Yes, LASIK does usually make dry eye symptoms worse. However, you may still be able to have LASIK done if you can have your dry eyes assessed and treated adequately before your LASIK procedure.
My advice would be to:
- Have your dry eyes assessed and treated well to a stage of minimal to no symptoms.
- Be aware that LASIK may worsen your dry eye symptoms, hopefully only temporarily.
- Immediately after your LASIK procedure, treat your dry eyes aggressively to prevent symptoms from appearing. Don’t wait for symptoms to appear before starting to treat them!
- Be conscientious about using your eyedrops. Use them frequently and regularly, even if you don’t feel you need them.
Recently, I wrote about a few methods to treat dry eyes effectively. You may want to try out some of these methods for dry eyes before and after LASIK.
Dry eyes (especially if mild) can be treated and managed properly, hence it definitely does not disqualify you from LASIK.
I hope that was helpful to you.
