The Downside of Lasik’s Side Effects

Lasik surgery has become a common choice for refractive correction for people with medium to minor vision defects problems and wishes to improve their vision. Generally, Lasik patients profess very good results. Even as Lasik presents very short recovery and healing period, would-be patients should also be cognizant of its various side effects before having the surgery. Lasik surgery has done a lot of people a lot of good. However, Lasik is not a hundred percent flawless and may present some unfavorable side effects.

Surgeons performing the Lasik procedure believe that educating the patient before the surgery is a crucial phase of the procedure. Information on all possible side effects should be part of the education process. Generally, Lasik surgery patients experience very minor to medium complications lasting only for several hours to a few of days at most. However, for others, the side effects can stay on for months. It is imperative for the patient to know and understand all the probable complications that could occur.

The lesser complications that have been experienced by most patients after surgery includes blurred vision, sensitivity to light and dry eye. Generally, these side effects do not last for long or just last till the eye gets well. Patients might be advised to reduce night driving as blurred vision and night glares (appearance of halos around lighted objects) are common side effects.

Wearing good quality sunglasses are also advised when going out under strong sunlight to reduce light sensitivity. Prescriptions are given to address the dry eye syndrome. Additionally, patients will be prescribed to use eye shields when sleeping to protect it from being scratched or damaged right after the surgery. Leaving the eye alone for the meantime will hasten healing and diminish side effects.

On the other hand, there might side effects that can be very severe, extending for more than a few days. Severe side effects may include vision regression where the vision becomes worse or lost, poor vision in dim lights, eye infection and having severe dry eye syndrome. If this happens, a second surgery or “touch up” surgery might be necessary. Your doctor should completely discuss the benefits as well as the risks involved before consenting to the surgery.

Infection: Generally, infection is most common complication experienced after Lasik surgery is infection. Paying attention to the fundamental instructions from your surgeon can diminish the incidence of infection. Generally, the patients are instructed not to put on any cosmetics or use facial creams or lotions for not less than three days before the surgery. These products may have ingredients that can contaminate the eye and cause infection. Hence, most Lasik surgeons will call off the procedure if they learn that the patient has applied any kind of cosmetic on their face on the date of the operations.

Enhancement surgery: Occasionally, the initial surgery does not yield acceptable results and have to resort to another Lasik procedure several months after the first procedure. These are called “enhancement surgeries” or “touch ups”. If the vision is “undercorrected”, a second surgery is necessary. On the other hand, if the vision is “overcorrected”, the patient will be required to wear special glasses or contacts for sometime after the first surgery. If a second procedure has to be done, the surgeon will have to wait for at least three to six months, after which, the recovery process is strictly monitored.

Lost of Vision or Reduced Vision: These are very uncommon occurrences experienced after the surgery, where patients go through loss of vision or reduced vision. A small three percent among all the Lasik patients have reported this side effect. Generally, these situations have a way of correcting by themselves, albeit after a few months.

Diminished low-light vision: This side effect is quite a common occurrence. This can also be naturally corrected after sometime. Right after surgery, patients complain of seeing “halos” surrounding lights in the evening. Generally, patients give accounts of this condition from three to four days from surgery. Exceptional cases of this side effect last for as long as six months before vision finally clears.

Severe dry eye: This is another usual complication of Lasik surgery that makes the patient feel that their eye seems so dry and requires more moisture. People regularly suffering from dry eye are not good candidates for Lasik. For some people their eye could remain dry for several days and sometimes even months after the Lasik procedure. To correct this condition, eye drops are administered to the patient.