Things to Expect Before, During, and After LASIK Eye Surgery

It’s better to know about the prior, during, and following LASIK eye surgery expectations before you opt for the surgery.

If you are looking for articles covering what are the expectations and preparations for LASIK surgery, then chances are high that you are someone who has decided to go for LASIK Eye surgery. There are some prior, during, and following surgery expectations that one may have.

Here we are going to discuss these.

Before Surgery Expectations

You should expect the below-mentioned things before your eye surgery:

Baseline Evaluation

Before surgery, you are required to determine whether you are suitable for the process or not.  To know whether you are a good candidate for the surgery or not, an initial or baseline evaluation needs to be done by the doctor.

Wearing Lenses

Before initial evaluation, stop using your lenses as the contact lenses can change your cornea. And this can cause the measurement of how much cornea tissue is supposed to be removed inaccurate and make the whole surgery process less, resulting in poor vision after the surgery. Thus, before surgery, your cornea must be in its natural shape.

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So instead of contacts, start using regular glasses. Exactly how many days before surgery should you do that? Well, that depends on the type of lenses you wear.

1. If you use soft contact lenses, then stop using the contacts 2 weeks before evaluation.
2. Toric soft lenses or rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses users need to halt the use of lenses at least 3 weeks prior to the baseline evaluation.
3. And for the wearer of hard lenses, the correct time to stop wearing the contacts is at least 4 weeks ahead of evaluation.

Measurement Taking

After the baseline evaluation is done, the measurement is taken to determine how much tissue needs to be removed at the time of surgery. It is done at least a week after the evaluation and again precisely prior to the surgery to ensure that the measurement remains unchanged.

Talk with the Doctor 

Of course, the dialogue you have with your doctor is important.

• Make a thorough eye checkup and talk about your present and past eye conditions.
• Remember the prescribed medicine, suggestions, and responsibilities. Make sure to inform your doctor if you are already under any medications or allergic to any particular medicine.
• Discuss the risks, benefits, possibilities, and alternatives of the surgery.
• Don’t hesitate to talk about any issue that concerns you.

Some Other Little Things

Other things that you may want to do as prior preparations are:

1. Drinking more water. It will help the after healing process of surgery.
2. Rechecking the paperwork and making sure everything is okay.
3. Pausing the use of make-up and creams one day before surgery to avoid the risk of infection during and later the surgery.
4. Scrubbing eyelashes thoroughly.
5. Arranging the transportation to and from the hospital.

During Surgery Expectations

The surgery takes a maximum of 30 minutes. You will be lying on areclining chair in the examination room where there will be a lasersystem. The laser system contains a pretty big machine that is linkedwith a microscope and a computer screen. You can check out how does LASIK work to get the full picture of the procedure of LASIK surgery.

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The beginning procedure is as follows:

1. An eye-drop will be applied to numb the eye.
2. The surrounding area of your eyes will be cleaned
3. To hold the eyelids open, a lid speculum will be used.

If your doctor uses the mechanical microkeratome, a blade for cutting the cornea, a ring will be placed on the eye. To create suction for the cornea, a very high pressure needs to be created. You may experience some discomfort and pressure due to this. Even your vision may get a little dim.

After cutting your cornea, the suction ring will be removed.

If a laser keratome is used, your cornea will be flattened using a clear plastic plate. You will experience the same things as mentioned for the mechanical microkeratome process. To part the tissue below the cornea area, laser energy is used. It creates a flap. After that, the plate gets removed.

During the rest of the procedure, your vision will remain blurred.

After surgery expectations

Don’t be afraid if you experience the below-mentioned things after surgery as the symptoms are supposed to go away after a few days:

• burn, itch, or a feel like maybe there is something stuck in the eye.
• mild pain
• hazy, blurry, or teary eyes
• light sensitivity
• bloodshot eyes

The following care should be done:

• Abstain from rubbing the eyes as it can cause huge damage to the eye.
• It’s better to wait two weeks after surgery to use lotions and make-up
• Continue to scrub eyelashes for the time being after the surgery.
• Don’t swim or use hot tubs for one to two months.
• Avoid any sports that may cause harm for at least four weeks after surgery. Don’t let anything in the eyes
• Be careful about being hit or getting bumped.
• Meet the doctor within the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery. Also, meet and consult with your doctor at a regular gap for the first six months.
• Mustn’t restart wearing contact lenses.

Your vision may fluctuate a little after the first few months of surgery. It takes more or less three to six months for your eyes to get complete stabilization.

Some visual issues like glare, halos, or difficulty in night driving may remain during this period of stabilization. If you feel the necessity of any other correction or enhancement, before re-operation, wait until the measurements of your eyes are consistent for at least two consecutive visits, which need to be a minimum of 3 months apart.

But you should also understand that although the issue of your distance vision may get better after re-operating, there is a rare chance of your other visual issues to get improved.

If you feel like anything is unusual, or you have deteriorating symptoms, contact the doctor immediately. Don’t take any kind of risk as it can even cause loss of vision. Treatment at the appropriate time can cure potential problems.