Can You Go Blind From LASIK Surgery?

LASIK surgery is considered to be a fairly low-risk and highly effective optional surgery. While problems are rare, they can take place.

The American Refractive Surgery Council publishes that 90 percent of people who get LASIK are incredibly satisfied with the procedure and end up with 20/20 vision. LASIK surgery can have some prospective side effects, and certain elements or kinds of corrections may increase the odds for a negative complication.

Talk with your ophthalmologist prior to choosing if LASIK is right for you and to determine what the possible risks are. An initial assessment can help you find if you are a prospect for LASIK.

It is important to take good care of your eyes following LASIK as the majority of the more major issues, such as potential loss of sight, are likely to take place as the result of inadequate aftercare. LASIK treatments are constantly enhancing and so are the success rates. Picking the right surgeon and following the treatment procedure can greatly enhance LASIK outcomes.

Can You Go Blind From LASIK?

LASIK is a surgery, and like any surgical or medical procedure, there are some threats involved. The American Refractive Surgery Council reports that there are no actual cases of loss of sight resulting straight from LASIK surgery, and the success rate is as high as 96 percent.

That being stated, issues from surgery such as infections might result in a level of vision loss or blindness. The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) publishes that legal loss of sight is when a person has 20/200 vision or even worse. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that LASIK can trigger vision loss in some individuals that can not be corrected with additional surgery, glasses, or contact lenses. In spite of the small existence of this risk, the success rate for LASIK is very high, and substantial complications are unusual.

The American Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery reports that LASIK surgery is one of the most effective and most typical surgical procedures. While a LASIK treatment may, in very unusual cases, trigger a person to lose a couple of field of visions on the vision chart, in all probability, it is not going to cause legal blindness. According to Consumer Reports, disabling vision loss is an exceptionally rare problem of LASIK, taking place less than 1 percent of the time. More typical side effects from LASIK surgery involve temporary visual disruptions, such as starbursts or halos around lights or decreased night vision.

Common Complications of LASIK

Issues that occur from LASIK surgery are usually associated with secondary concerns and not from the surgery itself. For instance, if appropriate aftercare treatments are not followed, infections can happen that might then result in serious problems, consisting of possible blindness. After LASIK, it is essential to follow all directions given by the surgeon to minimize the risk and enhance recovery time. Be sure to utilize the eye drops, attempt not to strain your eyes or rub them, and stay with the timeline offered for going back to activities, such as swimming, contact sports, work, heading out in the sun, and even viewing TV or utilizing your computer system or smartphone.

Problems are also more likely to happen when LASIK is more invasive due to a more substantial correction being made. For example, if more of the cornea needs to be altered, the recovery time is most likely to be longer and the danger aspects can go up.

LASIK is used to deal with nearsightedness (myopia) most often, and it is also effective to assist fix farsightedness (hyperopia) and to improve corneas that are more oval than round (astigmatism). LASIK for astigmatism frequently needs more accuracy and possibly a lot more cutting, so the dangers for this type of procedure may be greater than they are for less substantial vision issues. Multiple LASIK procedures can increase the risk elements also.

Minimizing the Side Effects of LASIK

Mayo Clinic reports that LASIK typically has the least quantity of risk and highest reward when used to correct mild nearsightedness. When remedying more considerable farsightedness, severe nearsightedness, or astigmatism, the possibilities of complications can increase, and success rates can be lower.

Your ophthalmologist is the best resource to help you decide if you are a good candidate for LASIK. They can discuss the possible side effects and the rate of possible issues along with the odds for success with you.

The following eligibility criterias are required to enhance the result of LASIK and decrease possible complications:

• You should be at least 18 years old.
• Your corneas need to be thick enough to work with.
• Your pupils ought to not be overly big.
• Your eyes and prescription need to be stable for at least a year before surgery.
• You need to be in good health and not have a condition that inhibits healing.
• You need to not actively and routinely play contact sports.

Here are the story about serious problems occured after the surgery: What nobody tells you before going under the laser – Newsweek.com

Improving LASIK Procedures and Lowering the Risks

Over the years, changes have been made to LASIK surgical procedures, improving and boosting them in order to increase their efficiency and reduce the possible unfavorable side effects and complications, such as possible vision loss or blindness. LASIK surgery develops a flap in the cornea. Then, tissue below can be permanently transformed and reshaped by the laser. The initial flap used to be done with a surgical blade (and sometimes, it still is), however more recent innovation utilizes a femtosecond laser that can produce thinner flaps and for that reason is less invasive, has less space for error, and allows for a much shorter recovery time.

Reduced vision from a LASIK treatment was more common prior to more recent technologies like the femtosecond laser. Thanks to more exact methods, this result is much rarer. LASIK innovation continues to advance, and with it, safety ratings and success rates likewise improve.

Other research from The New York Times: Blurred vision, burning eyes: this is a lasik success?

What to Do if Blindness Does Occur

Loss of sight is a very unusual direct problem from a LASIK procedure, particularly if you listen to the recommendations of your eye doctor on whether the surgery is safe for you, and you take good care of your eyes after surgery. If blindness does happen, it is generally due to some other kind of complication such as infection.

When severe side effects, such as vision loss and loss of sight do occur as a direct outcome of a LASIK procedure, it is typically due to some type of medical malpractice. The surgeon might be using a blade and cut the flap improperly or set the laser to shape the cornea incorrectly. It is vital to pick the right surgeon for the job– one who has experience, training, and the proper licensing to carry out LASIK.

LASIK surgeons are required by law to report severe issues to the FDA, and there have actually been very couple of reports. Patients might look for financial retribution in the type of a lawsuit if blindness or serious side effects occur from carelessness or medical malpractice during LASIK. The FDA releases that almost all (more 95 percent) of patients questioned after a LASIK treatment were satisfied with the outcomes and their vision after the surgery.