LASIK Eye Surgery Regrets: The Side Effects That FOREVER Change Lives

[00:00:02]I am 6 and 1/2 going on 7 weeks post LASIK surgery and it's still the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. I wish I could take it back.

[00:00:14]>> Well, I decided when I was 21 I didn't want to put up with glasses or contacts anymore. I got laser eye surgery. I actually felt part of the laser go in my eyeball and it severed my nerves and now I'm permanently disabled for the rest of my life and [music] in chronic pain.

[00:00:27]>> Anyone else get LASIK done to your eyes but still have to wear glasses?

[00:00:32]Big waste [music] of money. Not just glasses, prescription sunglasses.

[00:00:38]LASIK didn't [music] work.

[00:00:40]>> Every year millions of people pay thousands of dollars to have a laser cut into their eyes. [music] Most of them are told one thing, you'll never need glasses again. But scroll through enough stories online [music] and you'll find people who say their eyes now burn every single hour of every single day. People who can't drive at night because of halos around headlights or whose corneas got so thin doctors told them they could go blind. So, is LASIK really the miracle it's sold as? Stick around because at the end we're going to break down what's actually going on here and what you should know before making this decision. Let's get into >> Years ago I decided that I was going to invest in LASIK eye surgery because after 10 years of wearing glasses and contacts I just didn't want to do it anymore and I decided that the $4,000 investment would be well worth it in the long run because I would never have to wear glasses or contacts again, you know? But turns out that was a lie and now I wasted $4,000 and I'm wearing glasses again. So, would I recommend LASIK to a friend?

[00:01:44]Absolutely not worth not worth your money. Goodbye.

[00:01:47]>> Okay, I had LASIK eye surgery done 17 days ago and I hope if you're thinking about having LASIK done, that this just happens to come across your for you page. It probably won't cuz I don't have a big following, but if it does, this is your sign.

[00:02:08]It's the biggest mistake of my life.

[00:02:11]And I wish I could take it back.

[00:02:14]My vision is awful. I'd say 30 times worse than it was prior to my surgery. The pain is insane. It's it it's so bad. Um do research what can go wrong, and then weigh it out to see if the risks outweigh the benefit for you or vice versa, because I can tell you if this comes across your page, this is your sign, and don't do it.

[00:02:45]>> In one sentence, tell me why you wouldn't recommend LASIK.

[00:02:49]>> LASIK makes healthy eyes sick.

[00:02:53]>> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK.

[00:02:56]>> [music] >> Cuz I've never had LASIK, but my dearest wife has had it for 20-some years, and it sucks.

[00:03:03]>> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK.

[00:03:06]>> I have a brother who had LASIK, and he is suicidal. And [music] also, he wishes that they had a surgery that they could take his eyeballs out, they would take his eyeballs out, because he's in so much pain every day.

[00:03:20]>> [music] >> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK.

[00:03:25]>> I don't know, cuz I can never get my healthy eyes back.

[00:03:28]>> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK.

[00:03:32]>> LASIK apparently causes harm to healthy tissues that were perfectly fine in glasses or contacts.

[00:03:38]>> [music] >> I would not recommend LASIK because wearing contacts and glasses is way better than living with burning eye sensation pain every single day after LASIK.

[00:03:49]>> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK.

[00:03:53]>> Easy. Lifetime disability with no informed consent. Don't do LASIK.

[00:03:57]>> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK surgery.

[00:04:01]>> Because of all the people that are living life in agony and in pain from a procedure that was used to help them.

[00:04:08]>> [music] >> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK surgery.

[00:04:12]>> I I'm Dr. Edward Foulks and I don't recommend LASIK because of the life-altering complications >> [music] >> that are unanticipated that could take place.

[00:04:22]>> In one sentence, tell me why you would not recommend LASIK.

[00:04:26]>> LASIK makes [music] healthy eyes sick.

[00:04:30]>> One of the decisions I've made in my life that I fully regret today still, um every day from here on out I'll regret it, was getting LASIK eye surgery.

