Contact Lenses After LASIK and Other Corrective Eye Surgery
It may seem odd even to consider contact lenses after corrective eye surgery. After all, aren’t LASIK and other procedures supposed to eliminate the need for glasses or contacts Theoretically, yes. But LASIK doesn’t always provide perfect vision. And sometimes, a second surgery to sharpen vision is not an option. In these cases, contact lenses may be in order.
For example, if you have very high astigmatism prior to LASIK, you may need toric lenses to correct a lesser degree of astigmatism that may remain after surgery. Soft lenses can work well for this, and specially designed gas permeable and hybrid contact lenses are also an option.
If you’ve had LASIK performed in a monovision fashion — with one eye corrected for distance and the other for near — occasionally you may want to wear a contact lens on the “near eye” so both eyes can see clearly in the distance for sports, driving at night and other activities that require the best possible vision.
Contact lenses also can help to address LASIK complications, such as indistinct vision from higher-order aberrations after surgery. Gas permeable or hybrid contact lenses are usually the preferred lenses for this problem. Excessive glare is another potential problem following LASIK. Here, too, GP contact lenses and hybrid contacts usually are your best choice. These lenses often provide sharper night vision than soft contact lenses after surgery. Keep in mind that fitting contact lenses after LASIK or other corrective surgery may require more trial lenses and a longer period of time than fitting contact lenses on an eye that hasn’t been surgically altered.
