Itchy, burning eyes can make working and enjoying your leisure time challenging, especially if you wear contact lenses. Allergic conjunctivitis, or eye allergies, affects up to 40% of the population. While having eye allergies won’t affect your candidacy for LASIK, it may affect the timing of your laser vision correction. Our renowned ophthalmologist offers blade-free LASIK in Boston at Kornmehl Laser Eye Associates and can determine if LASIK is right for you.
Eye Allergies Are One Reason to Get LASIK
Wearing contact lenses during allergy season can be a miserable experience for people with itchy, watery, red eyes. Contact lenses make it more difficult to treat allergies because the irritant gets on the contact lens, perpetuating the cycle of allergen exposure. Take pollen, for example. Pollen sticks to your clothing, hair, pets, and hands, so there’s a good chance it’s getting on your contact lens when you touch your eye and may worsen your reaction. Contact lens wearers often experience fewer eye allergy symptoms after LASIK because they don’t need to touch their eyes or wear additive lenses that cause additional irritation.
Schedule Your LASIK Procedure Before Your Allergy Season
It’s best to schedule your LASIK eye surgery during the times of year when you don’t experience allergic conjunctivitis to prevent allergy symptoms from affecting your recovery or procedure. Choosing LASIK before your allergy season saves you from wearing contact lenses through one more season and may make treating eye allergies easier because you don’t have to touch your eyes two or more times a day.
Some patients may have allergy symptoms in the fall, others in the spring, and some in the winter or summer. The timing of LASIK depends on the type of allergy and the time of year when symptoms are at their worst. Common allergens include pollen, pet dander, dust, and trees.
How LASIK Works
The LASIK procedure starts with numbing eye drops. Dr. Ernest W. Kornmehl performs blade-free LASIK, meaning a special femtosecond laser creates the LASIK flap instead of an oscillating blade. The flap is made in the anterior cornea and folds back. Dr. Kornmehl uses an excimer laser to reshape the exposed cornea and correct refractive errors using pre-programmed measurements from your LASIK evaluation. The flap is folded back in place and begins healing within minutes. You will need someone to drive you home and you must wear protective glasses in the hours immediately following your procedure — and while you sleep for several weeks.
Many patients have excellent vision by the following day when they come in for a follow-up appointment to test their vision.
With LASIK eye surgery, you can enjoy sharper vision before allergy season, and the visual freedom may even reduce eye allergy symptoms.
If you’re tired of wearing contact lenses or glasses, contact Kornmehl Laser Eye Associates in Boston, Massachusetts. Schedule a LASIK consultation by calling (877) 870-2010.