[00:04:40]So, I got LASIK uh probably like 3 or 4 years ago now.

[00:04:45]And I wore glasses my entire life and wore gla- wore contact lenses half my life.

[00:04:52]Uh from what I remember, my prescription was like a minus 5.5. I was nearsighted, terrible vision. And I thought LASIK was just going to be perfect, fix it all, which it it doesn't. It the the the technology in LASIK is still not perfected. I mean, I thought I would I thought it would help with like optic migraines cuz I used to get those. That was not the case. I thought maybe it would get rid of floaters. Nope, does not. Um my eyes just get more dry more often, which sucks. So, when I wake up in the morning, if I around if I look at bright lights, I see a halo still, like >> [music] >> red, blue, green. And eventually goes away once my eyes, you know, start waking up and moisturize a little bit.

[00:05:34]But other than that, um green light is super sensitive, so it like burns into my retina uh easier.

[00:05:42]Uh so, like if I look at BP gas prices, for example, like it has a green this lit up green. It's super blurry. I can't see it. But the red gas prices like at Marathon and other standard gas stations as I can see it clear as day, no problem. And it's it's [music] just really weird. Never had that before LASIK.

[00:06:03]And they're just like sensitive to light overall and just sucks. Still have an astigmatism. Of course, you can't really cure that.

[00:06:11]But yeah, I mean LASIK wasn't isn't what I thought it'd be. So, I mean for $4,000, that I'm it it sucks. Like I wish I never done it. I would never do LASIK again. I wish I never touched it. I wish I never gone to it.

[00:06:26]>> LASIK has been around [music] for decades and for a lot of people it genuinely works exactly as promised. But for others, it's the decision they regret more than anything else in their life. So, right off the bat, you can hear how personal this gets for people.

[00:06:40]A lot of these stories follow the [music] same pattern. Someone goes in expecting to be done with glasses forever and instead ends up dealing with something they never signed up for. One thing [music] that keeps coming up is dry eye and a few people even say it was already there before surgery, [music] just mild enough that nobody mentioned it. Let's watch a few more.

[00:06:57]>> Get ready with me while I tell you why you should not get LASIK. As someone who got LASIK 3 years ago, that is one of my biggest regrets in life. And so, I went to my LASIK consultation, they told me I was a good LASIK candidate. So, the day before the surgery, it's a cold, windy day and I go in to get my eye tested and they tell me that my corneas are looking a little thin that day.

[00:07:19]>> [music] >> They tell me this can happen with cold weather and I don't think much of it and she said we'll test again uh right before surgery just to make sure your eyes are okay. The day of my surgery, they test my eyes and what do you know, my corneas are looking nice and plump and sure enough, it was just the weather and doctor agreed everything is good to go for LASIK. So, we proceed. So, a little backstory, um I was a candidate for PRK and for LASIK. I could have gotten either. PRK, if you don't know, it's a longer recovery, same results, cheaper in price, but again, longer recovery. So, I didn't want to go that route. The surgeon that I went to was in Pensacola, Florida, which is where I used to live, and he had been doing LASIK since LASIK came out. And great reviews, really nice doctor. Like, I didn't have any issues with him. So, it's the day of my surgery, my eyes look good. I go ahead and I get my surgery done, which if you ever had LASIK, then you know, it is just really uncomfortable. You're awake the whole time. It maybe takes like 2 minutes for to do both eyes, 2 to 3 minutes.

[00:08:23]Uh you can smell like the burning of your eye, and it's really just kind of not a good time. So, I get home, and you can't see. It feels like someone literally took sand with your eyes open and rubbed sand on your eyes. Like, it was not a fun experience. So, they basically tell you, when you get home, just go to bed for the entire night. And I was done, I think at like maybe 5:00 or something, and I just went home and I slept. So, when I woke up the next morning, my eyes, you know, still kind of felt like crap, but I could see a little bit. Although, I did kind of notice one eye was blurrier than the other. Expressed my concern with my doctor in my post-op visit. He was like, "Totally normal. This happens. No big deal. Let's, you know, check you in like another month."

