Is it safe to get laser eye surgery if I am pregnant?
Laser eye surgery is performed on approximately 100,000 people in the UK each year and its popularity continues to grow. There are 2 main types of laser eye surgery and they are Lasik and Lasek, both of which produce similar results but Lasik has a much quicker and more comfortable recovery period. There are many things that pregnant women have to avoid and is laser eye surgery another one to add to list?
Whilst there is no danger performing laser eye surgery on a pregnant woman, it is generally not advised to do so and the reasons are as follows:
Change in prescription: This is most important reason why you should not have laser eye surgery if you are pregnant. During pregnancy and in the first few months after giving birth, there are considerable changes to the hormones levels in your body. These hormonal changes can lead to a change in your prescription that could mean that your laser eye surgery is not long lasting. If you imagine that before you got pregnant your prescription in your glasses was -3.00 Dioptres and then during pregnancy your prescription changed to -2.00 Dioptres. If your eyes were lasered whilst pregnant, your laser eye surgeon would correct your -2.00 prescription. After your eyes had settled down following giving birth, your eyes normally revert back to what they were prior to being pregnant which would mean you were still -1.00 prescription and would therefore need glasses! It is for this reason that you should wait at least 3 months after giving birth before you consider laser eye surgery.
Dry eyes: During pregnancy, again as a result of changing hormones, your eyes tend to become drier. Whilst this is only temporary, if you decided to have laser eye surgery the recovery period would be more uncomfortable and your eyes would not heal as well. Both these reasons mean you would not be suitable for laser eye surgery.
Breast feeding: If you are breast feeding then there is a theoretical risk that the steroid eye drops that are prescribed after laser eye surgery could pass to your child during feeding. As these could be detrimental to the health of your child it is best not to consider laser eye surgery until you have ceased breast feeding.
In summary, most surgeons would agree that you should wait at least 3 months after pregnancy (or breast feeding if applicable) until you consider having laser eye surgery. Whilst there is no risk to your baby whilst you are pregnant the main reason for not having the procedure is that the results will not be long lasting.
About the Author
This article was contributed by Tim Harwood, an Optometrist based in London.
