Is LASIK Possible with Prominent Optic Nerve Cupping?
APR 09, 2014
Question:
Is it safe to get LASIK if you have large optic nerves on both sides? I have normal eye pressure.
Answer:
What you have is probably prominent optic nerve cupping in both eyes, and not large optic nerves. This occurs when the center of the optic disc, which carries the optic nerves to the brain, becomes larger than normal. This can be sign of damage to the optic nerve (glaucoma) or it can be normal in some people. As long as your side vision and optic nerve fiber layer have been checked by an ophthalmologist, ruling out glaucoma (which can occur with normal eye pressure), then LASIK—a surgery to correct nearsightedness and other refractive errors—should be safe. That, of course, is dependent on your ophthalmologist assessing other things about your eyes (like corneal thickness) to confirm that you are a good candidate for LASIK.