I am scheduled for Lasik surgery two days from now, and am feeling a bit of a cold coming on. I have already started the Zicam, as it seemed to help me before. Is there a larger chance of infection having the surgery while you have a cold? Of course I don't want to jeopardize my eyes, but sure would like to be able to proceed with the surgery if there's not much chance of a complication due to having a cold!

If you are in doubt, ask your surgeon to push up the schedule date up a week, tell him your not feeling well enough to handle the stress of lasik and a cold together. Whats your pescription and your reasons for lasik?

Look at it this way: If you have surgery with a cold and something - anything - goes wrong, you will never forgive yourself.

Colds and cold medicines can greatly affect the performance of an excimer laser. If the cornea becomes dehydrated, the laser may remove more tissue than desired, causing an overcorrection problem.

It is just not worth it. Contact your doctor's office and tell them you have a cold, you are taking medication for the cold, and you want to reschedule after about three weeks.

Glenn Hagele
http://USAEyes.org

I am not a doctor.