Who is not a good candidate for laser eye surgery? LASIK is not ideal for people under the age of 18, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, people on certain prescription medication, those with unstable vision, people who suffer from dry eye syndrome, and those who are not in good general health.
You have a thin or irregular cornea
If you have a predisposition to corneal shape irregularity, this can be made worse by laser eye surgery, and a condition called corneal ectasia may develop. This occurs infrequently and can often be treated successfully without the need for a corneal transplant.
Certain conditions, such as autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus, rheumatoid arthritis), immunodeficiency states (e.g., HIV) and diabetes, and some medications (e.g., retinoic acid and steroids) may prevent proper healing after a refractive procedure.
Yes, your vision can be potentially too bad for LASIK. LASIK is available to a variety of patients, but patients will generally qualify for treatment if their vision falls between -0.5 D to -8.0 D myopia. The maximum prescription for treatment for patients with moderate to severe myopia is around -8.0 D.
Are there any risks? Most people have some visual side effects and discomfort in the weeks or months after surgery but these should gradually settle down. Serious complications are more common after RLE than after laser eye surgery or PIOL surgery. About 1 in 500 people have significant loss of vision after RLE.
3% of patients have serious problems after LASIK, such as dry eyes or infection. 90% of LASIK patients experience 20/20 vision after surgery. Furthermore, 99% of patients achieve 20/40 vision. Only 3% of patients regret getting LASIK.
The chances of experiencing complications from laser eye surgery, including various minor ones, has been documented to be less than one per cent. Most laser eye surgery complications actually arise when the patients treated are not good candidates for the procedure.
Laser effects on the eye
The retina, cornea, and lens are the areas most commonly damaged. Retina: Laser light in the visible to near-infrared spectrum can cause damage to the retina. These wavelengths are also known as the "retinal hazard region."
In fact, there is no set age for LASIK eye surgery. Most LASIK eye surgeons, however, will not perform the procedure on those under the age of 18 as vision tends to keep changing into early adulthood.
Exposure to high level lasers may cause depigmentation, severe burns and possible damage to underlying organs.
These include both direct beam hazards such as tissue burns, eye damage, endotracheal tube fire, drape fire, and explosion of gases, or non-beam hazards (those that are secondary to the actual beam interaction) such as laser generated airborne contaminants (surgical plume), electrical damage, toxic dyes, and system ...
The pigmentation of the hair follicles must be dark enough relative to the skin so that the laser can pinpoint the hair follicles and burn them. If the hair follicles have too little pigmentation (white hair, light red hair, or light blonde hair), it will be difficult for the laser to properly target them.
Typically, eye doctors will set their limits to +6 for farsightedness, -12 for nearsightedness, and 6 diopters for astigmatism. However, not all laser strengths are the same, so there's some wiggle room.
In fact, LASIK is one of the safest elective surgical procedures available today, with a complication rate estimated to be less than 1%.
With success rates that range between 90% and 99%, LASIK is incredibly effective and, for most, it eliminates the need for corrective lenses, at least in the foreseeable future.
Presbyopia. One of the more common reasons that vision changes occur after laser eye surgery is presbyopia. This is an age-related eye condition that happens as the eye lens hardens and stiffens. This makes it more challenging for the eye to focus on items that are up close.
For most patients, the results of LASIK will last a lifetime. About 10-12% of patients nationwide will need an enhancement surgery because of anatomical changes to the eye/eyes.
The effects of laser eye surgery generally last for life, but a small percentage of patients might experience regression and therefore benefit from an enhancement or secondary procedure.
If the LASIK flap is not made correctly, it may fail to adhere properly to the eye's surface or microscopic wrinkles called striae (STRIE-ee) could develop in the flap. These flap complications can cause optical aberrations and distorted vision.
Laser therapy can result in misdirected or excessively intense burns, bleeding from the choriocapillaris, damage to macular and other ocular structures, and breaks in Bruch's membrane.
Some lasers emit radiation in the form of light. Others emit radiation that is invisible to the eye, such as ultraviolet or infrared radiation. In general, laser radiation is not in itself harmful, and behaves much like ordinary light in its interaction with the body.
If you shave too far in advance then the hairs will be too long and the laser can't hit the follicle as it should, while shaving too soon after your treatment can cause more irritation as your skin is still healing.
Above 5 milliwatts of power, a laser can potentially permanently damage the eyes in under 10 seconds. For especially strong lasers, this damage can be almost instant. This harm is mostly the result of the sensitive light-sensitive cells in the eye's retina becoming overloaded and damage done to the macula.
Victims of visually significant retinal laser injuries typically experiencesudden, severe decreased vision in one or, less commonly, both eyes. Theyusually notice a bright flash of light even with invisible laser beams, followedby an immediate decrease in the vision of affected eyes.