Will my baby have my eyes? What about my bad vision? During pregnancy, it is common to think about your growing child, wondering what the future holds for you and your little one. Patients with vision problems may wonder if their child will someday struggle with nearsightedness or farsightedness too. 

Pregnancy symptoms may make wearing glasses and contacts frustrating and may cause you to consider LASIK surgery. Or perhaps you’ve had LASIK in the past and are now wondering how pregnancy will change your results. 

Here’s what you need to know about LASIK and pregnancy.

Will Pregnancy Change My Vision?

For about 10-15% of women, pregnancy leads to vision changes. These changes often reverse after baby is born, but for some women, the vision changes remain even after delivery. There are many causes for pregnancy vision changes including water retention and hormonal fluctuations. 

Pregnancy can cause other changes to the eyes. These include:

• Dry Eye- Many women develop dry eye symptoms during pregnancy. The eyes may also be more irritated than normal. Many women have problems wearing their normal contacts because of these changes. 
• Visual Disturbances- Some women report visual disturbances like halos, blind spots, and flashing lights during pregnancy. Sometimes these are caused by a type of migraine headache that is commonly experienced during pregnancy. 

Throughout your pregnancy, report changes in your vision to your eye doctor.

Can I Get LASIK Surgery While Pregnant?

LASIK surgery isn’t recommended during pregnancy. Fluid retention can temporarily change the shape of the eye, but this will resolve after pregnancy. Since LASIK adjusts the shape of the eye, it is best performed when you aren’t pregnant. Waiting for fluid levels to normalize ensures that we can contour the eye properly for long-lasting results. 

Additionally, some of the medications used during LASIK surgery aren’t tested for use during pregnancy. Wait until after pregnancy and breastfeeding to schedule your LASIK surgery. Most women are good candidates for surgery within one to months after pregnancy and breastfeeding.

How Soon After LASIK Can I Safely Get Pregnant?

LASIK surgery won’t put your baby-making plans on hold for long. We recommend waiting until you’ve had the procedure and are healed to conceive. For most patients, this means you can safely get pregnant about a month after surgery.

The Benefits of LASIK Surgery During Pregnancy and Beyond

If you’re thinking about LASIK, come in for treatment now and enjoy these benefits during your pregnancy. 

• Wearing contacts can be difficult for many women due to dry eye syndrome that commonly occurs during pregnancy. If contacts are your preferred method of vision correction, you may need to switch to glasses until after you deliver. LASIK helps many women avoid glasses or contacts during pregnancy. 
• Glasses and contacts are inconvenient when you’re waking up in the middle of the night to feed the baby. With LASIK, you can wake up and see without stumbling around looking for your glasses. 
• See those cute chubby cheeks with crystal clear vision. Many of our LASIK patients enjoy better vision after surgery than they had before surgery (even when wearing their glasses). 

Dr. Brian Will is a top refractive surgeon in the Pacific Northwest. Contact Will Vision and Laser Centers to schedule your LASIK consultation today.

The post LASIK Before Pregnancy: Anything to Worry About? appeared first on Will Vision.

Pregnancy is a time of change, not just for your body, but for the eyes too. Is LASIK safe during pregnancy? Is it best to wait for your refractive eye surgery until after baby arrives? Learn about pregnancy’s impact on vision and how LASIK surgery fits in. 

Pregnancy and the Eyes

No need to question your sanity if your vision starts to get a little fuzzy during pregnancy. Vision changes are a common and well-known symptom of pregnancy. One reason for vision changes is fluid retention. Hormones cause the body to retain more water, thus the bloating, puffiness, and swelling of pregnancy. Fluid retention can also happen within or behind the eyes, slightly changing the shape of the cornea, and modifying how light passes through the eye. This change in shape leads to a change in vision. 

Pregnancy causes dry eyes, usually due to a decrease in tear production. Many women struggle with wearing contact lenses during pregnancy and revert to using eyeglasses. Pregnancy also causes light sensitivity in some women. Sunglasses can help. 

If you have glaucoma, diabetes, or other health conditions that affect the eyes, talk to your doctor. Pregnancy can worsen the symptoms of these and other conditions. Regular visits with your eye care professional are recommended throughout pregnancy and after delivery. 

When Pregnancy Vision Changes Indicate a Problem 

Distorted or fuzzy vision during pregnancy isn’t usually a problem. Most women will return to their pre-pregnancy eyesight shortly after delivery. Some vision changes can indicate a more serious problem. Here’s what to watch for:

• Temporary vision loss
• Blurry vision
• Seeing flashing lights, spots, auras, or other visual distortions
• Light sensitivity

These symptoms could be a sign of preeclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy that can cause death if left untreated. Let your doctor know about all vision changes, and if you experience a dramatic shift or vision loss, emergency medical care may be needed.  

Why We Don’t Recommend LASIK During Pregnancy

Changes to the cornea’s shape are one of the biggest causes of pregnancy related vision problems. Interestingly, LASIK surgery also changes the cornea’s shape. While pregnancy causes the cornea to become misshapen, LASIK smooths and rounds it to restore clearer vision. 

Let’s think of the eye as a ball. Ideally, the eye is round, shaped like a baseball. A rounded eye allows light to pass through and reflect without error, creating a clear picture. Round is ideal, but if you wear glasses or contacts, your eye is probably shaped more like a football. The way your brain interprets vision relies on an a perfectly rounded eye, so when the shape is off, so is the vision. We call these vision distortions refractive errors. 

LASIK changes the shape of the cornea, rounding off the front of the eye, and restoring that ideal baseball-like shape. 

Things get tricky during pregnancy though. The extra fluid in the eyes has changed their shape. We could perform LASIK and create a rounded eye, but after pregnancy, the eye will change again, as fluid dissipates and the eye reverts to its usual shape. If we alter the eye during pregnancy, your vision may be negatively affected after pregnancy. LASIK is best suited for permanent vision changes, on patients with stable vision. Pregnancy is a time of change and not ideal for eye surgery. 

There is also the issue of the medications used during and after LASIK surgery. Developing fetuses are so sensitive. Due to the risk of birth defects, many medications aren’t tested on pregnant women, and the effects of these medications on a growing baby are often unknown. During pregnancy it is best to play it safe and avoid medications that aren’t necessary, including the medications used for LASIK surgery.  

If you’re pregnant, LASIK can wait. Wear glasses or contacts during your pregnancy and then contact us after baby is born to learn more about LASIK surgery in the Pacific Northwest.

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