Has laser eye surgery ever been linked to heart problems?

This guest post is provided by Phoebe Damien, content marketer who works in AcceleRank Web Solutions. A teacher by day and a blogger by night, Phoebe is helping businesses with content marketing. A blogger and a runner, Phoebe is also a vegan.

Few surgeries if any are completely safe, especially if you have some kind of heart problem. You might not even consider it as you lay down to get your eyes fixed, but is it possible that your laser eye surgery could cause you to suffer a heart attack?

Low risk but not entirely safe

Cataract and other types of eye surgeries are known to have very low risks of complications. This however does not mean that they are entirely safe. It is possible, although unlikely, that the stress of the laser eye surgery might lead the patient to suffering a heart attack. It is best for the patient to attend a consultation with a specialist.

Likewise, surgeons at Optilase will always do their best to screen the patients prior to the surgery in order to see if there are any risks to be considered. But even if they were able to find a problem with regards to the matter, there is nothing much that they can do in order to lower the risks of suffering a heart attack during the surgery. Here is a good thing about it though; these kinds of surgeries only require a local anaesthetic to numb the eyes – in fact it is not a very long procedure. Before patients undergo this kind of surgery, they will need to do routine testing before it is time to repair their eyesight.

Why consider laser eye surgery?

There are several reasons to why a person would consider to go for laser eye surgery. One of the reasons is due to cosmetic reasons. With the endless commercials viciously sending their messages on TV, preaching to customers about the benefits of wearing contact lenses –to make them look good (watch out for the ones that come in different colours!), the demands for contact lenses are rapidly increasing.

But thanks to today’s technology, it is possible for them to walk and work confidently without having to wear any glasses or contact lenses. No longer will they need to take off their glasses during leisure activities – wearing them during physical activities are not very comfortable after all. No longer will they have to spend money on contact lenses that need to be changed from time to time too.

Testing to be done before surgery

Even though these tests are safe, they can cause the patient to experience more anxiety. In some cases there have even been false alarms that lead to more testing and further delays on the surgery. A patient’s anxiety will also increase – which can lead to possible complications, such as a heart attack.

Most people would not need to do these kinds of tests, but for some it may be important. For example, if you suffer from some kind of a heart disease, the doctor might need to change the anaesthetic that will be used doing the operation. For patients who suffer from diabetes, a blood test may be ordered to make sure that everything is under control.

Extra risks

We all may have different habits, but there are some that can be looked upon before getting into any kind of surgery. In order to lower the risk of having heart problems during surgery, it will be really helpful to work on some of your bad habits. Yes it may take some time; but it can save you a lot of stress and lower the risk of suffering a heart attack. It is truly worth it! Some of them are:

• Smoking
• Physical inactivity
• Excessive Alcohol Intake
• Drug Use
• Testosterone Therapy

So can laser eye surgery cause heart attacks?

The simple answer is yes, but nearly anything that is related to stress can cause heart attacks, especially if you already have some kind of a heart disease, or if you are facing risks of having a heart attack. It is understandable that any kind of surgery can be stressful to a patient; but this does not mean that everyone has to be afraid of suffering a heart attack during laser eye surgery.

However, it is not likely that you will experience any heart related problems as long as you are healthy and living a healthy life. Lifestyle changes are highly recommended but there seems to be no other direct link between laser eye surgery and heart attacks besides the stress factor.

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