Most of the time laser eye surgery is safe, but the truth about laser eye surgery is that it has certain risks you should address before undergoing the procedure, just as you would with any other surgical procedure. While a large number of patients no longer need to wear glasses after surgery and some achieve better than 20/40 vision, the truth about laser eye surgery is that some patients can have decreased vision after the procedure. Before you choose to undergo laser eye surgery you should consider the truth about leaser eye surgery risks.

Side Effects Of Laser Eye Surgery

When it comes to the truth about laser eye surgery risks the most common side effect is corneal haze. While this side effect can fade it time there are some cases in which it doesn’t fade. Corneal haze cannot be corrected through methods such as contact lenses or glasses, rather you would need additional surgery such as CustomVue or WaveFront in order to treat the scarring.

There is always the chance that laser eye surgery will cause scarring in the tissue which can result in vision that is lower than 20/20 or lower than the patients visual experience before undergoing the procedure. The truth about laser eye surgery risks is also that vision can be both over corrected or under corrected. Therefore, even after the procedure is complete individuals may still need glasses or contact lenses and it is often recommended that a second surgery be performed to increase the effectiveness of the treatment.

During laser eye surgery there is a risk that the microkeratome blade cuts off the entire flap rather than leaving it hinged, in these cases the patient can suffer complete vision loss. Even a successful procedure can cause small imperfections in the flap which can result in partial vision loss or blurred vision in some areas of your eyesight.

While laser eye surgery is safe with a skilled and experienced surgeon there is no way to reduce the risk of a post operative infection that is always present during any surgical procedure. However, most of the time medication can be used to treat these infections and they don’t develop into long-term problems. But there are severe forms of post operative infection that can result in temporary vision loss or worse symptoms. LASIK has less risk of infection than PRK or LASEK since the healing process is longer for the last two procedures.