[00:09:07]A month goes by, and my left eye, it's like perfectly crisp and clear, but my right eye is still blurry.

[00:09:15]Um I can see out of it, but it is just not as clear as my other eye. So, my next appointment, they say, "Oh, you know, this is normal. You know, it can take up to a year for your eyes to heal."

[00:09:26]But, as time goes by, my right eye, it never [clears throat] adjusts, and it never gets better.

[00:09:32]So, I end up moving back to Indiana shortly after my LASIK procedure, and I just kind of hope that my eyes get better. So, after LASIK, I noticed that I see halos at night when I drive and it makes driving at night extremely hard.

[00:09:49]So, fast forward 3 years, I now have glasses to drive at night, which is great. On top of the halos, which is pretty common, I guess, with LASIK from other people I've talked to, I also have extremely dry eyes. Like my eyes, especially in the winter, they feel like just and I am not someone who has ever had dry eyes in my entire life. And if you didn't know, when you get LASIK, you have up to a year to do a corrective procedure if needed at no extra cost to you. So, it'd be free of charge. So, you bet your butt I was trying to go back to Florida to get that free corrective procedure to fix my eye that didn't heal and was still blurry. I scheduled an entire trip to get this taken care of, to get this done, and whenever I arrived, they tested my eyes and they're like, "Ooh, these this doesn't look good." And I'm like, "Uh-oh." So, they get the doctor, the doctor looks at it, and the doctor is like, "Yeah, your cornea has thinned a lot." And apparently, my cornea's thinned so much that I was no longer a candidate for a corrective LASIK procedure. So, basically, I have to live with my eye that is blurry or get glasses or contacts to fix it. So, the icing on the cake is that I have to have my eyes tested every single year because there's a 50/50 chance that I could possibly develop ectasia, which is basically where your cornea is progressively thin.

[00:11:13]And if they thin too much and you don't treat it, you could go blind.

[00:11:17]>> This story stands out because it shows how the free touch-up promise that a lot of clinics offer doesn't always apply if your corneas have thinned too [music] much afterward. So, that safety net some people are told about isn't guaranteed for everyone.

[00:11:29]>> You know what I was just thinking about?

[00:11:31]How 8 years ago everyone I knew was getting LASIK eye surgery. So, what did my dumb ass do? I went and got LASIK eye surgery, too. And here I am now in this position, 8 years later, back to wearing glasses because not only is my vision declining again, but my astigmatism is also back with a vengeance. So, here I am trying to find the right position to lay in to watch TV without breaking my glasses or without pinching the back of my ear. But, we all know there is no real comfortable position you'll ever find when you're trying to wear glasses and lay down.

[00:12:00]But, you know what? A girl can only hope because 8 years ago I was hoping and praying that what the doctor was saying would be true when he said I'd never have to wear glasses again post surgery.

[00:12:11]But, here I am. And not just me, everyone I followed back then because I'm a dumb ass and I was a follower back then. The younger version of me, remember remember my frontal lobe wasn't fully fully developed back then. So, that version of me everyone I followed everyone but one person, they all wear glasses, too, now.

[00:12:29]And that's not even the worst part. The worst part is the fact that the surgery has a few different side effects and it doesn't happen to many people, but I am one of the few lucky people in where I got severe dry eyes post surgery and sensitivity to light, which means when the sun is shining, it's a little too bright for my eyes. I do need to wear sunglasses, otherwise I get headaches.

[00:12:49]When I'm driving at night, I get halos in my vision if the glare is too bright from the head from a car's headlights.

[00:12:54]Also, for the dry eyes, I now got to pay $40 a month for a bottle this small, yeah, about this small, of eye drops because I got to put the eye drops in my eyes four times a day.

[00:13:06]Otherwise, my eyes feel like I have sand in them.

