The fact is that the total recovery time caries from surgery to surgery and patient to patient. Most commonly, patients will get recovered and experience significant improvements in just two days after the surgery. On the basis of the Lasik surgeon’s skills and kind of procedure of refraction performed normal to better acquiring of vision varies from two days to seven days of duration. And one has to note that the total recovery with total experience of the improved vision takes over 6 months.
Short-Term Recovery
Right after the surgery, the vision will be blurred for the patient and so the patient needs to arrange for transportation or get somebody to accompany and to drive home. The surgeon will instruct strict guidelines to follow and take rest with no other activity, right after the surgery, for a few hours.
After the surgery, the patient may feel mild pain, tendency to tear and irritation. It may also feel like slight piece of sand moving in the eye. First few days, the patient has to wear a shield or patch, according to the instructions of the doctor, particularly, while sleeping as it prevents from rubbing the eyelid and eye, accidentally. The eyes may become more sensitive to the light and blurry vision is common during the first days.
During the recovery time, the patient may get subjected to sub-conjunctiva haemorrhage, based on the Lasik surgery performed. This condition is possible, because of the device for suction placed over the eye, while the surgery is being performed. Patient may continue to experience the haemorrhage for a week or two and may fade away day by day.
After the surgery, the patient needs to arrange to go for an appointment with doctor for checkup in between next 1 to 2 days. Any possibilities of inflammation or infection can be prevented with medicated eye drops. Contact lens should not worn, even the vision is blurry, during this short-term recovery period.
Long-Term Recovery from Lasik
The total time for complete healing is usually around 6 months. During this long recovery period, slight fluctuations may be possible to experience. The progress of recovery, hence has to be checked by making many follow-up visits, scheduling accordingly to the hospital. These appointments for follow-ups are critical for complete recovery and improved vision and so it should not be neglected. Improved vision is expected to be experienced in about four weeks post the surgery.
The recovery period of six months may also include many restrictions to ensure complete and complication free healing and recovery. Activities that have high impact over body and eye must be avoided for safe and healthy healing. All the post-operative instructions must be followed very carefully then.
Since every individual eye is unique and so the vision conditions are unique, about 3 to 5% of chances are there that need further procedure of enhancement. The procedure of enhancement is quite the same as the procedure of the full Lasik. The concerned eye surgeon is the right person to decide, whether the procedure of enahancmenet is needed or not.
During the long term recovery period, one vision problem, which is worth noted and addressed is the presbyopia condition. This condition is occurred usually after 40 years of age and the ability to focus over the nearby objects is slowly declined. Presbyopia development should not be considered as a condition as either over-correction or under-correction, but as a natural process that every human eye goes through, as a human age grows. One has to note that the presbyopia condition can occur to anyone after 40s, irrespective of the Lasik surgery is undergone or not. A typical enhancement procedure of Lasik cannot fix this condition. For most of the conditions, certain modification can be made and reading glasses may be needed.
Points Worth Noting
Once the Lasik surgery is completed, the eyes must be protected from injuries. The precautions have to be followed to ensure safe eye vision, even after complete recovery of the eyes, since the eyes become more prone to any injuries. So, wearing safety goggles is highly recommended for eye protection, whenever you are move in harsh weather or engage in any activity that is risky, like playing sports or working with power tools.