Surgeon reveals 3 common medical procedures she’d never recommend due to risk of horrific side effects

A top surgeon has revealed her three top medical mistakes in a bid to prevent others from repeating them.

Dr Erin Nance, who is an orthopedic specialist based out of New York, says the first procedure she advises against is Lasik eye surgery.

She said that while she now has perfect vision, she suffered excruciating eye pain every morning and evening for months after getting the surgery earlier last year.

During Lasik surgery, a special type of cutting laser is used to change the shape of the cornea – the transparent, dome-shaped front part of your eye – to correct blurred vision. 

The procedure can can cause dry eyes because when the flap in the cornea is cut, nerves responsible for tear production can get damaged, leading to to a sensation of dryness in the eyes, especially during the healing process.

Dr Nance, in a TikTok video, said: ‘So, for what it’s worth, I never had eye pain before and now I have daily eye pain so that’s why I just personally I wouldn’t recommend [Lasik].’

Up to 95 percent of Lasik patients experience dry eye symptoms immediately after surgery, and 60 percent experience them one month later. 

Some still suffer the symptoms one year on.

Dr Nance added: ‘It feels like I slept in my contacts every morning and every night.

‘During the day, no problems… I don’t even think about my eyes [and] I have perfect eyesight. 

‘But for whatever reason, it’s when I wake up and starting at about 7pm, I just have terrible, terrible dry eye pain.’

Next on her list of no-go medical choices is taking eyelash-enhancing drugs. 

Bimatoprost, marketed under the brand name Latisse, works by mimicking the natural chemical within our body that stimulates hair growth for our eyelashes.

With regular applications along the lash line of the upper eyelid, the prescription drug gradually encourages growth of longer, thicker and darker eyelashes. 

Dr Nance admits that for the first couple of weeks she noticed an improvement and her eyelashes looked ‘amazing’.

But three months after applying the liquid to her upper eyelids, Dr Nance said she noticed a distressing side effect which involved the fatty pads under her eyes wasting away. 

She explained: ‘What I was not aware of is that one of the side effects [of using Latisse] is something called periorbital fat atrophy or fat loss.

‘[This is] where the fat that is under the eye can wear get thinner and it causes your eyes to look more sunken and I definitely noticed that. 

‘I never used to have this dent in my face before.’

After experiencing fat loss under her eyes, Dr Nance says she would not recommend Latisse to others. 

The global eyelash serum market size was worth an estimated $897.9 million in 2023, according to consultancy firm Grand View Research, and it is expected to grow further with the ‘increasing popularity of non-invasive beauty treatments’ driving the trend. 

A report by Grand View Research on the eyelash serum market reveals that despite its popularity, Latisse has ‘faced challenges due to concerns over potential side effects, leading to a growing interest in alternative products that use safer ingredients.’

Some of the most frequently reported Latisse side effects include itchy eyes, dry eyes, darkening of eyelid skin, and abnormal hair growth. 

While uncommon, eye color changes have also been reported.

This is because Latisse contains the active ingredient bimatoprost – a type of chemical known as a prostaglandin – and it is known to cause changes to eye colour.

Mail on Sunday health journalist Leah Hardy reported this shocking side effect after experimenting with Latisse in 2015. 

Raman Malhotra, a consultant eye surgeon at the Queen Victoria Hospital in West Sussex, told her at the time: ‘Eye colour in adults normally only changes if they suffer from chronic inflammatory eye conditions or suffer an injury to the eye. 

‘However, bimatoprost can increase the amount of brown pigment in the eye by stimulating pigment production.’

Lastly, Dr Nance advises against removing permanent retainers prematurely. 

Permanent retainers are orthodontic devices that keep teeth in place after braces or Invisalign.

They are typically made of single pieces of metal wire or strong fibers, which are fixed to the top and bottom rows of teeth using a special bonding agent. 

Dr Nance said she had permanent retainers fitted when she was around 21 years old after having braces as a teenager.

But she said she was fed up of having continuous dental work and didn’t see the long-term benefit.

She revealed: ‘At the time, I just thought ‘okay, I’m done!’

‘You know, like [being] in college kissing my boyfriend, I didn’t want this permanent retainer in the back of my teeth… so I asked them to remove it.’

Because the retainer was removed early, Dr Nance’s teeth shifted back towards their original ‘wonky’ position. 

Admitting her fault, she concludes: ‘Now, every video that I have to watch myself back on TikTok, I see how my teeth have shifted back exactly how they were before I had braces.

‘I was unaware that my teeth would shift back if I removed the permanent retainer, so that’s the third thing that I would never do.’

To date, Dr Nance’s TikTok video has amassed more than 5,000 comments, with many viewers sharing their own horror stories. 

One commenter wrote: ‘I’d never do another IUD insertion without sedation or pain management. I was in less pain post op endometriosis excision surgery. We need better for women’s health!’

Another viewer, also working in the medical field, added: ‘Bunion surgery! I’ve never done it, but every patient I’ve ever seen afterwards says they did the surgery for cosmetic improvement and what they got was daily foot pain.’