[00:13:09]So, if you're thinking about getting LASIK eye surgery, don't be like me.

[00:13:12]Don't be dumb like me. Don't get it.

[00:13:14]Don't do it. And if you're going to do it, do your research because they promised me a lifetime of clear vision, 20/20 vision. I haven't even got a full 8 years out of this investment. And I should have known then, remember my frontal lobe wasn't fully developed, so I should have known then, but I didn't realize when they told me, "Why don't you upgrade to the premium package?"

[00:13:34]Okay, premium package that would include a lifetime warranty of unlimited touch-ups. I should have known then when they were offering free touch-ups for the rest of my life that my vision would decline again. But I wasn't listening and I wasn't reading fine fine the fine print. I said, "Premium package? Yeah, let me invest. It's my eyes. It's going to be worth it."

[00:13:56]My eye doctor told me I could only get one more touch-up.

[00:14:00]Let that sink in, guys. If you're thinking about getting LASIK eye surgery, let [music] this be your sign.

[00:14:05]Don't do it. Don't be like me.

[00:14:07]>> Notice how this person points out something important. They say [music] almost everyone they knew who got LASIK around the same time is now back in glasses, too. That doesn't mean it's true for everyone, but it does suggest that permanent results aren't guaranteed [music] to actually be permanent.

[00:14:21]>> Hey, so I wanted to film a video about uh LASIK eye laser treatment and how it has completely altered the course of my life. Um 9 years ago, I had LASIK done in Madison, Wisconsin um after a number of people I knew had the procedure done with great success, including my uh now ex-husband.

[00:14:45]And the reason for me seeking out this procedure >> [music] >> was that I was struggling to wear contacts.

[00:14:54]Uh they weren't comfortable for more than an hour or two at a time. I didn't enjoy wearing glasses. I thought this would be a quick fix. You know, they offered a payment plan at the time um that seemed very reasonable and I went through with the procedure.

[00:15:12]Um here's a picture of me coming home that day.

[00:15:18]Um the initial recovery was quite simple.

[00:15:22]Eye drops every couple hours, different I think you had a steroid drop and a moisturizing drop and then kind of you tapered off of those things over the course of the a few weeks after. My post-op appointment was great. I had 20/20 vision if not better, 20/30 [music] or I don't remember. I think there's something a little bit better than 20/20, but either way I could see great and so I was very pleased with the results.

[00:15:47]And I just figured initial discomfort was normal.

[00:15:50]Unfortunately, that discomfort turned um to pain pretty rapidly, I would say, after the procedure.

[00:15:59]And from there it turned to chronic pain.

[00:16:04]Um here we are 9 years later and I will list off the treatments that I've tried, uh the different doctors I have seen in hopes of finding a solution for what uh essentially has destroyed uh many aspects of my day-to-day life.

[00:16:23]It is something that is constantly on my mind.

[00:16:27]Um there's not a moment that goes by that somewhere I'm thinking um gosh, I I need to put drops in or I wish I wasn't dealing with this or there has to be another way, another solution.

[00:16:43]Um so it really is kind of all consuming. I mentioned the drops, which are kind of the Refresh Tears lubricating. They're non-preservative cuz they're single dose vials.

[00:16:53]Um there's all different brands. I use those throughout the day. I probably get 20 to 30 seconds of relief from instilling a drop.

[00:17:03]Um and I I use ointment at night.

[00:17:08]It's I think it's called Genteal.

[00:17:11]There's a few different brands, but it's an ointment I put um inside my eye at night time to sleep Uh to keep my eyes as moist as possible while they're closed. Warm compresses.

[00:17:23]Uh here's a picture of cold stones that I purchased that I do get relief from, but again, it's it's like putting a band-aid on.

[00:17:31]Um they're great while they stay cold and I put them on my eye with a mask around it. I'll lay in bed. Um and that will give me temporary relief.

[00:17:42]>> [music] >> I've had temporary punctal plugs.

