Getting laser eye surgery can be an exciting and nerve wracking time for many people. In these situations, it often helps if you are armed with as much information as possible going in. That means knowing the little things you can do to be prepared.
Getting laser eye surgery can be an exciting and nerve wracking time for many people. It is exciting to think that in just a short time you will be able to see clearly without the assistance of contact lenses or glasses. Nerve wracking because just about everyone is somewhat hesitant about surgery, lasers, and having doctors so weird things with their eyes. In these situations, it often helps if you are armed with as much information as possible going in. That means knowing the little things you can do to be prepared.
As you prepare for your eye surgery, it might be a good idea to stop wearing your contact lenses and switch over to glasses for a while. Contact lenses distort the cornea and the doctor will need to be able to evaluate their shape in order to determine the proper settings for the machine. If you continue to wear your contacts after that evaluation, you could subtly change the shape of your cornea, thus making the settings slightly off for what he wants to achieve. Will this make a demonstrable difference? In most cases, not really, but it is something you should discuss with your doctor.
If you are a smoker, you should consider cutting down or quitting in the days leading up to your eye surgery. You certainly won’t want to tackle such a difficult thing after you’ve had the operation, as you will probably be feeling a bit stressed while you wait to heal. Smoking and nicotine tend to dry out the eyes and prevent blood from getting to places of injury as quickly as it should. This can drag out the healing process to a longer extent than it should. Is it imperative to quit smoking before having LASIK. No, people have it all the time and continue to smoke. It is just a way to ease your healing process and give your procedure a better chance of success.
Learn all you can about the eye surgery you’re having. Many people refer to LASIK even when talking about PRK, its close cousin. You may be having one or the other to improve your vision. Make sure you know which one and prepare for how they will be different when it comes to the procedure itself and the healing process later. LASIK has a very short healing time. People who have it can often see as well as they are going to see the next day. PRK is different. It can take up to six months for the best results of the procedure to shine through. Patience is required. Know what you’re up against and prepare accordingly.
