Laser eye surgery can provide a means for some people to see clearly without the burden of having to wear glasses or contact lenses. One of the most well known variants of this is LASIK corrective eye surgery. There have also been many rumors and horror stories that is causes more harm than good, but this is likely due to those who have not been so fortunate or those who did not properly plan things out. This article will detail what LASIK eye surgery is and what you can do to avoid becoming the next LASIK horror story.

First of all, LASIK (Laser Assisted in-Situ Keratomileusis) corrective eye surgery is a very well known procedure having been performed by many eye surgeons around the world. The actual method behind LASIK surgery is this:

1. A central portion of the outer eye is cut out into a flap

2. A laser is fired into the eye

3. The surgeon replaces the flap back to its original location

Prior to the LASIK corrective eye surgery, the eye surgeon would apply a retainer like tool to hold your eyelids open. Then, the surgeon would instil some eye drops into your eye in order to numb eyes, to prevent your eyes from getting dry and to act as an antibiotic. Once this preparation is complete, the eye surgeon would then proceed to cut open the flap using a microkeratome. You should feel no pain during this step as the numbing drops should have already taken effect. At the very worst, you will feel a pressure being placed onto your eye. After this, the surgeon carefully opens up the flap and at this point, your vision will become very blurry. The eye surgeon or the assistant will turn on the laser, which will reshape the outer surface of your eye. At this point, you will see flashing lights, or blurs, and you will hear a snapping sound. This is very fast and takes less than 1 minute to do. Once the laser eye surgery is complete, the surgeon will rewet, smoothen the eye and also replace the flap back onto the eye.

Throughout the LASIK corrective eye surgery, the eye surgeon will regularly add drops into your eye so that you will not be uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, you should feel any physical discomfort throughout the surgery. Once that is all done, the surgeon will give you a plastic bandage to cover the operated eyes so that it is protected from infection, being rubbed by you and also to allow your eyes to heal.

You should not engage in any physical activity for at least 4 weeks after LASIK corrective eye surgery. You should not expose your eyes to water, like in hot tubs, swimming in pools, the beach, the spa and so on for 1 to 2 months after surgery. You should also not apply any kind of lotions or creams near your eyes for about 2 weeks after the surgery. All in all, you should continue to use medications given to you by doctor after the surgery and to regularly consult with your doctor to monitor the progress of your eyes and your vision. If the worse comes to worst, as in recurring symptoms of dry eyes, visual disturbances such as glare and sensitivity to light, or infections, you should go to your surgeon immediately to see if you can get an enhancement surgery or antibiotics to treat the infection.

LASIK eye surgery will inevitably involve some form of risk or danger, as it permanently alters the eye. However, this applies equally to all kinds of surgery, not just eye surgeries, and a candidate should be aware of such complications and how to deal with them, rather than just dismiss this potentially liberating opportunity. This will article will explain what LASIK eye surgery complications you can expect and what how you should deal with these complications.

The most commonly reported side effect of LASIK eye surgery is dry eyes. Your symptoms can be that of painful, itchy, gritty eyes as well as a sensation of something in your eyes. The best remedy is to simply use the eye drops that you were given after the surgery, which should help lubricate your eyes and treat your dry eyes. If you still experience dry eyes 6 months after the initial surgery, then the odds are that it is permanent and there really isn’t anything you can do about it. Remember, eye surgery is a risk, and it is a risk that you have to be willing to take. Thankfully, the getting dry eyes for that long is quite rare as many precautions are taken by the surgeon to ensure that you are a suitable candidate for LASIK surgery and that you are producing a sufficient tear film.

The second most commonly reported LASIK eye surgery complication is the loss of night vision. This doesn’t mean being blind at night but experiencing visual disturbances, such as haloes, starbursts and glare, which are accentuated at night that can impair your vision, especially when you’re driving. You may also experience ghosting or double vision, which can be worsened at night as well. These symptoms should naturally heal by themselves and practically gone over the course of a few months. Once again, if it is unusually persistent you should go back to your surgeon to get an enhancement surgery to address these symptoms.

A loss of contrast sensitivity can also be a worrying LASIK eye surgery complication as it can make it harder to discriminate differences in shades and colors. This, in turn, can make it more difficult to read, watch TV or the movies clearly without having the mental irritation of knowing that something isn’t quite right with your vision.

Despite extensive research and testing, eye surgeons themselves are human and prone to mistakes which can lead to under or over correction of your eyes. Most of the times that it is over corrected, the eye surgeon has deliberately done this in order to factor in possible sight regression. However, when it is under corrected, this is almost always a mistake because sight regression can make surgery a complete waste of money because you’ll be back to where you started. This kind of mistake is not common and this is why you should regularly visit the doctor to monitor the progress of your vision.

The final LASIK eye surgery complication that I’d like to mention is sight regression. As previously mentioned, this can be due to under correction of the eye but sometimes, it could be due to the fact that your eyes heal more quickly than other people. In this specific case, you will want to wait until your vision has stabilised before undertaking further LASIK surgery in order to correct this regression in vision. This may be several months to a year, but once again, this is highly dependent on your eyes.