We studied the influence of the focused ion beam milling of ridge waveguides on lasing parameters of edge-emitting lasers, based on a separate confinement double heterostructure. It is shown that there are three degrees of influence, according to the etching depth: modification of the waveguide properties only, a decrease in efficiency without changing the threshold current, and a simultaneous deterioration in the threshold current and efficiency with significant modification of the optical characteristics of the laser.