In many cases, with good management, being diabetic doesn’t need to stop you from living a normal life. Many people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes have successfully undergone laser vision correction.
Before getting the go-ahead, however, you’ll need to have a check-up to ensure that you are medically fit to undergo laser eye surgery. With diabetes, there are two extra factors to check:
One consequence of having diabetes is that surgery carries extra risk. Laser eye surgery is a relatively low-risk procedure to start with, but before opting for the procedure, it’s important to consider how diabetes could affect your recovery.
If you have diabetes, you may have noticed that cuts and scrapes take longer to heal. That’s because higher-than-normal blood sugar affects your body’s ability to repair itself. This doesn’t immediately rule out laser treatment as a possibility, but you’ll need to factor in a longer recovery time.
Many patients with diabetes have excellent outcomes from laser eye surgery. If you would like to be considered, make an appointment with your GP to confirm that your blood sugar levels are stable, before talking to your ophthalmologist.
In some cases, health concerns, diabetic retinopathy or unstable sugar levels may mean you are not currently a suitable candidate for this type of procedure. If so, there may be alternative forms of treatment open to you; speak to a surgeon with expertise in diabetes to plan the right vision correction plan for you.