What Does LASIK Cost? The Consensus

Filed in archive Costs of LASIK on March 19, 2010

There are several reputable and authoritative websites out there which you should include when you do the thorough research necessary before considering LASIK or any other refractive surgery.

© GregPC

AllAboutVision.com, whose comprehensive study we recommend perusing, reports average LASIK costs for the 1st quarter of 2009 to be:

• $2,140 for all laser-based vision correcting procedures including LASIK where a single price is quoted
• $1,748 for non-customized LASIK using a bladed microkeratome and excimer lasers that are NOT wavefront-guided
• $2,314 for wavefront-guided LASIK using a laser microkeratome

USAEyes.org reports estimates of about 1,400 to $3,600 per eye, depending on the surgeon, procedure, and technology used, while DocShop.com quotes the costs as ranging from $499 to $2,500 per eye. Wiki.Answers.com tells us we should expect to pay between $2,000 and $2,500 per eye, while About.com reports costs are between $2,000 and $5,000 per eye.

As you can see, there's quite a range of prices; however if you do your research thoroughly you can get a good idea of what is normal to pay for the services you want.

Higher price does not always equal the best.
You can expect to pay several hundred dollars more per eye for an All-laser approach, for instance. Yet, the higher price and perceived "cutting-edginess" of this procedure should not lead you to believe that it is the best LASIK procedure out there.

The jury still seems to be out about whether bladed microkeratomes are as good as (or better than) laser microkeratomes: Many surgeons do not agree on which approach is better. Also, newer bladed microkeratomes with the ability to make much thinner corneal flaps than previous bladed instruments may even out the playing field, price-wise.