What to expect before LASIK eye surgery
It is important to understand what to expect before you get LASIK eye surgery if it is an option that you are considering. You will want to educate yourself about the procedure, and know what to expect before, during, and after the surgery. If you decide to go ahead with LASIK surgery, you will want to educate yourself on how best to get ready for the surgery in order to obtain the best results.
Before surgery you will need an initial or baseline evaluation by your eye doctor. At this point they will determine if you are a good candidate. If you wear contact lenses, your doctor will likely tell you to stop wearing them before your baseline evaluation and switch to wearing your glasses full-time. This is because contact lenses change the shape of your cornea for up to several weeks after you have stopped using them, and the whole point of laser eye surgery is to reshape the cornea so that it does not have vision problems any more. Since some types of contact lenses you wear change the shape of the cornea, not leaving your contact lenses out long enough for your cornea to assume its natural shape before surgery can have negative consequences, such as inaccurate measurements that lead to an ineffective or poor surgical plan. This can mean less than ideal vision after your surgery.
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If you wear RGP or hard lenses make sure your doctor is aware of that so that you have them reevaluate your eye shape and surgical plan a week before surgery to ensure it has not changed since your initial evaluation.
Most experts recommend that if you wear soft contact lenses, you should stop wearing them for 2 weeks before your initial evaluation.
If you wear toric soft lenses or rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses, you should stop wearing them for at least 3 weeks before your initial evaluation.
If you wear hard lenses, you should stop wearing them for at least 4 weeks before your initial evaluation.
Before surgery, the best thing you can do is talk to your doctor and make sure they know as much as they can about your eye condition, past and present as possible, as well as your health condition. The more informed they are the better chance for a successful eye surgery you have. So, talk to your doctor about your eye history, your medical history, include any medication you take, including over-the-counter medicine such as cough, cold, allergy, etc.
Before surgery, understand what the risks and benefits are, what your non-surgical options may be, whether or not you are a good candidate, and what you need to know from the medical staff before, during, and after surgery.
The day before your surgery, make sure you have a ride from the surgical center, as you can't drive yourself home. Make sure you do not use any cream, lotion, makeup, perfume, etc. as they could increase your risk of infection, and get in the way during surgery. If you wear heavy makeup, your doctor may ask you to stop wearing it several days before, and may ask you to scrub your eyelashes for a period of time before surgery to rid them of debris or anything that may affect the surgery.
You may also want to get any prescriptions you will need after the surgery filled beforehand so that you can rest your eyes and not have to go out and run errands.
