If you are a smoker considering getting lasik surgery, you should quit Smoking. Usually, Smoking is associated with many diseases and illnesses, but after lasik surgery, the threat increases. Smoking is proven to decrease the healing process and increase the recovery period. After Lasik, your eyes are more sensitive. There are lots of consequences of Smoking when it comes to eyes. This article will explain why you should not smoke after lasik Surgery.
What is LASIK?
Lasik surgery is a laser surgery that solves eyesight caused due to refractive errors. It corrects vision in people who are near-sighted or far-sighted. It reshapes the cornea so that light reflects appropriately.
Getting LASIK can be even more fruitful and help put other life habits into perspective.
Considering all this, we would like to consider how cigarette smoke impacts LASIK patients, particularly after surgery. Patients must seek the proper advice since it can help avoid problems and improve the overall results of LASIK surgery.
Why is lasik done?
LASIK surgery may be a perfect option for the correction of one of these vision-associated problems:
- 1) Nearsightedness (myopia): When your eyeball is slightly longer than usual or the cornea curves too sharply, light rays focus in front of the retina and blur distant vision. You can see objects that are close reasonably clearly, but not those objects that are far away.
- 2)Farsightedness (hyperopia): When you have a shorter-than-average eyeball or a too-flat cornea, light focuses behind the retina instead of on it; this makes near vision, and sometimes distant vision, blurry.
- 3)Astigmatism: When the cornea curves or flattens unevenly, the result is astigmatism, which disrupts the focus of near and distant vision.
Therefore Lasik is considered if you have any of these eye conditions.
Can you smoke after Lasik surgery?
The answer to this question would be No, Absolutely not. Why?
Smoking can be harmful, especially after LASIK is done, due to the following reasons:
- Affects blood vessels:
Smoking is likely to cause clots called retinal vascular occlusions. These clots can lead to Loss of vision by causing further eye damage.
- Dry eyes:
Generally, Smoking causes reddening and dry eyes. After lasik Surgery, your eyes get to dry up more. So if you are a smoker, there are more chances of developing dry eye syndrome.
- Irritation:
Red and itchy eyes are familiar in smoke patients and worsen if you do not quit. You will also feel your eyes burning.
- Prolonged recovery: Smoking can hurt LASIK recovery
Smoking is terrible for you; that’s a given. It can lead to various diseases like cancer, lung disease, heart disease, and other health problems. What’s more, it can also hurt you as you are healing. Smokers are more prone to infection and tend to heal slower than nonsmokers. Combining these issues could lead to severe problems after undergoing LASIK surgery. Therefore, Smoking slows down your healing process and prolongs recovery. It weakens your immune system and will cause the cornea not to heal or heal very slowly.
Potential post-op complications linked to smoking
As noted above, infection is the primary complication to worry about after surgery. Since it takes longer to heal after surgery, as we have discussed, the risk of infection increases as you recover. While the surgical procedure is safer now than ever, thanks to advanced technology, smoking while you heal can cause post-op complications, such as a corneal flap issue or corneal flap inflammation.
Eye irritation and other smoking-associated side effects
Apart from the risk of infection, Smoking can exacerbate post-surgical side effects. Your eyes will be compassionate after LASIK, and the smoke from cigars and cigarettes can be highly irritating; this can cause your eyes to water, or if you experience dry eye after surgery, it can lead to severe discomfort in the eyes.
- Infection:
There are high chances of patients developing an infection after the surgery. As Smoking weakens your immune system, it’s hard for your body to fight infection. Infections May also lead to other infections or Loss of vision.
Further ill effects of Smoking after LASIK can be:
- Poor quality tear production.
- Total Loss of vision
- Failure of Surgery
Keeping these points in consideration, one is advised to do the following if going for LASIK:
Stop smoking before your LASIK procedure.
Before you undergo LASIK, you must avoid cigars, cigarettes, and other tobacco products; This will help put your body in the best condition to recover quickly. Remember that this is a standard pre-op instruction given to all patients.
Do not smoke while you are healing.
After LASIK, you’ll want to avoid Smoking for a few weeks to heal your eyes; This is just playing it safe and ensuring that you will not trigger any dry severe eye attacks or significant eye irritation.
A good excuse to quit for good!
After undergoing LASIK, many people feel it’s as good an excuse as any to kick the habit for good finally. By quitting Smoking, you can avoid many health problems and enjoy what the world offers.
If you need help quitting, some people can provide information and direct you to resources to help make this a reality.
Speak with a laser eye surgeon.
For more information about LASIK and how it can improve your vision and overall enjoyment of life, contact an expert and make a change for you starting today. The expert would help you with sound advice and discuss these issues in greater detail.
Conclusion
Therefore, no one should smoke after LASIK. Also, it is best to quit smoking 3-5 weeks before and for 4-6 weeks after the surgery. Smoke patients should be extra careful regarding eye surgery because eyes are susceptible after surgery. Nonsmokers or quitters will keep a healthy eye recovery and improved vision. It’s advised to follow the doctor’s instructions and quit Smoking.
