LASIK Horror Stories Are All Over Social Media. Should You Be Worried?
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Jess Dreyfus, a 47-year-old social media marketing manager from Southern California, had worn glasses since she was eight years old and wanted to finally ditch her specs. So for her 40th birthday, she gifted herself LASIK, the best-known and most common vision-corrective surgery in which a doc uses an ultraviolet laser to remove a thin layer of the cornea, shaping the tissue so light rays can clearly focus on the retina. (She was, according to her doctors, a perfect candidate—someone with moderate refractive errors, a.k.a. when the shape of your eyeball causes blurry sight, who was otherwise healthy.)
But the procedure didn’t go as smoothly as she’d hoped. When her surgeon was operating, her LASIK flap inexplicably “folded up like a curtain,” Dreyfus says. The unusual reaction left her with severe dry eyes—something she struggles with to this day. And though her vision improved, she still needed to wear eyeglasses (albeit a much lower prescription).
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) says “a small number of patients have real, persistent side effects after LASIK,” like dry eye or pain. But what about those horror stories that are becoming increasingly common on TikTok? Some users talk about uncomfortable post-procedure symptoms, from vision disturbances like halos to more rare, serious complications like chronic pain. Data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests that up to half of people experience new vision problems after LASIK, although they usually resolve with time.
Danielle Richardson, OD, a VSP network optometrist based in Los Angeles who’s had the surgery herself, tells SELF that it’s important to know that “the vast majority of people who get LASIK have a positive experience.” Plus it’s a procedure, and even those that are quick and relatively safe come with some level of risk.
Below, we break down what the LASIK does to your eye, when and why it can leave you worse off, and how to minimize that risk.
When—and how—things can go south with laser eye surgery.
More than 40 million people have gotten LASIK, one of several procedures available to correct poor vision, since it was approved in 1999. The whole thing is fairly quick (it usually takes less than 30 minutes) and most people get close to 20/20 vision within a few days or weeks of having it done. (For others, it may take up to six months.) Some lucky folks, like Dr. Richardson, start to see better even sooner: She got it around 7 a.m. in 2017, and by that evening, was eating pizza and watching a movie sans any corrective eyewear. The next day, Dr. Richardson was back to work. For a lot of individuals, recovery is a breeze.
Still, you’ll want to hold off on the procedure if your prescription has fluctuated in the past two years (which, FYI, typically stabilizes by your mid-20s) or if you have an existing ocular issue, like dry eye or thin corneas). It’s also not a good idea if you’ve got a health problem that can affect your ability to heal, like diabetes or an autoimmune disease. If you don’t fit those descriptions, LASIK is pretty safe overall, Benjamin Bert, MD, an ophthalmologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, tells SELF. It’s also especially helpful for people with certain jobs or who play sports where glasses and contacts get in the way, although if your sport includes blows to the face—like boxing—LASIK is usually a no-go (or you may need to look into a different type of procedure). And you may want to proceed with caution if you’re not a “risk taker,” according to the FDA.
That’s because, of course, things can—and do—go wrong. Whitney Fields, 38, from Austin, was fed up with contacts scratching her supersensitive eyes. Her doctor suggested LASIK because she was, on paper, a good candidate. But on the day of Fields’s procedure, her anxiety ramped up and she was unable to sit still, which caused her doctor to start and stop operating a few times. This caused trauma to her eyes, leaving her ocular tissue bruised and her eyes bloodshot and stinging like crazy. “It hurt so bad, I thought I was going to die,” Fields says. Her vision was also freakily blurry for the first eight weeks. Though it eventually climbed to 20/20 after the third month, she had chronic dry eye and had to use medicated drops every day for two years.
The FDA drafted guidance in 2022 encouraging doctors to review all the potential LASIK mishaps—from issues with seeing in dim lighting to psychological harm—with their patients. Dr. Bert’s take: “It was really trying to encourage everyone to remember this is a surgical procedure, and all surgical procedures come with risks and benefits.”
Some people on TikTok say that LASIK left them with horrible dry eyes, made it hard to drive at night, or gave them irksome halos, double vision (seeing two images of a single object), or starbursts (where you see rays of light). These side effects have become less of an issue as technology has advanced, but for those who do get them, they typically improve within six months, Dr. Richardson says.
But Fields’s dryness never went away—she struggles with it to this day. Yet, she’s okay with that side effect because she can see again. “It’s a quality of life thing for me,” she says. “I’m so much happier.”
