Pregnancy is not the best time to have surgery for myopia or buy glasses

We have always been certain that myopia increased during pregnancy, but recent studies have ruined this claim. However, there are still doubts. In fact, many pregnant women claim to experience changes in vision during pregnancy. We explain why pregnancy is not the best time to undergo myopia or buy

We have always been certain that myopia increased during pregnancy, but recent studies have ruined this claim.

However, there are still doubts. In fact, many pregnant women claim to experience changes in vision during pregnancy. We explain why pregnancy is not the best time to undergo myopia or buy new glasses. Why pregnancy is not the best time to undergo myopia or buy glasses

Myopia is the most frequent refractive defect in the world.

The length of the eye, as well as the dioptric power of the cornea and the lens, determine this refractive error. The specific risk factors for myopia are still unclear, but the evidence suggests a multifactorial cause involving both genetic and environmental factors. But there are a number of eye changes that affect women during pregnancy

that still continue to arouse doubts. What we did not know is that most are harmless and transient, and that they are directly related to the physiological changes induced by hormones. These are due to a greater accumulation of fluid in the cornea and the lens, which influences its thickness and curvature, parameters directly related to the increase in myopia. 1. Variation in visual acuity is the most common complaint in pregnancy.

Approximately 14% of pregnant women experience these changes, as well as intolerance to soft contact lenses. For this reason, refractive surgery should not be performed during pregnancy or during the first year after delivery. 2. Dry eye

. In addition, studies show that 16% of pregnant women have changes in the tear film that result in symptoms of the dry eye or the prescription of their glasses. For this reason, it is advisable not to make changes in the prescription of glasses until several weeks after delivery3. Intraocular pressure.

Another variable that also changes during pregnancy is intraocular pressure, which decreases slightly due to the influence of hormones, mainly progesterone. 4. Changes in the vessels of the retina.

Almost all pregnant women have reactive changes in the vessels of the retina, but clearly visible changes only arise in the context of hypertension, preeclampsia or eclampsia. In the course of a normal pregnancy there are no physiological or visible changes of the retina. Although it is true that during pregnancy a woman suffers changes in her vision, a recent study conducted in Spain involving more than 10,000 pregnant and non-pregnant women throughout 14 years of follow-up, has shown that during pregnancy

neither the degree of myopia develops nor increases, but there is a variation directly related to the physiological changes induced by the hormones that after pregnancy will return to its normal state. There are some

eye pathologies linked to myopia, such as glaucoma or retinal detachment, which must be taken into account in the face of a possible normal delivery. The myopic pregnant woman should consult with her ophthalmologist to plan the delivery and prevent this complication. It is known that the short-sighted from 6 diopters are more at risk of developing a retinal detachment. Laura Batres

Optometrist Doctor Lens