Why You Might Experience Dry Eye After Lasik Surgery

Lasik surgery can be great to correct your vision so that you no longer need contacts or glasses. However, just like with any other surgery, there are some discomforts that you might have. One of the most common discomforts that may occur is dry eye after lasik surgery.

You might experience dry eye after lasik surgery because your eyes are not able to produce moisture or tears any longer. When your eyes are not able to produce tears, you are likely to have some discomfort in your eyes. As a result of having dry eyes, you may also not be experiencing the quality of vision that you should be. This is because dry eyes can cause your vision to be blurry, as well as having many other vision symptoms.

Dry eye after lasik surgery can be a permanent condition that you can not get rid of. This is a risk that you take when you have lasik surgery performed on your eyes. However, dry eyes are not the only risk that is associated with the lasik procedure, but one of the more common risks.

You will know that you have dry eye after lasik surgery because your vision might be blurry, you may be experiencing itchiness and redness of the eyes, as well as having a feeling that there is something in your eye. If you are experiencing dry eyes after your lasik surgery, you may want to consider having your tear ducts blocked so that you can keep the tear film on your eye. This is also known as a punctal occlusion. The second option, is artificial tears, which will make the eye moist again, and relieve you from the feeling of dry eyes.

If you have dry eyes before lasik surgery, you may not be able to have this procedure preformed on your eyes. However, some doctors will try to treat your dry eye syndrome, before attempting surgery. The reason many doctors will not perform lasik on patients with dry is because it reduces your quality of healing after surgery.

What Are The Eye Conditions That Lasik Helps To Correct?

There are four general eye conditions that are treatable with the Lasik procedure. Some people mistakenly believe that Lasik can be used to treat all forms of vision problems and all degrees of short sightedness or far sightedness and this is not true. Even the conditions which are treatable with Lasik must fall within a certain range to qualify for the laser treatment.

Lasik was primarily designed to help those patients with mild to moderate vision problems. Patients with severe vision problems may be helped with Lasix but their eyesight may still remain poor enough to require glasses. Although most patients who undergo Lasik never need to wear glasses or contacts again, this isn’t the case for everyone.

Lasik is mainly used to treat the eye conditions of myopia which is also known as nearsightedness, hyperopia which is also known as farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia if you choose to use the monovision method of correction.
Myopia

Myopia is also called nearsightedness, and is a condition where you can see objects close up much clearer than objects at a distance. This is generally caused by a eye that is longer than normal and the light rays therefore focus in front of the retina rather than on it.
Hyperopia

Hyperopia is called farsightedness and is the opposite of myopia. Objects that are at a distance are clearer than objects that are up close and this is because light rays focus behind the retina instead of on it.
Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a common condition which results in blurry vision which results from an unusual shaped eyeball. Instead of being round, the eye is more of an oval shape and this causes the light rays to focus on two points instead of one. In addition, those with the condition of astigmatism often have myopia or hyperopia as well. When Lasik is used in a case like this, both conditions can be treated at once.

Presbyopia
Presbyopia is a common eye condition that normally occurs with aging and strikes people in between the age of forty to fifty. It is the result of the eye lens losing its elasticity. This causes objects to become blurry the closer they become. This condition is usually corrected with reading glasses. Lasik cannot correct presbyopia in itself but Lasik can compensate for the condition through a procedure know as monovision. One eye is corrected to see far away and the other is corrected to see up close so the brain is tricked into seeing clearly.

Lasik has helped many people with the above conditions to be able to give up wearing glasses and contact lenses and restore clear vision. Only your eye doctor will be able to determine if Lasik is appropriate for your situation.

by: Peter Rankin