Can dry eye prevent LASIK?
Significant dry eye can make LASIK a poor choice, because surgery itself can worsen dryness in the short term and an unstable tear film makes the measurements less reliable and the healing less predictable.
- Subject
- Vision correction
- Topic
- LASIK
- Kind of question
- Can I…
- Procedures
- LASIK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
Often the answer is not a refusal but a sequence: treat the ocular surface first, then reassess. A clinic that measures the tear film at all is doing more than one that only refracts you.
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision correction & laser eye surgery in LASIK . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
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- Procedure LASIK
- Procedure Femto LASIK
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs PRK
- Place LASIK in Dubai
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.
- Refractive surgery and dry eye: an update
An update on how different refractive procedures affect the ocular surface, with attention to preoperative screening for dry eye.
Used for Why tear film assessment belongs in preoperative screening.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Post-LASIK dry eye disease: A comprehensive review of the current literature
A review of dry eye after LASIK, including the mechanisms involved and how other procedures compare in the published literature.
Used for Balanced comparison of dry-eye risk between procedures.
Link checked 22 September 2026