Diabetics Looking At LASIK Surgery: Just because you have diabetes, it does not automatically mean you are not qualified to have LASIK surgery. Chances are you can but there are some things you need to consider before hand.
Keep in mind that the statistics show that almost half of the people with diabetes experienced complications after LASIK. The amount of people who experience complications and didn’t have diabetes is only 7%. Some of these problems you could experience if you have LASIK and diabetes is visual alterations due to changes in blood glucose control. A lot of research has shown that any major change in glucose levels can cause short-term changes in your vision. So as a result, it you have diabetes you might experience blurry vision. If you wear contacts or glasses, this is not a big deal. All you need to do to fix the problem is get a new pair of contacts or glasses. However when you are talking about the permanent changes after LASIK surgery you can’t do that. In order to avoid the blurry vision, you must have good control over your blood glucose both before and after your LASIK surgery.
You might also experience slower healing of your eye’s cornea after surgery. It is not uncommon to have some abnormalities in your cornea due to diabetes and these abnormalities can lead to slow healing after surgery. You may also experience some epithelial defections that can last a long time. You might also experience further damage to your retina also, especially if you have >diabetic retinopathy. Before you have the surgery make sure you are looked at by an ophthalmologist who specializes in retina disease if you have retinopathy.
Remember that during the LASIK surgery there will come a point when suction is applied to your eye. In some cases this suction causes increase pressure in the eye and it might be harmful for you if you have diabetes. Because of all this risks there are a few things you have to make sure you have taken care of before you will even qualify for LASIK.
First, you have to have your diabetes under good control. As stated before, when you have shifts in your glucose level, your vision gets a little blurry. If this happens after the surgery you have no way to correct it. You can not just get a new pair of glasses or a new pair of contacts. It is essential that you keep your glucose level under control. Next, you can not have any preexisting complications at all before the surgery. If you do, chances are you will not qualify for the surgery. If you meet both of those then you will need to go through an extensive thorough screening to make sure you can have a successful surgery.
Just because you have diabetes, it does not mean that you should not have LASIK surgery. You can, if you fit the criteria and are aware of the higher risk you may have versus someone who doesn’t have diabetes. Talk to your doctor and get their opinion and make sure you tell the surgeon that you are a diabetic. As long as you have no preexisting complications and keep your diabetes in check, there is no reason why you can not go on to have a successful LASIK experience.
