Frequently asked questions

Laser eye surgery is great for people wanting to gain their freedom from relying on glasses or contact lenses for good vision. It can be used to treat short-sightedness, long-sightedness, astigmatism, and the age-related need for reading glasses.

Surgery is suitable for most people over 20 years of age who have had a stable prescription (glasses or contact lenses) for the last two years.

Most patients with a stable prescription (glasses or contact lenses) are suitable for laser eye surgery.

If your eyes are not suitable ,other vision correction options may be available, including refractive lens exchange or implantable lenses. Once you have had your eyes checked at our free consultation clinic, a Southern Eye ophthalmologist will be able to correctly ascertain the best way forward and, at this time, discuss alternative treatment options.

Over time the lens inside our eye loses its flexibility. As a result, it becomes more difficult to focus back and forth between distance and near and often people will start to rely on reading glasses to see up close. This is called presbyopia. 

The good news is that there are laser eye surgery options that are designed to help people struggling with presbyopia and who would like to be less reliant on glasses.

Yes! It’s easy to book a free initial consultation for laser eye surgery at Southern Eye Specialists. Just click here.

That’s a good question. Laser eye surgery at Southern Eye Specialists costs $3660 per eye. The price is the same regardless of the type of laser procedure – which means that you have the procedure that best suits your needs rather than choosing due to cost. 

This price includes the laser eye surgery and all your required pre-operative and post-operative assessments. We also have finance options available. 

You do not have to stop wearing your contact lenses to attend your initial assessment, but you will need to remove them briefly during the assessment. Prior to your laser eye surgery consultation and the day of surgery you will have to revert to wearing your glasses for a short while. 

This is because contact lenses can ‘mould’ the corneal surface of your eye and alter the results of our scans. For your laser eye surgery to be as accurate as possible we need to ensure these scans are as accurate as possible.

The length of time you will need to not use contact lenses depends on the kind of lens. We will advise you of the timeframe during the initial free assessment.

Your laser eye surgery will take place in our state-of-the-art laser suite at Southern Eye Specialists. We are at 128 Kilmore Street in Christchurch (just down from the Town Hall). There is free carparking available.

Southern Eye Specialists is home to eleven highly skilled ophthalmologists. Each has had extensive training in both the overall field of eyecare and in their specific sub-specialities. Our laser sub-specialists are John Rawstron and Elizabeth Conner.

Easy. Click here to book your appointment.

We do everything we can to help everyone in the South Island who needs laser eye surgery. Click here to book a Free Virtual Consult. Our team can also suggest different accommodation and travel options.