LASIK Complications and Athletes: 4 Stars Who Have Suffered Post-Surgery

LASIK eye surgery has long been touted as a relative “quick fix” for refractive errors, like myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. This surgery has little downtime and often improves patients’ vision by using a highly specialized laser to alter the shape of the cornea. Unfortunately, for many people, the surgery doesn’t go quite as planned. While LASIK surgery may help some people in the short run, often the risks and the returning vision issues later in life outweigh the rewards. LASIK complications for athletes bring even greater risks because they can severely alter careers.

After all, LASIK might seem like the perfect option for a professional athlete who suffers from vision issues and doesn’t want to (or can’t) wear corrective eyewear out on the field. Unfortunately, though, there is a growing number of athletes who have suffered from LASIK complications. Understanding the risk factors associated with LASIK, from early visual disturbances to more long-term issues, as well as the potential LASIK side effects, can help athletes and sports fans alike make informed decisions regarding corrective surgeries.

Jay Gibbons

Jay Gibbons was an LA Dodger in the early 2000s. He had a promising career and wanted to make it even more promising by improving his vision. In 2004, he underwent his first surgery to improve his vision, as it had gone from 20–10 to 20–35 in only a few months. While this surgery helped him to play successfully for a few years, unfortunately, the positive impacts didn’t last long.

In 2010, Gibbons underwent another procedure to try to correct his vision, but unfortunately, this didn’t work, either. He spent much of the 2011 season on the disabled list because the 2010 surgery had effectively flattened his corneas, making it difficult to find contact lenses that fit correctly.

Eventually, a doctor found a contact lens that helped Gibbons see out of his left eye. However, his vision issues cost him his starting position with the Dodgers. He then signed a minor league contract with Milwaukee and ended up retiring from baseball in 2012. It’s clear that his vision issues and complications from LASIK surgery negatively impacted his career.

Casper Wells

Casper Wells is another one of those athletes who had LASIK and ultimately suffered from it. Wells was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies when he had such extreme vision problems that he had to be placed on the disabled list. He was struggling with blurred vision.

Wells underwent LASIK surgery, but the issues with his eyesight continued to linger. He even tried contacts and prescription goggles to correct his decrease in vision quality.

The Phillies’ interim manager at the time, Ryne Sandberg, said, “He’s also experienced some dry eye in the outfield. They dry up when he tries to blink. He tries to blink to gain focus. He’s really battling something. It finally got to the point where he didn’t feel right about that. He mentioned production and betterment of the team and himself to see if he can get that fixed.” Sandberg also said, “That is scary. The player said that oftentimes it was a blurred ball coming in. He didn’t know if he was going to blink just right to make it clear.”

Of course, dry eye is one of the most common LASIK side effects. The surgery that he hoped would make him a better player ultimately caused more issues.

Wells underwent a second surgery in 2013 that finally did correct his vision. However, it was too late for his major league baseball career. Wells continued to play in the minors until 2015, when he was released from his last contract. LASIK complications for athletes in baseball have proven to have some pretty unfortunate consequences.

Roman Harper

Carolina Panthers safety Roman Harper suffered perhaps the most dramatic complication from LASIK surgery on our list. During an NFC championship game in 2016, Harper suffered what looked like a normal (but accidental) hit from a fellow teammate. However, the results were anything but normal. The hit actually shifted the corneal flap on his cornea that the LASIK surgery had created, causing him to need to sit out the rest of the game.

Luckily, correcting this LASIK flap displacement was a somewhat easy fix, and Harper was back to play in the Super Bowl two weeks later. While this is a rare occurrence and really just bad luck, it does go to show that LASIK and contact sports do not always go hand in hand.

Steven Holcomb

Olympic Bobsledder Steven Holcomb was one of the best bobsled pilots of his generation. He won two bronze medals in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics despite having serious vision problems.

Holcomb had suffered from poor eyesight for much of his life. And, at first, he was able to keep up with his declining eyesight by changing his prescription lenses and contacts every year. However, this eventually turned into changing his prescription every six months and then even every six weeks.  Holcomb said, “Eventually, they couldn’t make contacts strong enough for me.”

He underwent LASIK to fix his vision problems in 2000, but the surgery actually accelerated his declining sight. Doctors diagnosed him with keratoconus.

Keratoconus is a protrusion of the cornea. As the cornea thins over time, the person’s vision will decline, and this condition can be exacerbated by LASIK surgery. Holcomb tried to hide how bad his sight had become by withdrawing from people and faking his way through annual physicals by memorizing the first few lines of the eye chart so that he could stay on the bobsled team.

Finally, his eyesight reached a point where he was afraid he would cause an injury to a teammate. Finally, he underwent a new procedure that effectively cured his keratoconus. He awoke from this procedure with much improved vision, but the lasting impact of his botched LASIK surgery and aggressive keratoconus was still difficult to overcome. In his memoir, entitled “But Now I See,”  Holcomb revealed that his vision issues led to a lot of mental health issues for him. Sadly, Holcomb died in 2017, and an autopsy revealed a mix of alcohol and sleeping pills in his bloodstream. However, his family kept any further details of his death private.

LASIK for Athletes

There are special risks for athletes who undergo LASIK surgery. The risk of LASIK complications for athletes is higher because they are at greater risk for eye injury; this is especially true if the eye that was previously operated on has not fully healed before the injury occurs. Athletes who play full-contact sports like football, hockey, and wrestling are at the greatest risk for these complications.

Additionally, athletes need to consider their season schedule before booking LASIK surgery. While you can normally get back to a typical lifestyle fairly quickly after having LASIK surgery, athletes need to allow their eyes to heal for several weeks to several months before engaging in risky contact sport behaviors. Also, if they get a rare infection from undergoing LASIK, it could not only end their season but also their athletic career, as these infections sometimes cause patients to lose their vision entirely.

With so many LASIK risks, sports enthusiasts and professionals may want to think twice before getting under the laser. Instead, you can try to improve your vision naturally by taking supplements or adding eye exercises to your workout regimen. Protecting and improving your vision is of paramount importance, whether you are a professional athlete or just a casual player.