Night vision after a laser eye surgery
Nobody wants negative side effects after a treatment, whether the risk of occurrence was predicted or not. In reality however, every medicine or every surgical intervention can potentially create a side effect. Most of the time the side effects of laser eye surgery are of a temporary nature, like in the case of halos and glares.
Due to the reaction of the cornea on the treatment, halos (light circles) and glares can appear in the dark. The patient notices these in the evening after a laser eye surgery and they are almost unavoidable. Regardless of the deviation, the age or the individual experience during the intervention, almost every patient suffers from this. Halos appear around light sources and really have the shape of a circle, while the glares are more like light beams that seem to come out of the light source.
Some patients see these halos and glares for several months, while others don’t have this light effect for such a long time. It doesn’t matter to what degree you see these effects appear, you shouldn’t worry about them. These light effects are just part of the natural healing process of the eye.
It takes about three months for the swelling, which appeared in the eye during the intervention, to disappear completely. It is not unusual to be bothered by these light effects when it’s dark, during the first three months after the intervention.
As mentioned earlier, these light effects might appear as part of the natural healing process after a laser treatment. The reason for this is that the surface of the cornea was changed after the treatment. So, the way you observe light will also be altered. It is only normal that this is followed by a period for adjustment and healing.
With the current equipment, halos and glares appear to a lesser extend. In comparison to the early years of laser eye surgery, patients don’t only observe less halos, but they also disappear more rapidly. If before, it could take up to one year for the halos and glares to disappear, now it generally takes only a few months.
So, halos and glares are part of the recovery. It is important not to pay too much attention to them and to be confident that they will disappear over time.
Do you have any questions about laser eye surgery? You can ask your questions through our contact page. To speak to one of our laser eye surgery specialists over the phone, you can call us at +32 16 58 59 58.
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