Can laser eye surgery cause permanent problems?
Most postoperative symptoms settle, but a small number of people are left with persistent dryness or persistent night vision symptoms, and rarer complications can leave a lasting change to the cornea or to vision quality.
- Subject
- Risks & safety
- Topic
- Complications
- Kind of question
- Can I…
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
This is the part of the decision that is genuinely worth weighing before committing rather than afterwards, and it is why a clinic’s honesty about its complication rate and its retreatment policy matters more than its marketing.
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Risks, safety & side effects in Complications . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Cochrane Library
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Useful for readers who want to know how strong the pooled evidence is, not just what one trial found.
Used for Helping readers judge the strength of the evidence base.
Link checked 22 September 2026