5 Ways You Can Prepare Yourself For LASIK
LASIK is a routine procedure that takes approximately fifteen minutes to complete per eye. In total, Inland Eye patients can expect to spend an hour to an hour and a half in the clinic when they come in for their LASIK procedure. Although the surgery is straightforward, preventing complications and infections ultimately comes down to thorough postoperative care. You may only spend a couple of hours at the clinic, but your self-care will need to continue when you return home. Listening to your doctor is the most important thing to do, but there are several additional steps you can take to make your recovery as comfortable as possible.
1. Find Somebody To Take You Home Afterwards
After your LASIK operation, your vision will be blurry and you will be unable to drive yourself home. Thankfully, you should be able to resume soon after, but the day of your operation you will need somebody who can drive you home and make sure you are comfortable. It sounds like a straightforward step to take, but people tend to put off finding somebody to help them and are forced to fend for themselves by taking a cab – not a very fun scenario. Plan ahead and give a friend or loved one advance notice, so that they can be there for you on surgery day.
2. Prepare Meals In Advance
The last thing you want to be doing is cooking with blurry vision. One alternative is to order in, but that costs additional money. Prepare something that can be easily reheated once you get home by yourself or by the person who takes care of you for the evening.
3. Take A Couple of Days Off Work
Usually, people can return to work within a day of getting LASIK unless they work in an industry that has a high risk of injury. The corneal flap will need time to heal and trauma to the eye or even contamination by dirt could lead to complications. Even if you do not work in a physically demanding industry, if you have some vacation days saved up, use a couple of them and take it easy the week of your surgery. Giving your eyes time to relax is never a bad idea, particularly after LASIK. Moreover, you will have the time to go visit your ophthalmologist for a routine post-op check up.
4. Make A Relaxing Playlist For Your Recovery
After you get home from your operation and in the days following the recovery, you may not feel like doing much reading or working. Prepare a soothing or relaxing playlist to listen to. Some people choose to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid any physical contact to their eyes, but this can be extremely boring especially if it’s the first night when your vision is still a little blurry and you can’t read or watch TV comfortably. Having a ready-made playlist is one way to work around this.
5. Buy Yourself Some New Makeup
Doctors recommend not wearing makeup until a week after the procedure. Patients are advised to throw out old makeup and get new stuff to avoid infection from older products. Buying new make up will be the last thing on your mind until you actually need to use it. To avoid this inconvenience – or the temptation to use the older stuff anyway – restock your favorite eyeliner and mascara before the operation. This way, you are good to go a week after your procedure.
Your doctor will explain everything you need to know about LASIK before, after, and during the operation. These are tips to make you more comfortable following the surgery, but it is still important to ask any questions and follow your ophthalmologist’s instructions. Inland Eye’s facilities use state-of-the-art femtosecond lasers to perform LASIK procedures. Drop by our Murrieta or Temecula locations to chat with one of our specialists and find out if LASIK can improve your life!
