Vision recovers very rapidly after the lasik procedure and most patients can see well enough to drive the next day.
We advise patients to take two days off work, the day of surgery and the following day when they see Dr Mesham for a check-up. It takes approximately one month for the eyes to be fully healed and one needs to avoid rubbing the eyes and should not play contact sports during this time.
Each patient’s eyes will respond in their own unique way to the laser treatment and for this reason spectacle measurements may not be exactly zero after surgery. However the measurements do not need to be zero to have a good level of vision. In reality very few people have spectacle measurements of exactly zero (even those who have never worn spectacles).
The correction of distance vision is permanent. However, it is important to note that patients over the age of 45 will need reading glasses.
Minor side effects may include dry eyes during the first month and lubricant drops are routinely used. In patients having large corrections a slight deterioration of night vision and haloes around lights at night may be experienced in the first 3-6 months. The risks of serious side effects such as infection, scarring or distortion of the shape of the cornea are extremely low. Lasik is one of the safest and most commonly performed surgical procedures today.
Patients who have had laser surgery frequently comment on the improvement in the quality of their lives and wish that they had had the procedure done sooner!