About
How this site decides what to tell you.
Refractive Match is a YMYL decision aid for adults considering refractive eye surgery. The differentiator is a Procedure Matcher that computes eligibility from FDA-approved diopter ranges and AAO candidacy thresholds, then surfaces both eligible AND ineligible procedures, with the reason for each verdict.
Editorial principles
- Inline citation for every number. Every percentage, diopter range, and cost band comes from a primary source: a peer-reviewed paper (PMID), an FDA approval letter, or an AAO Preferred Practice Pattern. The citation appears inline and again at the foot of each pillar.
- Refuted claims are named. Three high-frequency marketing claims fail adversarial verification ("SMILE has no dry eye", "20/20 guaranteed", "LASIK is for everyone"). We name them and refute them with sources.
- Named ophthalmologist reviewer. Every YMYL pillar is medically reviewed by a board-certified ophthalmologist. The reviewer name, credentials, and last-review date appear under the H1.
- Plain English. We gloss the patient term (nearsightedness, not just myopia). The body reads at a 9th-grade level. The footnotes go deep.
What we do not do
- We do not accept clinic sponsorship. No clinic pays to appear here.
- We do not accept referral commissions. The Matcher will tell you no procedure is right for you when no procedure is right for you. A referral-fee model would never let us say that.
- We do not run a phone-collection lead form. We will not call you.
- We do not pretend the matcher replaces a consultation. It is a screen.
What this changes for you
You read the same FDA approval ranges the surgeon uses. You see the unflattering numbers (LASIK dry eye 60 to 70 percent at one month, RLE retinal detachment 1.5 to 8 percent in high myopes). You leave the page knowing which two or three procedures are worth a consult and which to skip.