What if I rub my eyes after laser eye surgery?
Interview transcription:
We asked Alex Shortt what happens if you rub your eye after laser eye surgery.
Interviewer: Another question is, what if I rub my eye after laser eye surgery?
Alex Shortt: In general, it’s not a great idea to vigorously rub your eyes. You can do damage to the surface of your eye by rubbing your eyes.
Even without laser eye surgery, it’s possible to cause changes in the shape of your eye with chronic rubbing.
But specifically in patients who have had LASIK, we worry that they might move or dislodge this flap that we make on the surface of the eye.
Now, you would have to press incredibly hard; you would almost have to be punched in your eye. It would take a sudden, hard, forceful application of pressure to the eye. In reality, it’s very difficult to cause any harm with gentle touching or rubbing of the eye. I’ve never seen it happen and I think a patient should be reassured about gentle rubbing of their eye. They’re not going to do any harm.
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About the author
Mr Alex J. Shortt | Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
MB BCh MSc PhD FRCOphth PGDipCatRef
I’m Alex Shortt, a highly trained academic researcher and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon based in London’s famous Harley Street medical district. I trained and worked as a consultant for 14 years at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital. I specialise in advanced technologies for correcting vision, including cataract surgery, implantable contact lenses and laser vision correction.
