to a plan; cataract surgery replaces the lens inside your eye with an artificial one whose power is chosen from calculations. In both cases the readings are taken from the front surface of the eye — and the first thing light meets there is the tear film.
An unstable tear film is an irregular optical surface, so the readings taken from it vary. Treat the dryness first and those measurements settle down, which means the plan your surgeon works to is a better description of your eye.
Surgery temporarily reduces tear production by affecting the corneal nerves. If you start with dry eye, those post-operative symptoms are added on top of what you already had, which prolongs recovery and can hold back the visual result.
Pre-existing dry eye is also associated with a higher risk of certain complications, including corneal flap problems, slower healing of the surface, and dryness that persists long after it should have settled. Treating beforehand reduces those risks and makes the whole experience more comfortable.
The aim of a refractive procedure or a lens exchange is the best vision you can reasonably get. It is worth arriving at that appointment with the ocular surface in the best condition it can be in, because everything else is built on top of it — the measurements, the healing, and how long the result holds up.
A course takes a few months, so this is a conversation to have when surgery is first being considered, not the week before. If you are already booked, tell us the date and we will be straight with you about what is realistic in the time.
An assessment first, including meibography of the lower lids, so we know whether your glands are the problem. If they are, a course of IPL and RF with a lid debridement clears and settles the lid margin, alongside the daily CORE 4 routine at home.
If your glands are healthy and something else is driving the symptoms, we will tell you, and you can take that back to your surgeon rather than spending money here first.
Where treatment starts
Visit one of our experienced optometrists to get started on your journey to true dry eye relief. The exam is what separates blocked oil glands from allergy, from lid margin inflammation, from everything else that produces the same symptoms — and it is what tells us whether the treatments we offer will help you.
Related questions
Whether any of this applies to your eyes specifically is a question an assessment answers in one appointment.