Can LASIK damage your eyes?
LASIK changes the cornea deliberately and permanently, so the question is really whether it can cause harm beyond the intended reshaping. Rarely it can, and the situations worth knowing about are infection, flap problems and a cornea left too thin or too irregular.
- Subject
- Vision correction
- Topic
- LASIK
- Kind of question
- Can I…
- Procedures
- LASIK
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
A thin or irregular cornea after treatment is the reason corneal measurements are taken so carefully beforehand, and the reason some eyes are declined. In those eyes a different procedure, or no procedure, is the safer answer.
If you have concerns about your own cornea, an examination with corneal imaging is the way to answer them. General information cannot report on your eye.
Related guides
People also ask
The questions readers move to next from this one: the closest subjects first, from either question bank.
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
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- 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.
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- The Royal College of Ophthalmologists
The UK professional body for ophthalmologists, which publishes standards and commissioning guidance for refractive surgery services.
Used for What good preoperative assessment and consent look like.
Link checked 22 September 2026