Night vision problems following laser eye surgery is one of the most commonly reported side effects, but just how big of an issue is it? The vast majority of people have little or no night vision problems following the procedure and even for those that do, it rarely causes any major problems. Most people who develop night vision problems following surgery, will normally find they disappear over the 3-6 months following the procedure. Night vision problems are caused by something called higher order aberrations and you will be assessed for these during a laser eye surgery consultation. Lasik and Lasek are types of laser eye surgery and both can cause night vision problems.
Higher order aberrations and Laser eye surgery:
During a normal eye test your optician will only measure your lower order aberrations which are long sightedness, short sightedness and astigmatism. These only represent 90% of the reason that your vision is blurred. This lower order blurriness can be corrected using glasses or contact lenses. Higher order aberrations account for the other 10% and are the reason people experience night vision problems such as glare, haloes and star bursts. During laser eye surgery, these higher order aberrations can be increased and hence night vision problems may develop.
Laser eye surgery and Night vision problems:
It is true that laser eye surgery does increase your night vision aberrations, but even though this is the case, not everyone experiences any noticeable deterioration. During a laser eye surgery consultation there are some key measurements that need to be taken as part of the screening. These are as follows:
- Pupil size: People with large pupils are more likely to experience night vision problems following laser eye surgery.
- Your current higher order aberrations: Your higher order aberrations will be measured using a wavescan. If you already have a significant amount of these aberrations, then you will be at a higher risk of having night vision problems following surgery.
If you fall into one or both of the above risk factors then your surgeon is likely to insist that you have wavefront laser eye surgery. Wavefront greatly reduces your higher order aberrations and dramatically decreases the chances of you developing night vision problems.
Other points about laser eye surgery and night vision problems:
- Lasek results in slightly less night vision problems when compared with Lasik.
- Intralase Lasik produces less night vision problems when compared with standard Lasik.
- The higher the prescription the greater the chance you have of developing night vision problems.
- If you have large pupils you are more likely to develop night vision problems.
I hope this blog has helped explain the relationship between laser eye surgery and night vision problems and that you are now better informed about your treatment.
If you interested in finding out more about laser eye surgery you can visit www.treatmentsaver.com
Thanks for reading,
Tim
