Laser eye surgery is known for providing quick and excellent results. Typically, patients can start experiencing improved vision a few minutes after the surgery. Then, it gets better as your eyes gradually heal from the temporal itching sensations and minor irregularities to give you the perfect vision you desire.
Meanwhile, the journey from an improved sight to perfect vision after laser eye surgery happens within a few weeks. And, you get to resume your daily activities without issues.
However, the recovery process differs from one person to another. While it may take some patients only a few weeks for their vision to get restored to a perfect state, others might still struggle with some minor issues after three months.
What makes the difference? Post-surgery treatment!
Just like every other surgery, there are a few dos and don’ts you must adhere to if you want to recover quickly after laser eye surgery. How consistent you are with your post-surgery treatment will determine how long or short it would take you to start experiencing the perfect vision you desire.
Ideally, your surgeon is expected to give you a list of everything you need to do or avoid after you leave the laser eye surgery centre. But, if you missed that or your eye care provider wasn’t detailed enough, here are ten dos and don’ts to aid your quick recovery.
10 Things to Do or Avoid After Laser Eye Surgery
1. Administer your medications as prescribed
Sometimes, your surgeon will give you some recommended medications and eye drops to apply continuously after laser eye surgery. Before you leave the surgery centre, he would have given you instructions regards the dosage and time of use.
Your obligation in the recovery period s to ensure you follow your surgeon’s instructions to the letter. You may have to set reminders or ask a friend or family member to alert you when it’s time to administer the medications.
Meanwhile, you don’t have to buy eye drops to aid your recovery if your doctor didn’t prescribe them. Not every patient would need eye drops after surgery for recovery.
2. Get good rest
After laser eye surgery, the first and only thing to do is get a good rest for as long as possible. Immediately after the surgery, your surgeon would advise you to go home straight and lie down to allow your eyes to heal on time.
The best way to do that is to go to the room and close every door and window leading to the space to block sounds. You may even have to get off your phone for the resting period to avoid distractions. Note that you don’t have to be tired before considering rest after the surgery. It is essential to get good rest even if you are full of energy.
3. Stay away from electronic devices
Aside from distractions, you must stay clear from every electronic device during your recovery. The reason is that it is not healthy to expose your eyes to rays of light from screens. Looking at the screen of phones, computers, or TV would strain the eyes, causing them to dry out.
You need to keep your eyes lubricated with eye drops and other medications during and even after recovery. That’s a better way to make your laser eye surgery more effective and sustain your perfect sight for a long time.
4. Avoid reading
Although, you may want to be carried with your healing vision and resume your reading habit. But, you need to avoid that in your recovery period. The aim is to avoid any activity that can strain your eyes and make them dry. And, reading will persuade you to focus on texts which can affect your sight. So, reading a book, magazine, and any other printed materials is not your cup of tea for now. You can start reading when your eyes heal completely.
5. Avoid water penetrating your eyes
You may not like it, but we tell you for free that you may not take a shower for some days after laser eye surgery. The idea is to prevent your eyes from splashing with water which can pose more threats to your eyes and delay recovery.
If you can’t cope with not bathing for a while, you can find a way of rubbing your body with water but make sure t doesn’t get into your eyes. It is also advisable that you stay away from swimming pools, bathtubs and every other place that has to do with water during your recovery period.
6. Cover your eyes with UV-protective eye wears
The best thing is to remain indoors during your recovery period to avoid the adverse effects of ultraviolet rays that come from the sunlight. But, if you must go outdoors, you must make you wear UV-protective sunglass to keep your eyes safe. The fact is, your eyes will be more sensitive after laser eye surgery. Hence, it is essential to avoid bright lights and rays of sunlight until the yes are perfectly healed.
7. Quit exercise and sports
You might have learnt so far that you must prevent your eyes from having contact with the fluid. So, you will have to stop exercising and doing sports, making you sweat. Also, strenuous sports can strain your eyes and unnecessarily lengthen your recovery.
8. Do not apply makeover
This caution can be one strange reason most women run from laser eye surgery. They may have to go around without looking like Cinderella during the recovery period. Make-up contains some substances that can harm the eyes, which is not good enough for a healing sight.
9. Attend all follow-up appointments
Laser eye surgery is not done in one day. Although the procedure takes less than a few minutes, you must keep visiting your surgeon for examinations and recommendations. How consistent you are with your follow-up appointments will determine how quickly you recover. The follow-up allows your eye care provider to monitor your healing process and give helpful advice to quicken things up.
10. Follow instructions adherently
The most imperative instruction is to adhere to your surgeon’s instructions. From the perfect timing to accurate dosage, you can’t afford to miss out any day. This particular rule puts your healing period in your control. Hence, you can make it faster and longer.
Conclusion
Post-surgery medication is vital in hastening your recovery after laser eye surgery. It is prudent to work faithfully with your eye care provider to get a helpful guide and ensure you obey the prescribed instructions.