When visiting a LASIK clinic in Los Angeles as a potential LASIK patient, you will receive an in-depth eye exam and health evaluation. Eye care professionals such as those of Excel Laser Vision Institute will look for any signs that may disqualify you for the procedure in terms of your eye condition, health history, and current health status. You may be disqualified from LASIK and pointed to an alternative laser eye surgery, or you may be told to wait until your health conditions align with the ideal candidate. One reason that a doctor may tell you to come back to be reevaluated is if you are currently pregnant or breastfeeding.
Women who are breastfeeding or pregnant are generally told to put off their LASIK eye surgery because this could affect the results of their procedure or even jeopardize the safety of the baby. Here are some of the main reasons why a LASIK professional will tell a woman who is pregnant or breastfeeding to delay their laser eye surgery.
Hormonal Changes
Women undergo natural hormonal shifts when breastfeeding and pregnant, which can ultimately affect their visual acuity. According to recent studies, these hormonal fluctuations can cause the eye lens to swell which may alter a patient’s prescription. LASIK is known for treating farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism but these hormonal shifts could actually make it more difficult to achieve precise vision correction. Experts at Excel Laser Vision Institute, a LASIK eye center in Los Angeles, recommend that women undergo LASIK before pregnancy or 2-6 months after breastfeeding. This will ensure that hormones are relatively balanced and a patient’s true prescription can be treated.
Medication Use
LASIK surgeons typically utilize certain medications on LASIK patients that may not be safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women to take. For example, LASIK patients are often given a mild sedative in order to relax them prior to the surgery. When taken by a pregnant woman, this could potentially cause harm to the baby. Laser eye surgery patients will also be given eye drops that help numb and dilate the eye during the surgery and antibiotic eye drops to prevent infection as well as steroidal eye drops for inflammation. These drops have the potential to enter a woman’s bloodstream and pose risks to a pregnancy in the third trimester. Finally, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding will not be able to take any painkillers which could potentially make their procedure more uncomfortable and inconvenient.
Radiation Exposure
As with many medical procedures, LASIK surgery exposes patients to some levels of radiation from the laser technology. This happens when the laser is creating tiny corneal incisions and reshaping the tissues in the cornea. While this is very minimal and unharmful to the ideal candidate, this radiation may be dangerous for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. In order to avoid any of these risks, doctors will always recommend that women put off any elective procedures until after their period of breastfeeding is over.
LASIK Eye Surgery Near Me
While women who are currently pregnant or breastfeeding may not be ideal candidates for LASIK, they can often receive the procedure later on. LASIK experts in Los Angeles like Doctor Moosa recommend that women wait a minimum of 2 months after breastfeeding to visit a LASIK clinic and have a thorough evaluation. LASIK specialists will be able to identify any potential risks and steer patients in the right direction to achieve their vision goals.
