LASIK is perhaps the best known and most commonly performed laser eye surgery to correct vision problems. You’ve finally decided to go for a LASIK surgery after months of consideration. The thing is, you’re already a few months pregnant. The most obvious question you have in mind is, “can I have the surgery safely during my pregnancy?”
To answer this question, we need to look at the changes your body goes through during pregnancy. Some of those changes may have some effect on your eyes, which in turn, will determine if you’re eligible for LASIK surgery.
How LASIK Surgery Works
LASIK is a popular type of laser refractive surgery aimed at treating nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Like other types of laser eye surgery, the LASIK procedure reshapes the cornea to enable light entering the eye to be properly focused onto the retina. The surgeon takes measurements that tells the laser-guided instrument where to remove corneal tissue to improve your vision.
During LASIK surgery, a thin circular flap is created on the surface of your cornea. This flap is pulled back to expose the inner layers of your cornea that will then be reshaped using a laser. Once your cornea is reshaped, the flap is smoothed back into place, and the surgery is over!
Hormones and Water Retention in Your Eyes
During pregnancy, a number of your hormones all take on important roles. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) is the dominant one since it sends signals to all the crucial parts of your body to nurture and protect the developing fetus.
In your eyes, the amount of change these hormones undergo can sometimes cause decreased tear production, leading to dry eyes and irritation, especially those who wear contact lenses. In fact, blurred vision is a common condition in pregnant women because of those hormonal changes. Those hormones that cause you to retain water in your joints can increase fluid buildup in your eyes, which can change the curvature of your cornea, affecting your vision.
How will LASIK Surgery Affect my Pregnancy?
LASIK is a safe, minimally invasive procedure that will not affect your pregnancy in any way. This is at least true for the procedure itself. However, your surgeon may prescribe medications, which are not recommended for pregnant women.
Also, going back to those hormonal changes during pregnancy, they may affect the result of the LASIK treatment. Whether you’re nearsighted or farsighted, the laser instrument shapes your cornea in a way that counteracts both conditions. Since your hormones are also affecting the shape of your corneas, the surgeon may get a different measurement out of it. If you were to have LASIK surgery during pregnancy and then your eyes were to revert to their pre-pregnancy state, you’re likely to get imperfect results.
This is also the reason why eye surgeons don’t do LASIK on young adults. Adolescents and young adults are still in a growing phase, and their eyes simply haven’t stopped changing yet.
Conclusion
LASIK is generally a safe procedure and won’t have any adverse effects on your unborn child. However, being pregnant does have certain conditions that may affect your LASIK result. So if you want optimal results after your laser eye surgery, it’s probably best to wait after your child has been born.
Why suffer from blurred vision when you can seek the help of an eye specialist to correct your vision. Valley Laser Eye Centre is here to help you improve your quality of life with vision correction. Whether you are nearsighted or farsighted, our eye centre is fully equipped to help you see the world in a different light through our LASIK treatment and eye surgeries. Contact us today to book an appointment!
Disclaimer: This blog post does not replace medical advice and should not be implemented prior to consulting a fully certified medical professional.
