A growing number of people each year are checking to see if corrective LASIK laser eye surgery can help restore their vision so that they can ditch their contact lenses or glasses. If you are planning to perform corrective LASIK laser eye surgery, you will be keen to learn more about this operation and what it can do to you.
Refractive laser surgery conducted at a corrective LASIK laser eye surgery center basically reshapes the cornea by using laser technology. At the start of the operation, the laser eye surgeon will cut a small flap on the cornea and fold it back to expose the cornea tissue. The laser will then remove a pre-determined amount of the tissue, according to the intensity of your degree, before the flap is put back in place again. Since cornea cannot be stitched in place, the cornea is allowed to heal by itself as explained on MioSuperHealth blog.
Most procedures performed in a corrective LASIK laser eye surgery clinic will bring back a patient’s vision to about 20/40 and in some cases it can be restored to 20/20. Only a minority of the patients report that they are over or under treated. This happens when the cornea tissue is over or under removed during the operation. However, the chance of it happening is less than 5%.
After the corrective LASIK laser eye surgery, you may experience some temporary side effects:
- In the first 2-3 days, you may feel slight discomfort or pain in your eyes.
- You may also experience a watery eye and your vision may seem hazy or blurry.
- During the first week, you may be sensitive to light.
- For up to a month, you may have difficulty with driving at night as you may see some halo effect.
- Fluctuations in vision may occur for up to six months, with the vision getting batter after the first week.
You should also take good care of your ‘new’ eyes as listed below:
- For the first 2 weeks after the corrective LASIK laser eye surgery, you should not wear any eye makeup.
- For the first three days, you should not participate in any form of sports since your cornea is still recovering.
- For the first four weeks after corrective LASIK laser eye surgery, there should be no contact sports of any kind and you will need to wear an eye shield to bed to protect the incision made on the cornea.
- You will also be instructed to stay away from swimming, hot tubs and whirlpools for at least eight weeks.
- For the first six months following corrective LASIK laser eye surgery you should not attempt wearing contacts.