Should You Have Laser Vision Correction If You’re Not Done Having Kids?

If you're a woman who is tired of relying on glasses or contacts to correct your eyesight, you may be considering laser eye surgery as a solution to your vision problems. Although this procedure has been successful for millions of patients, you might have heard cautions from your ophthalmologist or gynecologist about potentially permanent vision changes during and after pregnancy. As a result, you could be wondering whether it is a good idea to have laser vision correction if you're not sure you're done having children. Read on to learn more about how laser vision correction may be impacted by subsequent pregnancies.

How can pregnancy alter your vision?

When you're pregnant, your body retains a substantial amount of fluid to both cushion your child from injury and to prepare for the birthing process. This extra fluid isn't just retained in your extremities and bladder, but your eyes as well -- even changing the curvature of your lenses so that your vision prescription changes or your contacts no longer fit. Although these physiological changes generally reverse themselves after you've given birth (and stopped retaining water), in some cases the effect on your vision may be permanent.

Should you have laser vision correction if you plan to have more children?

When considering the effect a pregnancy can have on your vision, you may be wondering whether you should invest in laser vision correction now or wait until you're completely sure you're finished having children. You may not feel it's worth the investment in this surgery to have to redo it in just a few years, particularly if you're planning to have more than one additional child.

Fortunately, in most cases, as long as you're not actually pregnant at the time of the procedure, you'll be able to heal normally and enjoy continued vision correction even after subsequent pregnancies. Because the majority of pregnancy-related vision changes will reverse themselves once you've given birth or stopped breastfeeding, you're relatively safe in getting laser surgery even before you're finished procreating.

If you do get pregnant after having laser vision correction and find yourself dealing with blurry vision during your pregnancy, you'll want to visit your ophthalmologist, like those at Arizona Eye Specialists, for a vision exam and temporary prescription. Although it's unlikely your new prescription will last after you've given birth (so you might not want to invest in a pair of expensive glasses that will only "fit" for 9 months), having an up-to-date prescription during your pregnancy can help your vision as well as your state of mind.


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