Day of Recovery

Overview

At the end of the LASIK procedure you will have transparent plastic shields placed over your eyes to protect them. You will be able to see but not very well. Your vision will not be good until you have had a sleep and usually that will mean until the next day. Even then your vision will not be quite as good as it is going to be. The local anaesthetic we use wears off within half an hour after the procedure and then your eyes will start to feel irritable and very light sensitive. You will find it very difficult to keep them open and they will water for several hours afterwards. It is best to go home and rest with them closed for a few hours. You will be given some analgesic tablets (we use Panadeine Forte, so tell us if you cannot take codeine) and can take more of these, or any analgesic you are comfortable with, such as Panadol or Nurofen, later.

The recovery timeframe

It takes some days for the flaps to settle and smooth out.

Your vision will continue to improve day by day for a week or so after the procedure. You will be aware of further subtle improvement for up to 3 months. Vision in bright light will be good quickly but night-time vision takes longer to improve and it is often a few months until that is as good as it is going to be.

What to expect

Expect some variability in your vision in the first few days afterward. It will initially be a little hazy and will seem to fluctuate even as you blink. You may find it more difficult than usual with prolonged computer work or reading to start with and may notice that your eyes get tired easily. It is best to take more than one day off work if you have to do a lot of computer work, especially if you are working in an air-conditioned environment. This will all be worse for people who are older than 40 years.

The corneal flap can be shifted or dislocated with a firm rub on the eye in the first few days after the procedure so you need to be very careful with it during this time. There is not a great deal of restriction on your activity, though. It is fine to exercise but be careful about rubbing your eyes if you are sweating.

Do not swim or use a spa for a week as this could introduce infection. After a month or so you would have to injure your eye with something hard or sharp to cause trouble with the flap and the trauma would have to be severe enough that it would damage your eye anyway. We advise no surfing for 2 weeks and no diving or contact sport for at least I month after the surgery.

For more information please view the day of recovery frequently asked questions.