For others, like Dreyfus, the issues are much more annoying. In the mornings, she feels like she has sand in her eyes, and uses medicated drops to ease the dryness. Her vision, which initially improved after the procedure, started to decline over time. And because she can no longer wear contacts, she now needs to wear prescription glasses. The FDA notes that you may still need glasses or contacts after the procedure. “After all that, I basically got five years glasses-free,” she says.
There are some very rare, very terrible ways LASIK can go wrong (which tend to get a ton of publicity, naturally). This includes things like post-refractive ectasia, a rare complication where the cornea can’t hold its shape and can sometimes lead to severe distorted and blurred vision, Dr. Bert says. (Some eye tests can be done ahead of time to determine if you’re at risk for this.) Another is neuropathic corneal pain—this damages certain ocular nerves and triggers persistent, excruciating eye discomfort. (This is the big “scary” complication people tend to talk about on social media, Dr. Richardson points out.) Doctors don’t yet understand why a person develops it, and though it’s extremely rare, there’s no easy way to screen for who might be at risk. Doctors are still trying to figure that out, Dr. Bert says. There are some treatments, like psychiatric medications and additional follow-up surgeries, that can ease these symptoms, but overall it’s a pretty frustrating spot to be in.
How to minimize your risk if you want laser eye surgery.
Again, while the majority of people really love their results, if you’re wary of issues going down, it’s good to do a little research—and assessment of your own health situation—before scheduling anything. Here are a handful of ways to keep your risk of complications from laser eye surgery low.
1. Ask yourself why you really want it.
Take some time to figure out the reason you want to live a life sans contacts or eyeglasses. Are your glasses interfering with your ability to work? Do your contacts irritate your eyes? Or do you just kinda suck at remembering to take them out at night or in the shower? It really comes down to how your vision impacts your quality of life. Even though it has the potential to change your life for the better, there’s no guarantee it’ll be safe and sound. “It is still a surgical procedure,” Dr. Bert says, “and no surgery is without risks.”
2. Talk to an optometrist and poll them—or people who know who’ve had the procedure—for recs.
If you think laser eye surgery could really improve your quality of life, check in with an optometrist. They can look at your medical history and, because they don’t perform LASIK (that’s typically an ophthalmologist), help you weigh the pros and cons, Dr. Richardson says. If they think you’re a good candidate for it, they can share some recommendations for qualified surgeons in your area (you can find one through the Refractive Surgery Council). It’s also worth asking for referrals from friends, family, and colleagues who had good experiences.
3. Have a list of Q’s ready to ask a potential surgeon.
Dr. Richardson recommends asking about the age of the equipment they use (you, ideally, want newer lasers, per the FDA) and how the procedure will be customized to your situation. “Try to get as much information as you can,” Dr. Bert says. You should feel comfortable with your physician and not feel pressured to get the procedure. Also ask your surgeon about the cost. LASIK generally runs about $1000 to $4000 per eye, and isn’t usually covered by insurance.
4. Be upfront about any existing eye issues.
Tell them if you experience dry eyes or floaters and ask how the surgery could affect those issues. Clue them into the medications you take. Certain drugs, like ADHD medications, can impact your sight and you’ll want to be aware of that since it might increase your risk of vision problems post-LASIK, says Dr. Richardson.
5. Know what to expect on the day of the procedure (and in the recovery period that follows).
It takes three to six months for your eyes to fully heal and you might need to take various steps during that period—like wearing goggles for three nights and avoiding hot tubs for one to two months—to prevent injuries and infections. (If, for example, you accidentally rub your eye at night, you could injure the cornea.) “If there are any complications with healing—with the corneal flap or if your corneas are swollen for any reason—a person could feel like their vision is blurry,” Dr. Richardson says. There’s also a risk of vision problems if your doctor didn’t laser enough of your cornea or got the procedure done as your prescription was shifting—if this happens, or if your cornea was damaged, you can go back in several months later to get an enhancement. Dr. Richardson did so a year later, and it recorrected her vision. (Again, not common, but possible.)
As for TikTok horror stories, if you see something concerning, ask your doc how common the complication is and if there’s anything you can do to prevent it. “A lot of the time, the information you encounter online may not directly apply to you,” Dr. Bert says. (Still, it’s always worth digging deeper.) Worth noting too: The vast majority of those who get LASIK—95% of people, per FDA research—are satisfied with their results.
That includes Dreyfus. Even with the brutally dry eyes, she says she’d do it all over again. Fields feels similarly: She has to live with dry eyes and halos but, like Dreyfus, she’s just glad she can see well again. “It’s a quality of life thing for me,” she says. “I’m so much happier.”
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Originally Appeared on SELF
