What 5 ways that lasik surgery can affect your vision in pregnancy?

                                                                

                                                               

It's quite known that pregnancy changes your body, but did you know it can also affect your vision? Along with many changes in the body, pregnancy can affect your eyes and quality of vision.

Fluctuation in hormone levels during pregnancy can be attributed to most of these changes. Hormone levels are quite high during the last two months of pregnancy which causes your body to change in many different ways.

While these changes in pregnancy are usually temporary, they can sometimes indicate more serious conditions. If you're experiencing vision or eye-related changes and it concerns you, or if you need help with your sudden blurry vision, you need to consult your obstetrician and ophthalmologist or oculist.

The top five ways that affect your vision changes during your pregnancy:

1. Uncomfortable Contact Lenses

To wear contact lenses comfortably requires plenty of lubrication. It can be either in the form of tears or lubricating eye drops. Sometimes the eyes become dry during pregnancy with an increase in hormones that changes the tear film. Wearing contact lenses may irritate you and become intolerable during pregnancy, even if you've worn them for years.

During pregnancy, subtle changes happen to the shape of the cornea too. Those contact lenses you have worn for years and were comfortable once may suddenly fit differently because of the changes in corneal curvature. The cornea may also swell, this is called edema. Corneal edema causes the cornea to become more irritated easily.

If you only wear contact lenses, you might want to switch to glasses during your pregnancy. Most healthcare providers will also advise against being fitted for new contact lenses when you're pregnant because your eyes may constantly change.

If you normally wear contact lenses every day, make sure you have a good pair of backup glasses to wear during your pregnancy if you ever feel the need to break from your contacts.

2. Blurry Vision

Pregnancy usually causes swelling throughout the body. Swelling during pregnancy can cause minor changes to your glasses or contact lens prescription.

One day you may be able to see objects near to you clearly and distant objects may be blurry. For women who are pregnant, these vision changes do not mean for you to have prescription change or new glasses during pregnancy, as this is in most cases temporary.

3. Dry Eyes

If your eyes constantly feel dry then it is because of your hormones. Hormonal changes that happen during pregnancy can make your eyes dry and leave you with little or no extra tears for lubrication. The quality and quantity of your tears may also change considerably in your pregnancy.

Dry eyes sometimes make you feel as if a piece of sand is in your eye. Your eyes may have burning, itching feelings, or can even become excessively watery.

Your doctor may recommend that you use artificial tears several times a day to improve the dryness in the eyes. If artificial tears don't resolve your symptoms ask your eye doctor about other treatments.

4. Diabetic Retinopathy

If you are diabetic, you are more vulnerable to the development or worsening of diabetic retinopathy during your pregnancy. Women who are pregnant may have bleeding or fluid leakage in the retina, which causes vision to be blurred and, in some cases, there is significant vision loss and even blindness.

If you have any type of diabetes, you should go for at least one or more eye examinations during pregnancy, particularly if your blood sugar levels keep on fluctuating. Obstetricians are aware of the problems diabetes may cause and usually work closely with your eye care specialists.

5. Increased Spots and Floaters

Women who complain of spots in their vision during pregnancy are taken very seriously. These dark spots could be scotomata. Scotomata are stable and usually appear in a large part of the field of vision unlike floaters, which move across in the vision and are normal (whether pregnant or not).

Scotomata usually indicates preeclampsia or eclampsia, complications during some pregnancies which cause dangerously high blood pressure. Although this results in unusual visual symptoms, in most cases eye damage is not severe and vision returns to normal when high blood pressure comes into control.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why can I see stars while pregnant?

Seeing stars or spots while being pregnant can be an indication of preeclampsia. This disease also causes face and hand swelling, quick weight gain, chronic headache, upper belly pain, trouble in breathing, and nausea. It can happen to around three to five per cent of pregnant women. Preeclampsia can be a serious issue so you should contact your doctor if you experience these symptoms.

Can you experience vision changes after pregnancy?

Yes, it is possible to experience minor vision changes after pregnancy, but in most cases it is unlikely. Mostly when a woman’s vision is affected while being pregnant, any changes they have experienced will go back to normal after giving birth.