Eye and Vision Care

Lasik eye surgery

05/02/2008 08:58AM

Question:

I would love to get rid of my glasses that I wear all the time because I am nearsighted. I read that people with rheumatoid arthritis should not get this done. I also have dry eye due to my RA. Is this right that I can`t have it done and what other things can disquilify from the surgery?

Answer:

Unfortunately, both the dry eye and the rheumatoid arthritis make you a poor candidate for refractive surgery such as LASIK. LASIK can actually make dry eye symptoms worse, and certain conditions, such as an autoimmune disease like RA, and certain medications may actually decrease wound healing time following refractive surgery.

www.fda.gov/cdrh/lasik/

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Response by:

Julia Rae Geldis, OD, MS
Assistant Professor
College of Optometry
The Ohio State University