Laser eye surgery is one of those surgeries that is either done by choice or because it needs to be done. No matter how helpful eye surgery can be it has risks. Whether you get cosmetic, LASIK, or PRK three are going to be risks to the procedure.
Risks of PRK
PRK is one of the most popular laser eye surgeries available. Although it is not as advanced as LASIK it gets the job done. However, this procedure has both long and short-term risks involved. Some of these risks include:
- Potential browning of the cornea with age
- Halos around objects
- Dry-eye
- Flattening of cornea
- Glare in dim light
- Scars
Risks of LASIK
LASIK eye surgery is the most popular laser eye surgery for fixing sight. It is the most advanced procedure to date, and has a high success rate. This procedure still has its own set of risks to consider though, including:
- Under or overcorrection
- Enhancement procedures
- Astigmatism that has been increased
- Haze
- Dry-Eye
- Night glare
- Halos
- Protective Coating Developing on cornea
- Scars
Risks of Cosmetic Eye Surgery
Cosmetic eye surgeries are often the choice of the patients. These surgeries are usually not paid for by insurance, but the patient themselves. These types of eye procedures often enhance the physical appearance. A lot of risks are included with these procedures because there is nothing wrong with the eye, and you could actually damage it with unneeded procedures. Some risks include:
- A pain in the back of the eye
- Double vision
- Milia
- Trouble closing your eye
- Blindness or vision loss
- Blurry vision
- Scars
Dry Eye
After surgery you can have a sandy or even gritty feeling in your eye. This symptom will often stay around for about three months, however buying artificial tears, or lubricating eye drops can help speed up the recovery of this symptom.
Halos
Halos are small rings of blurry light that are seen around objects. Halos can be both a long and short term side effect. They can hurt your vision, and make it hard to drive in harsh light, or very dim light. It is also a distraction.
Night Glare or Glare n Dim light
Often people who wear contact lenses or glasses will experience night glare or glare in dim light. This is because when the pupil dilates in dim light rays of light in your peripheral vision will scatter causing a glare.
Protective Coating on Cornea
These growths are often called an epithelium growth. This happens when epithelium cells get trapped beneath the flap created for LASIK surgery. To protect the cells the cornea will form a hard protective covering around them. This will often give you blurry vision. These protective coatings can be easily scrapped away by your doctor.
Haze
After any eye surgery you can often have a haze that doesn’t affect your vision. This haze is actually a cell growth. It is often aggravated in ultra-violet light which will cause it to itch and sting.
Blindness of Vision Loss
Blindness often occurs with patients that have cosmetic eye surgery done. This is because the procedure is not actually needed and causes problems in your eye. 10 out of 1,000 people who had cosmetic surgery on their eyes go blind; while only 1 out of 1,000 go blind after having LASIK or PRK done on their eyes. The main cause is weather the surgery is needed or if it is just for beauty reasons.
Enhancement Procedures
Enhancement procedures are surgeries that are done by your eye surgeon based on the success of the original surgery. However, these surgeries are NOT the patients’ choice! They are chosen by your doctor after you sign the agreement form. If you are not comfortable with not being able to make your own decisions you should check over your agreement form carefully before signing.
Under or Over Correction
Under correction and over correction happen when the laser in LASIK surgery is set wrong. Both can be fixed with other surgeries. Under correction is ore common than over correction.
Milia
This often happens after cosmetic eye surgery. Skin cysts that are small form on the scar line. This is normally temporary and can be corrected by your body. However, it is sometimes necessary to remove them with surgery.
Trouble Closing Your Eye
This is often a temporary side effect. Sometimes it requires corrective surgery. However, this is rare.
Scars
Scars are normal with any surgery. However the incision for any eye surgery (that isn’t on eye lids or for wrinkles) is in the eye. These are not normally noticeable even if they scar.
Sometimes, if the risks outweigh the benefits eye surgery is not something you want to consider. However, if you need the surgery and you feel that the benefits outweigh the risks you should go for it. Eye surgeries can be painful and risky but if it is needed you can make your eye sight amazingly clear.