After Your Surgery
After your Lasik Vision Correction procedure
When you are home from surgery and recovering from your laser procedure, you will find that the numbing drops have made your laser eye surgery virtually painless. When the drops wear off, you may feel some discomfort or dryness for several hours, but probably no severe pain. And like others who have had laser eye surgery, you will be looking forward to life after laser eye surgery.
For now, though, you must focus on your recovery. Dr. Mneimneh will instruct you to:
- Use antibiotic/anti-inflammatory eye drops to keep your eyes free of infection, and reduce any swelling or irritation.
- Use other drops as directed to keep your eyes moist.
- Use eye shields, if given to you, to help prevent you from touching your eyes, especially during sleep.
- Wear dark eyeglasses for a period of time if you experience sensitivity to bright lights.
- Avoid rubbing your eyes for a few weeks.
Post Lasik Surgery discomfort
Many patients experience some laser eye surgery side effects. These can include blurring of vision, sensitivity to light, or a feeling of dryness in the eyes. In most cases, these conditions last only a short period of time.
It is common for the small capillaries in the white of your eye to bleed slightly because of the surgical devices utilized during your procedure. These subconjunctival hemorrhages result in a small red part of the eye. They are expected, harmless, have no effect on your vision and will resolve in one to three weeks.
Lasik Vision Correction Recovery: Back to Normal
You should continue to monitor the healing process of your eyes with the regular post-operative examinations for at least 6 months. Should any complications arise, they will quickly be detected and addressed. The following post procedure activities and restrictions are highly recommended:
- Read and watch TV in moderation for the first few days.
- For the first 48 hours, do not shower or bathe and avoid getting water on your eyes.
- After the first 48 hours, showers and baths are fine, but try to keep your eyes closed and avoid getting water directly in the eyes for the first few days.
- Avoid directly rubbing or bumping your eye for at least one week.
- Resume driving only when advised by your doctor and when you feel confident and safe. This generally occurs two or three days after the procedure. Your vision may fluctuate for the first few weeks, so it is important to use good judgment.
- Depending on the procedure performed, most people can return to work after one to three days.
- Do not wear makeup, lotions, cologne or aftershave for 1 week.
- Wear sunglasses for comfort while outdoors for one week.
- Avoid dirty and dusty environments for one week.
- Most patients can return to their normal exercise routine after one week.
In most cases, patients have excellent results and are not only free of any serious, long-term complications after their laser vision recovery; they are likely to see as well - or in some cases, even better - than they did with their eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Post Lasik Follow-up:
Dr. Mneimneh will schedule follow-up appointments to monitor your LASIK results. You need to return for at least 4 follow-up visits to ensure your eye is healing properly, the amount of correction achieved and the stability of your corrected vision:
1st visit : 1 day after surgery
2nd visit : 1 week after surgery
3rd visit : 1 month after surgery
4th visit : 3 months after surgery