What happens when your vision after laser vision correction surgery is not what you expected?

Laser vision correction surgery is very accurate, but it isn’t always ‘perfect’. With every procedure, there is a small risk that your visual outcomes will be less than expected.

At the Wellington Eye Centre, we invest in the latest technology and follow the most stringent suitability requirements to help reduce risks and to increase the likelihood you will have a great visual outcome.

If the vision doesn’t turn out how we expected or planned, there are ways to resolve this. In most cases, we can perform a second surgery, an enhancement surgery to improve the vision. Enhancement surgery occurs in 1-6% of cases, depending on which procedure you have.

What is enhancement surgery?

Enhancement surgery is performed if your first laser vision correction procedure did not achieve the desired visual outcomes.

Enhancement surgery could be either LASIK or PRK. Which procedure you have for your enhancement will depend on which procedure you had for your first surgery, how long it has been since your first surgery and how thick your cornea is.

Your surgeon will discuss with you which enhancement procedure is the safest and most accurate.

Enhancement surgery might just be for one eye, or it could be for both.

Enhancement surgery is no charge to you, provided it is performed within a certain period of time from your first surgery. Chat with the team at Wellington Eye Centre about how this might affect you.

Why do I have to wait to have enhancement surgery?

We need to give the eyes (and sometimes the brain) a chance to settle and adjust after your first laser vision correction procedure, before we do repeat surgery. That time period is around 6 months. Your vision changes a lot in the first week after laser vision correction, it keeps changing in the weeks following, but the changes become more subtle. So any visual issues you might have in the first few weeks-months are likely to get less, and can often completely resolve on their own by around 6 months.

For most people, the vision is usually really good around 4 weeks. But not everyone heals in the same way, so for others, the vision can take longer to settle.

You are more likely to have a more extended recovery period if you suffer from dry eye, are under stress, have poor sleep or have a history of inflammatory conditions.

Even if you reach 4 weeks and are happy with your vision, it can still continue to improve. People often continue to improve up to 6 months after their surgery. And after PRK, some people continue to notice improvements almost 12 months afterwards.

What can I do to ensure I have the best outcome after laser vision correction surgery?

The key steps to help you get the best results are;

1. Take your time filling out our registration forms, especially when answering questions about your medications and general health. It can be surprising what is relevant. This includes medications or supplements you might use. Items that are prescribed by a medical professional but also those you might take without a prescription.
2. It is helpful for us to know of any medical conditions you are suspicious you might have or things you are being investigated for. Even if you haven’t had an official diagnosis, some medical conditions might alter when you can have surgery or the types of medications we prescribe after the surgery. Conditions such as pregnancy, diabetes, acne rosacea, any autoimmune disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.
3. Read the post-surgical notes you are given, they offer great advice on how long you should take off work, how long to avoid screen time and how to focus on your sleep. They can reassure you if you become worried about some of the typical post-surgical issues. Keep these notes, even in the months after your surgery, as they are an excellent reference material.
4. Follow the advice of your surgeon and the team at Wellington Eye Centre. This is critical around the use of all eye drops (medicated ones and lubricating eye drops) and the timing of your follow-up appointments. Even when your eyes feel great, keep using the eye drops as recommended and attend all your follow-up appointments.

If you are interested in having laser eye surgery then give us a call on 0800 733 327. Or fill out the book a free assessment and someone from our team will get back to you with more information. We’d love to hear from you!