How will taking blood thinners affect my eligibility for a lasik surgery? i am a 23-year old female college student. i have advanced stage myopia and i consider getting an appointment with my ophthalmologist to discuss the possibility of lasik surgery. i

This : This is a good question and one that concerns many. The good news is that blood thinners rarely have an impact on patients exploring lasik. Lasik is essentially a blood free procedure, since usually there are no blood vessels in the cornea. There may be small superficial blood vessels at the edge of the cornea that may be intersected during the procedure, however these are usually easy to manage. Check with you lasik surgeon to find out if he feels it would be appropriate to proceed based on the overall health of your eye and whether he would feel more comfortable having you stop the blood thinners for a few days prior. Then discuss with your primary care doctor if stopping the blood thinners would be okay.

In : In my experience blood thinners have no affect on lasik. The normal cornea does not have blood vessels. It could be more likely to have a subconjuctival hemorrhage which is on the white of the eye, but this does not affect vision. Hemorrhages on the white of the eye are very common and should not be an issue of concern. Bleeding of consequence is certainly not a concern and there would be no reason to come off of your blood thinners before lasik.

LASIK : Taking blood thinners does not effect your candidacy or the performance of lasik.