[00:17:46]Punctums are um in the bottom and the top corners of both eyes where your natural tears drain out. Um and the plugs were put in there to try to keep my natural tears on my eye.

[00:18:00]But unfortunately, the um temporary plugs were you know, they only last a short time.

[00:18:08]I'd go back.

[00:18:10]Um I thought I was getting a little relief from them, but um so then I went and had and did the permanent punctal cautery, so I didn't have to keep going back and getting uh dissolvable plugs put in where here's a picture of my eyes after doing cautery, uh which is a procedure where the corneal specialist that I saw, the ophthalmologist, one of many doctors, um she numbed [music] my eyelid and um cauterized the punctums on the lower lids so that tears would stay more on my eye, help with the dry eye.

[00:18:47]I don't think I mentioned my diagnoses.

[00:18:50]Uh since the procedure, obviously chronic dry eye, meibomian gland dysfunction, um which are affect the quality of your tears.

[00:19:01]Um let's see.

[00:19:03]I have ocular rosacea.

[00:19:06]I have corneal neuropathy.

[00:19:09]Um some of these have to to with the flaps on the cornea um not regenerating and not healing fully. So, there's some nerve pain that goes along with it.

[00:19:19]Um I've had BBL, which not what probably most people think is is uh when they hear BBL, but it's a broadband light therapy.

[00:19:28]Um I had that done probably five times at at my doctor's office. They do full face light laser therapy. Here's a picture of afterwards. Extremely painful procedure.

[00:19:41]Um they put the Sorry, my cats are are fighting.

[00:19:47]They put um metal metal shields on your eyes and they laser your entire face.

[00:19:52]The procedure's [music] probably 30 to 40 minutes.

[00:19:56]And it's it's like snapping rubber bands over and over. And I felt like I got a little relief from that procedure, but it was temporary.

[00:20:05]Uh it wasn't something that lasted.

[00:20:06][music] Um more drops. I've tried Restasis.

[00:20:12]Um Meibo.

[00:20:15]Um Xiidra. Pretty much every every drop that is prescription on the market I've tried.

[00:20:22]Um the last treatment option I am exploring with my doctor next week, and that's the scleral lenses. Here's a picture of what those are.

[00:20:31]Basically going back to contacts. Um but this lens is large and it's a hard contact. And what you do is well, it sits on the whites of your eye. You fill it with a saline solution um so that it basically is like a bandage over your eye.

[00:20:49]And you wear them throughout the day, and I feel like that hopefully will provide some relief um to have not so much dry eye feeling throughout every day.

[00:21:01]Um So, again, if if you have a similar experience or know somebody looking to get LASIK, I would I would caution them maybe show them this video.

[00:21:14]Had I known now had I known then, excuse me, what I know now, I would never have done this procedure. It is my one regret in all of my 41 years um because like I said, if I could go back, if somebody would have cautioned me, I would I would give anything to not to not live with this chronic pain. And I and I know that there is people that that are worse off or have have bigger um much more challenging issues to deal with and and I feel for them as well.

[00:21:54]But this is this is my battle.

[00:21:56]>> This one's a good example of something a lot of people mention. [music] Issues that don't show up right away, but slowly become part of daily life.

[00:22:03]Things like sensitivity to certain colors of light, [music] halos at night, or eyes that just never feel normal again. For some people this fade with time, [music] for others they don't.

[00:22:13]>> What on God's green earth is possessing people to watch a multi-minute video of someone who has gotten LASIK surgery and as a result is living in constant debilitating pain, losing their vision, pain so bad that some people have ended their life. How are people watching that video, opening their comments, typing out, "Well, I love my LASIK surgery. It was the best thing I ever did in my life and I I wish I did it sooner." and pressing comment.

[00:22:39]What is going on? What is the disconnect? Why are people so hell-bent on doing like positive PR for LASIK?

