Do I have to stop wearing contacts before getting my eye tested for Lasik?

It is important to have LASIK testing done on eyes that have been out of wearing contact lenses for a period of time. This is not really about safety so much as it is about the accuracy of the LASIK results.

A contact lens creates subtle changes in the shape of the cornea where it sits, the same part of the eye treated in LASIK. By refraining from contact lens wear for a while prior to your evaluation, your cornea can go back to its normal and unaffected shape. Soft contact lenses deform the cornea the least, gas permeable contacts create more , and the most "corneal warpage" is done by old-fashioned hard (PMMA) contact lenses. So depending on what type of contact lens you wear, you may have to take them out for anywhere between 1 day and 3 months!

J. Trevor Woodhams, MD - Chief oh Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic