How to Recover After LASIK Eye Surgery

If you're considering LASIK--Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis--eye surgery, you may wonder about the healing process. The time to recover from eye surgery depends on many factors. Use the following steps to make your recovery a pleasant experience.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Maintain communication with your surgeon. Your cooperation with your surgeon at follow-up appointments can determine whether the surgery was a success and can help prevent complications.

2. Keep your eyes closed as much as possible in the 24 to 48 hours after surgery. This allows the surgical site time to heal and prevents debris from entering the area.

3. Stick to the schedule for prescribed eye drops and medications to allow the eyes to heal in a timely fashion. Keep moisture drops in your pocket or purse to prevent dryness and discomfort.

4. Wear protective eye covering. While sleeping, using eye shields for one week following surgery can prevent damage from nighttime movements. Showering with eye shields helps avoid the temptation to rub your eyes and can aid in stopping contamination from shampoo and soaps. Eye shields can include goggles, eye masks and eye patches with tape.

5. Do not wear eye makeup for one week post surgery.

6. Resume activities slowly. Wait for your surgeon's release before beginning your daily routines again.

Tips & Warnings

• As tempting as it may be to test out your new eyesight, patience is the key. Resting your eyes is very important the first 48 hours after surgery.

• Don't rub your eyes. If a flap was made during surgery, rubbing your eyes can cause the flap to move, delay recovery and possibly cause infections or complications.

• If you experience extreme pain or discomfort, contact your surgeon immediately.