Eye Surgery Optimization
You're having eye surgery. Is your ocular surface ready for it?
If you've been referred for cataract surgery, LASIK, PRK, or another refractive procedure, your surgeon is focused on the measurements, the lens, the technique. What often gets passed over is the surface of the eye itself — and if that surface isn't healthy, it can throw off everything that comes after it.
Dry eye and ocular surface disease are common in surgical candidates — often present even in people who don't feel classically "dry." The tear film is what your surgeon's instruments measure through to plan your procedure. An unstable surface means unreliable measurements, which can affect your outcome and vision after surgery.
Why this matters more than most people realize
Across multiple studies, up to 80% of patients evaluated for cataract surgery show objective signs of dry eye or ocular surface disease — most of it undiagnosed going into surgery.
An unhealthy ocular surface can distort the measurements your surgeon uses to select your lens power or calculate your refractive correction — meaning your "20/20" outcome may not land where it should.
Ocular surface disease that exists before surgery is often made worse by surgery — so patients who go in undiagnosed often come out symptomatic, even if they weren't before.
The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) developed a formal Preoperative OSD Treatment Algorithm specifically because this problem is so common across the eyecare industry.
The Eye Surgery Optimization Consultation
This visit is built around one goal: getting your ocular surface into the best possible condition for the best possible outcome.
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Includes meibography imaging, tear film testing, and a full evaluation following the ASCRS Preoperative OSD Algorithm, the clinical standard for surgical candidates
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Not our general dry eye program, but a plan built around your procedure, your timeline, and what your surgeon needs from your eyes.
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So your surgeon has the information they need, and you're not managing two disconnected care plans on your own.
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Continued support for your ocular surface after your procedure, to protect your results and address any dryness surgery itself may have introduced.
Already had your surgery? You haven't missed anything.
If you're reading this after your procedure, this still applies to you. Surgery itself can disrupt the ocular surface — even in eyes that were healthy going in — and that disruption doesn't resolve on its own just because the surgery is over.
Post-surgical ocular surface rehabilitation is a full part of this program, not a consolation option for people who "missed" the pre-op window. Whether you're a week out or several months out from surgery, we can evaluate where your ocular surface stands now and build a plan to get it healed and comfortable. There's no wrong time to start — the earlier is simply better, and now is better than later.
When to come in — if you haven't had surgery yet
Ideally, 8 to 12 weeks before your surgery date. Ocular surface optimization takes time — the tear film needs weeks to stabilize, not days. The earlier we start, the more accurate your surgeon's measurements, and the smoother your recovery tends to be.
Already scheduled sooner than that? Come in anyway. Something is almost always better than nothing, and we'll build the most effective plan the timeline allows.
This applies no matter what surgery you're having. Cataract surgery, LASIK, PRK, or another refractive procedure — the same principle holds, before or after. Your eyes need an accurate, stable ocular surface to be measured, operated on, and healed. We support that surface, regardless of which procedure it's in service of or what stage you're at.