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24 years
Its safe to make laser for eyes if im pregnant in ny first 3 weeks?
Feb 8, 2015
2nd opinion

Dr. Zakia Dimassi Pediatrics
The reasons why women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not undergo LASIK surgery include:

1- Change in vision prescription
Hormonal fluctuations that occur during pregnancy and while breastfeeding influence the vision prescription. This is explained by the fact that the hormonal changes induce a swelling of the lens, which can alter the degree of nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. These hormonal changes start in the early stages of pregnancy and continue until a couple of months after breastfeeding has been discontinued. To achieve the best possible vision correction results, patients should undergo LASIK surgery before getting pregnant, or two to six months after having stopped breastfeeding.

2- Medications
During LASIK surgery, several medications are used:

a. A sedative: a mild sedative, such as Valium, is administered prior to surgery to relieve anxiety. Such medications are contraindicated during pregnancy as they may pose a risk to the baby.

b. Eye drops: Prior to LASIK surgery, dilating and numbing eye drops are applied to the eyes. After LASIK surgery, patients will have to regularly apply antibiotic eye drops to prevent infection and steroidal eye drops to reduce inflammation. Though the effects of these medications on pregnant women are unclear, they can enter the patient’s blood stream and could be potentially harmful, particularly in the first trimester of pregnancy when the fetus' vital organs are forming.

c. Painkillers: Certain over-the-counter pain medications are not safe for use in pregnancy.

3- Dry eyes
The hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy can lead to dry eyes during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Eye dryness makes a patient not an ideal candidate for LASIK surgery, which by itself results temporary dry eye as a side effect. When patients have dry eye prior to surgery, it could inhibit healing.

4- Minimal radiation exposure
During LASIK surgery, patients are exposed to very low doses of radiation only for a few minutes. This happens when the laser is creating the corneal incisions and while reshaping the cornea. Despite the low amount and short duration of exposure to radiation, pregnant women should avoid any unnecessary risks to the baby,especially that this is an ELECTIVE procedure.
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