How long does it take to recover from LASIK?
San Diego LASIK
The patient satisfaction rate after LASIK has been shown in studies to be extremely high. However, it always takes time for healing after any procedure. How long does it take to recover from LASIK? What is the recovery process like?
Immediate recovery period
The initial recovery period lasts for a few hours after the procedure. During this time, your vision will be very blurry, and your eyes will feel very irritated. (It will be tempting to rub your eyes, but it’s crucial that you don’t touch them at all.) It’s best to simply take a nap during this time. You won’t be able to drive yourself home from your LASIK procedure, so you’ll need to plan for a trusted friend or family member to take you home afterwards. These symptoms generally improve significantly within the first few days after the procedure; most patients notice improvement after a few hours.
After the first 24 hours, patients generally notice that they have clear vision, often for the first time in their lives. This is a very exciting discovery for most people. It’s important to be careful during the rest of the healing process in order to avoid disrupting the cornea, so that these results last.
The first week
During the first week after your procedure, it’s very important to avoid causing disruption to the eye as it heals. When you first get out of your procedure, you’ll have a set of plastic shields over your eyes. This helps to avoid you touching or rubbing your eyes. Wear these full-time the day and night after the surgery (other than taking them off to put in your eye drops), then switch to wearing them just at night (or when you’re taking a nap). We recommend wearing them at night for at least four to five nights; for those who have young children sleeping in bed with them, ten nights is better (as children can be unpredictable and may touch your eyes).
For the first few days after the procedure, you should avoid playing any sports at all. For a variety of reasons, vigorous exercise during this time could disrupt the healing process, and so it’s important to rest and avoid sports. Contact sports (any activity in which your eye or face may be hit or bumped) will need to be avoided for at least four weeks after the procedure.
You should also avoid using any eye makeup or eye creams for the first week, as applying and removing these requires rubbing the eye area. Additionally, try to avoid eye irritation. Be very careful not to get soap or water in your eyes when you shower. Avoid activities like gardening that could generate dust that irritates your eyes. Don’t immerse in water (such as swimming or going in a hot tub).
The next few weeks
As the healing process continues, you don’t have to worry as much, but you still need to be careful. A significant impact could potentially dislodge your corneal flap and cause an issue with your LASIK results. If you play any contact sports or any sports involving a ball (which could potentially hit you in the eye), you should wear sports glasses for at least a month after your procedure. You can start swimming after two weeks, but you should wear goggles to protect your eyes for at least another month.
It can take up to three to six months for your vision to completely stabilize after your surgery. After this period, we will be able to evaluate your results. Most patients are satisfied with their results, but an enhancement procedure may be an option if you would like to further refine your results after the healing process is completed.
San Diego LASIK
If you’re considering a vision correction procedure, then we invite you to make an appointment to learn more about what it involves. You may be a candidate for LASIK, or for another procedure known as PRK. If you’re thinking about San Diego LASIK, we invite you to come in for an appointment. We specialize in laser vision correction, and offer the our patients the highest-quality eye care services.
