Broken Eyes: A Tale of LASIK Complications
- Whitney McConkey
- Oct 4
- 5 min read
I sat on this blog for a long time, knowing it may alienate some of my colleagues and friends, but at the end of the day, my loyalty is to my patients. And so, I present, the documentary: Broken Eyes.
This documentary was made by patients who have experienced complications from LASIK refractive surgery. Anyone who is considering LASIK should watch this first. Now, I am not saying all patients who get LASIK will have complications, but for a completely elective surgery, it is important that people are told the risks and not convinced it's "100% safe." To be clear, the LASIK surgeons in Maryland are fantastic, but it's the surgery itself that can impose issues. Many of you have told me you were told you weren't a candidate for surgery. Be happy someone told you before you had it done. For those of you that suffer from post-LASIK issues, I'm here to lend an ear and help any way I can.
A few years ago, a patient of mine had LASIK before discussing it with me. She presented with complaints of blur. Her LASIK flap was decentered, and her ablation zone was tilted. I'll never forget when I told her that to correct it, she needed specialty contact lenses called sclerals. She broke down in tears stating she had LASIK to get out of contacts. I have since left that practice, but I think about her often. If this message finds you, my heart aches for you and I hope you're doing well.
LASIK is an elective surgery intended to correct refractive errors: near sighted, farsighted, and astigmatism. It is not intended to help read up close after the age of 40, as the natural focusing system weakens (presbyopia) leading to inability to focus at near.
The eye is like a camera. Light hits the front surface of the eye (cornea) and focuses light to a point. If this point of light focuses on the retina, vision is clear. Light focusing behind or in front of the retina lead to Hyperopia (far sighted) and Myopia (near sighted), respectively. When light focuses as two points, that is astigmatism. This occurs due to the curve and length of the eye. When light hits a more curved cornea, light focuses closer, and light hitting a flatter cornea focuses further away. While we cannot change the length of the eye, we can change the curvature of the cornea. This is where refractive surgeries like LASIK come in. Imagine a hill of ant sand. If you want to flatten it, you remove sand from the top. In nearsighted LASIK, a flap of tissue is created, and the stromal corneal tissue is destroyed to flatten the corneal curvature, and the flap is replaced. This immediately changes how light enters the eye and leads to corrected vision.
I'm not going to focus on all problems that can occur with LASIK, but just a few.
First and foremost, dry eye. Cutting into the cornea can damage corneal nerves responsible for sending feedback to the brain to make tears. Many times, these patients' complaint is blur, wanting a LASIK touch up. As it turns out, they are looking through a cornea that's surface looks like it was chiseled away, but they cannot feel the tissue damage due to their reduced corneal sensitivity.
Glare and halos. The ablation zone of a cornea has a demarcated ring in the mid peripheral cornea, where the new curvature and old curvature meat. When the pupil dilates at night, the edges of this zone can be revealed, and light entering the eye splits into two different focal points, leading to an in-focus image, and a surrounding out-of-focus ghost image.
Post-LASIK ectasia. When the cornea is cut, it becomes thinner. If the tissue becomes too thin, it cannot hold its shape, and the cornea bulges forward, creating a very irregular shape. When I was in training, I had a patient that was a -9.00 prescription, after refractive surgery! I suggested to my attending doctor that she return for a corneal scan in a few months to monitor for progression. I was turned down, and the patient was never educated that she may have a complication from her surgery. I was floored to see this ignored. Don't be ignored! Speak up!
If you don't have time to watch the entire documentary, fast forward to minute 37:40: I hear this story far too often: patients see a ghosted image but are told everything is fine because they can read 20/20. There is a big difference between 20/20 blurry and 20/20 clear. Do not accept being gas lighted.
One of the things that used to infuriate me as a young doctor was the number of patients who brought in paperwork from a LASIK center asking me to do the follow-up care and recommend touch-ups to LASIK when results were poor. I had no contract with the LASIK center, but when the patient calls to make an appointment with their LASIK surgeon, they were told to call their optometrist.
As a dry eye and specialty lens doctor, I see a lot more of these patients than I'd like. They end up in my chair after struggling to get answers. I want you to know, I'm here to listen. I'm here to help.
Ways we can help:
Dry eye: I work in four steps: treat the underlying cause, inflammation, tissue damage, nerve damage. While I cannot undo the fact that you've had refractive surgery, I can't put that tissue back, I can treat inflammation, tissue damage, and yes, even nerve damage.
Glare and halos: we can mask that irregular shape with a specialty lens, treat any dryness amplifying the glare, and get creative with things like pupil constricting drops to get that pupil inside the ablation zone.
Post-refractive corneal ectasia: scleral lenses, scleral lenses, scleral lenses! While you may not want to hear contacts are a great option, they can give you your vision back, they can improve your comfort, they can improve your life. We can also consider sending you for a procedure called corneal cross linking, which slows down or even stops the corneal ectasia by strengthening the bonds of the corneal collagen.
If you believe you are experiencing complications from LASIK, schedule a consultation by visiting BOOK ONLINE
We all assume risks in life, swimming in the ocean, driving on the highway, eating fast food; is getting LASIK a risk you're willing to take?
Video comments that stood out to me:
"As a Stage 4 Cancer Survivor - I ALWAYS say I would rather fight Stage 4 Cancer again if it meant I could reverse my decision to get LASIK. This documentary is SO important." @alexismencos3190
"Had Lasik back in 2022 and it has changed my life for the worse. Severe dry eye, chronic induced eye pain, visual distortions... got every issue in the book." @tvince9080
"I had LASIK in 2019, and it turned out to be the single worst decision of my life. While my vision initially improved, I have spent the past five years living with constant pain—burning, stinging, and a relentless foreign body sensation" @alelondon86
"lasik ruined my life. Them saying may cause "dry eyes" is severely underplaying it." @drew-v9c
""In a way it's a form of being assaulted". One hundred percent." @th3frogman
"I have been suffering from post-LASIK corneal ectasia — a devastating condition caused by LASIK surgery. It has permanently affected my vision and quality of life. Undergoing LASIK was, without a doubt, the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life." @AfectadosCirugiaRefractiva
"LASIK destroyed my eyes. I have corneal neuropathy and permanent visual damage (higher order aberrations). The impact on my life has been nothing short of devastating." @charlottekaufman649
"I had LASIK almost 30 years ago and have been suffering all these years with the symptoms described in this documentary. The eye surgeon denied that LASIK was the cause." @lavizashariff1528
"I'm a victim of severe dry eyes. Schirmers score of 0 and 1. Ruined my life" @vorthex85
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