[00:22:46]Like the general consensus from doctors in the community and like the public is that LASIK is good. You don't have to defend them. Even if you're happy with your surgery like I thought LASIK was good until I saw these videos. I just like I am not one usually to be like social media is like so bad like most people are. I think it's bad for kids, but in general, I think like social media is like it's good it connects people, but the way people feel so comfortable like just commenting these things cuz I've seen it before. I saw it in that trend that was like Cassie and Nate from Euphoria and like passing each other in the halls and the moms were using it the video format to talk about how like their relationship with their husbands disintegrated after they had a baby. And people would write in the comments of those videos. They would say, "Well, my husband and I just got closer after our baby."

[00:23:30]Read the room. Oh my god. I At least use the stitch bit. Like use the stitch feature or make your own video about how much you love your life. Like I just don't understand. You would never do this in real life, you know? You would never if like I don't know you were at work and like your coworker was like, "I just came back from a trip from Kansas Kansas." I'm picking somewhere like super random. "Kansas and it was the worst trip of my life. I got like hate comments cuz I wasn't from Kansas and like everyone jumped me and it the people were locals were awful. The food was awful. My hotel like scammed me." I don't know. I'm this And then she's falling apart. But like say your coworker was saying that and then you had a great trip at in Kansas. Would you go up to her and be like, "Well, I love my trip in Kansas." and walk away?

[00:24:09]No.

[00:24:10]No, because you're a human in society.

[00:24:12]At the very Maybe you Maybe you would say like I don't know like, "Oh my god, I can't believe cuz my trip wasn't anything like that, but I'm so sorry that happened to you." Maybe you'd mention it in that way, but you would never just hear a story of someone being awful and then respond, "Well, I had a great experience." And if you wouldn't do that in real life, why are you doing this in the comments of these videos? Like the LASIK stuff just like gets me too because people are ending their life.

[00:24:35]People are ending their life because they've had awful reactions to the surgery. So thank god we have TikTok to share the word that it's bad for some people for some people. They always say that in their videos it's for some people. But then I open the comments and why is everyone bragging about how good their LASIK surgery is? I'm I'm like losing my mind cuz I just cannot believe What's the thought process behind that?

[00:24:55]What is that Please explain it to me. I know when one in your life uses TikTok.

[00:24:58]Please explain.

[00:24:59]>> What's interesting here is that it's not just patients talking. Even some eye doctors are weighing with hesitation.

[00:25:05]The common thread is that once the surgery is done, there's no going back to how things were before. For some people that's totally fine. For others, it's the start of a long list of side effects they didn't expect.

[00:25:15]>> Let's talk about why I would never get LASIK. LASIK can be life-changing for the right person, but it is not for everyone. LASIK permanently alters your cornea by cutting and [music] reshaping it. Remember, once that tissue is removed, it cannot be replaced. So, this means if a complication were to occur, options to reverse or correct it is extremely limited. LASIK disrupts your corneal nerves that control [music] your tear production. This results in a chronic dry eye that gives you a constant burning [music] and gritty sensation with fluctuating vision. And this means you're going to have a long-term dependence on eye drops or eye gels. And if you already do suffer with dry eyes, LASIK can make it significantly worse. Another permanent side effect [music] of LASIK is extremely poor night vision. You'll probably experience glare, halos, and starbursts around lights, which is it is, it's already difficult enough to see at [music] night. Now, even though the side effects can be permanent, your vision correction actually might not be. Remember, LASIK doesn't stop your natural eye's growth.

[00:26:16]You're still going to develop presbyopia, and your vision will regress over time. This means that for some patients, LASIK can last up to 10 years, but for others, it can start to regress after just a few months. Non-surgical options are usually [music] safer for most people like glasses, contact lenses, or orthokeratology as these don't [music] permanently alter your eyes.

[00:26:37]>> I hear more people talking about the complications of laser eye surgery. So, as somebody with a minus three prescription, I'm going to tell you why I will never do it. Keep in mind this is not medical advice, and I understand that this operation is a miracle for a lot of people, but it's still an out of pocket expense in the US. And I'm only speaking as someone who has the sole responsibility of paying her own medical bills. First of all, why do I need to see everything in high def all the time?

