Tuesday, March 10, 2009

How To Find The Right Lasik Surgeon

By Kerri Stalton

Oftentimes, people look in the phone directory and simply call the first person on the list when looking for a good or service. This is not typically a good idea. While it's probably fine if you just need someone to mow your lawn, it's not a wise thing to do when you are searching for a doctor to do surgery on your eyes.

You will need to treat your search as something of high importance; after all, it's crucial to find a qualified eye surgeon in your area. Most people have no trouble getting referred to quality offices an hour or two outside their area - this is quite typical when searching for a doctor or surgeon. But, it's a far better idea to find a good provider nearby, so that you won't need to waste so many hours on the road.

Also, if there are any problems that occur such as infections or irritations after surgery then you will want that surgeon to be a hop, skip, and a jump away from you. So how does one search for a good eye surgeon? You already know that you simply cannot trust what the billboards say or what the local television commercials are telling you.

Simply because a surgeon can afford to advertise in the local yellow pages, this says nothing about his skill as a doctor, so banish that idea from your head right now. But getting back to business - how can you tell a good surgeon from a bad surgeon if you've never been in this situation?

Begin your search by taking to people around you like family, friends, neighbors, and whoever might be able to provide a good personal recommendation. If any of your acquaintances have ever had procedures performed by a local eye surgeon, you can find out quite a bit based on their experiences. But depending on who you know, it can be difficult to find acquaintances who have dealt with an eye doctor in your area.

But what if you just aren't comfortable querying people about their medical histories? If this is an issue for you, you might begin by taking the names of several local surgeons and researching their backgrounds online. The amount of information that you can find online is pretty astonishing.

You can quickly find information on lawsuits or malpractices if there was anything happening such as that to the particular surgeon you looked up. Bad news always travels fast so if it is out there you are bound to find it. After you get a few names of eye surgeons in your area that you are interested in simply set up an initial consultation. You will be able to learn a lot about the surgeon this way.

If you do not feel comfortable with the surgeon then feel free to walk out and never set up another appointment with him or her again. If things are going smooth then feel free to ask for references and to see their qualifications. An eye surgeon that refuses to do such is not the one for you. Keep trucking along and eventually you will find the perfect eye surgeon for you. - 15437

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