Laser eye clinics often extol the virtues of laser eye treatment to prospective patients, without explaining the risks. Any decision to have potentially life-changing, and relatively expensive surgery, particularly to the eyesight, should not be taken lightly. For that reason, a good laser eye clinic will explain the costs, benefits, and risks to patients at the initial consultation stage.
Laser eye treatment – what are the risks?
Fortunately, laser eye treatment is on the whole very safe and can have a positive effect on people’s lives by freeing them from having to use glasses or contact lenses. But there can be side effects and drawbacks to having treatment – we explore some of those below:
- Dry eyes - some people experience dry eye symptoms after having laser eye treatment. Whilst the symptoms can be lessened with eye drops or medication, they may not entirely disappear.
- Visual aberrations – in rare cases, patients may see ‘halos’ around objects, have reduced night vision, double vision, or increased sensitivity to light.
- Results may wear off – more likely in patients with long-sightedness, but the improvements in vision brought about by laser eye surgery may begin to wear off after a few years. Again, this is rare.
- Further treatment may be needed – Occasionally, vision may be under-corrected meaning further surgery is needed to achieve perfect sight.
Whilst there are risks, for many people the benefits of laser eye surgery outweigh these. Being able to play more sport, or swim without worrying about contact lenses, as well as never having to buy another pair of glasses – just some of the reasons that more than 100,000 people choose to have laser treatment every year. Reputable laser eye clinics will always take time to explain the potential risks and many will do this as part of a free initial consultation to assess patients’ suitability for laser eye surgery.