LASIK Side Effects

Though rare, LASIK eye surgery has certain side effects. This is true for most other surgeries too. If you are considering LASIK eye surgery for yourself or your loved ones, you should educate yourself regarding LASIK side effects.

Under-correction or Over-correction – Factors, such as hydration of the cornea during surgery, laser and its calibration, temperature and humidity of the laser room can result in under-correction, and require additional laser treatment – but after three months, to allow the results to stabilize. Over-correction, although a rare occurring, can change a myopic condition to a hyperopic condition. This can be corrected with further surgery.
Irregular or Induced Astigmatism – Although the exact reasons are not known, LASIK surgery can cause Astigmatism. Alignment of the patient's eye and uniformity of the laser beam could be the contributing factors, though the resulting Astigmatism is small. Irregular Astigmatism, which is a more serious problem that could occur if the surface is left with any unevenness after the surgery. The resulting reduction in visual acuity would have to be corrected by glasses or gas permeable contact lenses.
Loss of Visual Acuity – Let us assume that a pre-operative vision of 20/400 without glasses and contact lenses and a 20/20 vision with them may improve after laser surgery to 20/30 without glasses and contact lenses, and 20/20 vision with thinner glasses and contact lenses. If, however, the 20/30 post surgery vision cannot be improved even with glasses and contact lenses, then you have lost best-corrected acuity. This may happen in 5% of the low to medium Myopia patients.
Visual Anomalies – Following LASIK eye surgery, you could develop a corneal haze, a ground-glass like appearance. A minor haze could be eliminated with anti-inflammatory eye drops. A more dense haze may require re-surgery. There may be a decrease in night time vision, halos and star bursts, etc. There may be reduced brightness and glare. Although rare, there is always a possibility of blindness and a potentially sight-threatening infection, endophthalmitis.
Other Side Effects of LASIK
a) Laser surgeries are centered around the pupil and any de-centered incision, or ablation, is bound to result in improper focusing of the light. Many of today’s lasers have an eye tracking beams to reduce any possibility of de-centered ablation.
b) Cataract, the clouding of the crystalline lens, is a natural occurrence, brought on by age. At times, any invasive ocular surgery can bring it on faster. Inflammation controlling post operative steroids can cause this.

Consider these and other side effects before deciding on LASIK eye surgery.