Are there any negative long term effects of having laser eye surgery?
*~* ♥ Lady~Lestat ♥ *~* asked:
Are there any serious ones that show up later? I’m considering the surgery.
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Are there any serious ones that show up later? I’m considering the surgery.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Pain or discomfort:
Immediately after the procedure, your eye may burn, itch, or feel like there is something in it. You may experience some discomfort, or in some cases, mild pain and your doctor may suggest you take a mild pain reliever.
Blurred or hazy vision:
Your vision will probably be hazy or blurry. You will instinctively want to rub your eye, but don’t! Rubbing your eye could dislodge the flap, requiring further treatment.
Glare and light sensitivity:
In addition, you may experience sensitivity to light, glare, starbursts or haloes around lights, or the whites of your eye may look red or bloodshot.
These symptoms should improve considerably within the first few days after surgery. You should plan on taking a few days off from work until these symptoms subside.
You should contact your doctor immediately and not wait for your scheduled visit, if you experience severe pain, or if your vision or other symptoms get worse instead of better.
Distortion of vision:
Following treatment of the first eye, there will be a focusing difference between the two eyes. This may also cause tension headaches. These symptoms settle with treatment of the second eye.
Infection and delayed healing: There is about a 0.1 percent chance of the cornea becoming infected after PRK, and a somewhat smaller chance after LASIK. Generally, this means added discomfort and a delay in healing, with no long-term effects within a period of four years.
Undercorrection/Overcorrection: It is not possible to predict perfectly how your eye will respond to laser surgery. As a result, you may still need corrective lenses after the procedure to obtain good vision. In some cases, a second procedure can be done to improve the result.
Decrease in Best-Corrected Vision: After refractive surgery, some patients find that their best obtainable vision with corrective lenses is worse than it was before the surgery. This can occur as a result of irregular tissue removal or the development of corneal haze.
Excessive Corneal Haze: Corneal haze occurs as part of the normal healing process after PRK. In most cases, it has little or no effect on the final vision and can only be seen by an eye doctor with a microscope. However, there are some cases of excessive haze that interferes with vision. As with undercorrections, this can often be dealt with by means of an additional laser treatment. The risk of significant haze is much less with LASIK than with PRK.
Regression: In some patients the effect of refractive surgery is gradually lost over several months. This is like an undercorrection, and a re-treatment is often feasible.
Halo Effect: The halo effect is an optical effect that is noticed in dim light. As the pupil enlarges, a second faded image is produced by the untreated peripheral cornea. For some patients who have undergone PRK or LASIK, this effect can interfere with night driving.
Incomplete Procedure: Equipment malfunction may require the procedure to be stopped before completion. This is a more significant factor in LASIK, with its higher degree of complexity, than in PRK.
Problems with a Perfect Procedure: Even when everything goes perfectly, there are effects that might cause some dissatisfaction. Older patients should be aware that they can’t have both good distance vision and good near vision in the same eye without corrective lenses. Some myopic patients rely on their myopia (by taking off their glasses, or by wearing a weaker prescription) to allow them to read. Such a patient may need reading glasses after the myopia is surgically corrected. Another consideration is the delay between eye treatments. If one eye is being done at a time, then the eyes may not work well together during the time between treatments. If a contact lens is not tolerated on the unoperated eye, work and driving may be awkward or impossible until the second eye has been treated. Rehana A
September 27th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I had mine almost 4 years ago and to be honest, I like it, but there is no guarantee you will never have to wear glasses (found out after I spent the money on it). My sight isn’t as good as it was when I first got it done (and the day after my sight was 20/15). I also have a problem with one eye being dry through the night and have to use a nighttime ointment in my eye. But I am still glad I got it done. D-GIRL
September 29th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
There are some lawsuits in the works that those doing it have been understating the possible long term effects. So do the research well & talk with the doctor & ask lots of questions. Get 2nd opinion too.
Many are happy, but the % of complications is higher than originally reported. Cher was here JPA
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Now!
This is not to know the number of!
But you have to believe in science! Submit