[00:27:03]I definitely need my glasses when I drive, and I'll wear my contacts if I'm going hiking. But, outside of that, I don't care to see everything crystal clear. With my vision, I cannot always recognize faces from a distance, but I don't care to have that corrected because I don't want to recognize everybody all the time. I don't feel like talking many times. Also, for a lot of people that are nearsighted like me, the surgery corrects the nearsightedness, but sometimes they end up needing reading glasses. So, I spent thousands on laser eye surgery just to get glasses of a different kind of prescription. Also, my optometrist only wears glasses. The expert sticks to glasses. Although he does laser eye consults, he never got laser eye for himself. So, that tells me all I need to know.

[00:27:46]>> Okay, so after going through all of these stories, here's what stands out.

[00:27:50]First, LASIK works for a lot of people.

[00:27:53]There are plenty of patients who get the surgery, have a smooth recovery, and genuinely never look back. That's real, and it's worth saying clearly because this video isn't trying to convince anyone that LASIK is some kind of scam.

[00:28:05]The procedure has helped a huge number of people stop [music] relying on glasses and contacts. But, the stories we just watched point to something that doesn't get talked about enough. The range of outcomes is much wider than most people realize going in. On one end, [music] you've got people who walk away with 20/20 vision and zero issues.

[00:28:21]On the other end, you've got people dealing with chronic dry eye, light sensitivity, halos, glare, and in some cases, corneal thinning that limits future treatment options. And in between those two extremes, there's a whole spectrum of people who got okay results, [music] vision that's mostly fine, but with side effects they didn't expect like needing reading glasses years later or developing sensitivity to certain types of light. A A things came up again and again in the stories that are worth remembering. LASIK permanently reshapes the cornea. Once that tissue is removed, it's gone. [music] There's no putting it back. That's why some people who develop complications have very limited options for correcting them afterward. Dry eye is one of the most common long-term side effects, and for some people it can become a daily ongoing issue rather than something that fades after a few weeks.

[00:29:08]Corneal thickness matters a lot. A few of the people in these clips mentioned their corneas were borderline going into surgery, and that thinning afterward affected what could be done if something went wrong later. LASIK doesn't stop your eyes from changing over time.

[00:29:21]Conditions like presbyopia, the natural age-related need for reading glasses, still happens regardless of whether you've had LASIK. So, never needing glasses again [music] isn't really a guarantee for everyone, even when the surgery itself goes well. And finally, informed consent [music] really matters here. Several people in these clips said they weren't fully told about the risks or that the risks were downplayed during the consultation. That's not the same thing as saying [music] LASIK is dangerous for everyone. It's saying that going in with realistic expectations and asking detailed questions about your specific eyes, corneal thickness, existing dry eye, your prescription, your job, your lifestyle matters a lot more than people are usually told. So, if you're thinking about LASIK, here's the practical takeaway. This isn't about being scared off. It's about going in with your eyes open, no pun [music] intended. Ask your doctor directly about your corneal thickness and whether you show any signs of dry eye before surgery.

[00:30:13]>> [music] >> Ask what happens if something goes wrong and what your options would realistically be afterward. Get a second opinion if anything feels rushed, and remember that for some people LASIK cuts both ways. Some people have life-changing positive results, and some people end up dealing with side effects for [music] years. The honest answer is that nobody can promise you which group you'll fall into, and that's the part that doesn't always make it into the consultation room. Okay, so this question is from our people that got laser eye surgery.

[00:30:41]Um, do y'all eyes just get blurry out of nowhere like you can't see anything and then you get a migraine but like on the right side of your head?

[00:30:51]>> So, if you made it this far, I appreciate you watching. Let me know what you think in the comments. [music] If you enjoyed the video, don't forget to leave a like and subscribe for more content like this. Creators handles are in the description box below. I'll see you in the next one. Bye.