PITTSBURGH -- If you’re considering LASIK surgery to get rid of your glasses, you might want to ask your doctor whether...the weather will play a role in the success of the procedure.

A new study just released shows temperature and humidity can affect LASIK surgery outcomes. Often, the patient has to come back in to get a touch-up, to fine-tune the vision correction.

“They get dirty all the time they get cloudy. That’s the most annoying thing about glasses…and forgetting them.” It’s the minor inconveniences that cause a lot of folks like John Agrillo to decide once and for all to go get LASIK surgery, where a laser is used to correct one’s vision by permanently changing the shape of the cornea.

For John, it’s even more important because his trifocals make it difficult for him to drive.

“We have to put these in the right spot to see the traffic,” he reports.

John is getting his LASIK surgery done in a room with very good climate control. Manhattan LASIK surgeon Dr. Joseph Dello Russo says, “We’ve learned that if you keep it at 40-50% relative humidity, and 68 to 73 degrees temperature, the atmosphere doesn’t affect the result.” But new research shows if the climate is off, the LASIK surgery might not have the best result. It’s the first study to show that environmental factors like humidity and temperature can affect LASIK surgery results and result in a patient needing to come back for a touch-up procedure.

The researchers reported that 15 and a half percent of their patients required a second procedure to fine tune their vision. The most significant factor was indoor humidity, but outdoor temperature and humidity two weeks before the surgery also played a role. More touch up surgeries were required during the humid summer months. The researchers also found that a 10 percent increase in treatment room humidity meant an additional nine out of every 100 patients required an enhancement procedure.

“The higher the humidity, the less the effect for the same amount of laser treatment. The drier the cornea, the laser will have more effect,” advises Dr. Dello Russo.

Additional moisture in the air may decrease the laser energy absorbed by the cornea. Also, some patients’ corneas may become more hydrated before the procedure, making it more difficult for the laser to remove tissue.

While temperature and humidity are important factors according to this study in terms of who has to get at touch up procedure done, the ability of each individual to heal is the most important factor according to the surgeon with whom we spoke.

Dr. Dello Russo reports only a 3-5 percent touch up rate, which is lower than the study’s findings. That’s good news for john, who sunglasses aside, is now going to be specs-free.

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