As with any medical procedure, there are potential risks and complications.  As you can imagine, with Lasik, it is no different.  Therefore, let’s use this hub to first, define what the Lasik procedure is and second, list a few common potential complications.

Lasik surgery has become unbelievably popular in the past two decades.  While many people are surprised by this, it seems perfectly logical that a surgery that can produce such dramatic results with minimal recovery and pain would inevitably become so popular.

With that said, let’s briefly describe the Lasik Eye Surgery procedure. 

Lasik, which stands for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, is a refractive surgery procedure.  During the actual procedure, a Lasik surgeon uses a metal blade to make a small flap on a portion of the eye called the cornea.  At this point, the surgeon gently peels back the flap to expose the portion of the eye called the stoma.  With a specialized laser, called an excimer laser, the surgeon vaporizes a small amount of stoma.  After the surgeon has vaporized enough of the stoma to correct the vision problem, he very gently places the flap back into place, using natural adhesion to help in the healing process.

Now that we have provided a brief overview of the Lasik procedure, let’s examine a few potential complications that a patient may experience.

One of the easiest complications to correct is epithelial ingrowth.  While this sounds like a very complicated side effect, it really isn’t. 

Epithelial ingrowth occurs during the eye’s healing process.  If you remember from above, the surgeon makes a small cut in the cornea.  Sometimes, this flap fails to heal properly due to surface cells (call Epithelial cells) improperly growing under the flap.  This can result in the patient developing irritated eyes, as well as blurry vision.

To resolve this issue, the eye surgeon simply lifts the flap and removes the trapped epithelial cells.

The next complication that we are going to discuss is the possibility of infection.  Since there is a break in your skin, the risk of you developing an infection in your eye is present.  While an infection may not sound that bad, the fact is an infection can actually lead to loss of vision in that eye.

As a result, your eye surgeon is very likely to treat you with antibiotics to ward off the threat of infection.  If you notice any infection, you need to contact your eye surgeon immediately to seek assistance.

A third side effect that is rarely discussed is the subject of regression.  While it may not sound possible, sometimes a Lasik patient’s eye will drift back to the prescription it was before the surgery.  As you can imagine, it would be extremely frustrating to have a surgery and end up in the same place you began.

If a patient experiences regression, he or she can have an enhancement to fix the problem, assuming his or her eye is thick enough.  Another caveat is the fact that the patient will have to wait between 3 to 6 months after the surgery, so the eye can stabilize before being operated on again.

The last complication we are going to discuss today is that of over correction.  Whenever we discuss over correction with people, their usual first thought is, what that is bad?  Doesn’t that mean that instead of having 20/20 vision, I can see better with 20/10 vision?  The short answer:  No.  If during Lasik your vision is overcorrected, that means that your short term and distance vision can become very blurry. 

If you do experience this problem, a Lasik surgeon can fix the issue with an enhancement (another Lasik operation). 

As we have shown above, while Lasik is a very safe procedure, the possibility exists for complications to occur.  Even though it is possible for complication to occur, the fact is that most issues can be successfully dealt with.  Therefore, we recommend you contact a Lasik surgeon today to find out more information.