LASIK surgery is an increasingly popular alternative to wearing glasses or contacts. It reshapes the cornea and changes the focusing power. The intent of the surgery is to correct the curvature of the cornea for conditions that include farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism (Tortora & Derrickson). Nearsightedness can be corrected by using a concave lens that diverges the light rays coming in so that they are in focus directly on the retina. In farsightedness, the correction is a convex lens that converges the light rays entering to focus directly on the retina (Tortora & Derrickson). After surgery, however, there could be side effects such as dry eyes and sensitivity to light.
There are many different studies being conducted involving the sensitivity of the cornea after the surgery takes place. In one particular scientific study, patients were examined to investigate whether LASIK surgery was the cause of patient’s cornea sensitivity and dry eyes. Twenty patients who had undergone myopic LASIK surgery two to five years previously were placed with ten people who had not received the surgery. The cornea sensitivity was assessed by using a non-contact esthesiometer. (PubMed)
The degree of dry eye symptoms was significantly higher in patients who had received the LASIK eye surgery treatment, rather than the patients in the control group. The majority of patients also reported ongoing symptoms, although the testing for that in particular was not conducted. (PudMed) Some claimed they had never had such symptoms until after the surgery. It appears that the LASIK surgery could have played a role in the tear deficiency of the patients, as well as the sensitivity.
Works Cited:
Gerard J. Tortora and Bryan Derrickson. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons, 2012.
Journal of Refractive Surgery from PudMed.gov 2007. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17455828>