What to Expect After Your LASIK Surgery
When you visit a LASIK clinic in Los Angeles particularly Excel Laser Vision Institute, you will be attended with the utmost respect and care. This is one of the reasons why laser eye surgery has become such a popular vision-correcting alternative in recent years. Not only is it precise and accurate, but most patients describe feeling safe and comfortable throughout the whole process.
Your surgeon at a LASIK eye center will first conduct a thorough examination of your eye in order to determine if you are eligible for the procedure. Once you are cleared as a qualified LASIK patient, they will run through the surgery with you in order to help you prepare mentally and physically. Typically, surgeons will ask that you come into the surgery wearing comfortable clothes with no makeup on and a designated driver to get you home. They will describe the various instruments that will be used to correct your refractive error and answer any questions you have about the surgery.
If you don’t have much experience with laser eye surgery, then it is important to ask as many questions as you can. This will help ease your mind for the day of the surgery and allow you to relax fully during the procedure. As you may or may not know, LASIK is known for being quick and painless. Some patients are done in under fifteen minutes and get to experience immediate results! Depending on your vision goals and the extent of your refractive error, your surgery and recovery process may vary. However, this is what most patients at a LASIK clinic will experience after their surgery:
- Improved vision immediately after the surgery – Not 100% clear, but astonishing for some patients who have relied on contacts or glasses for so long. Patients have described it as opening your eyes underwater.
- Ability to drive after 24 hours – Patients are asked to bring a designated driver with them to the surgery. Once it is finished, they typically notice their vision clearing up in the next few hours. Most patients can return to their normal routine in the next day or so.
- Protective shields – Many LASIK doctors recommend protective shields to their patients after the surgery to protect their eyes from injury and light sensitivity. This will be assigned for a certain period of time, depending on your eye needs.
- Prescription eye drops – In order to prevent infection and minimize inflammation, LASIK doctors will often prescribe eye drops to their patients. They may also recommend non-prescription drops to lubricate the eyes if any dry eye symptoms are noticed.
- Post-surgery rest – Patients typically describe LASIK as painless because the procedure is completed with the help of numbing drops and medications. However, once the anesthesia wears off, there may be some initial discomfort during recovery. In addition to eye drops and protective shields, LASIK doctors recommend that patients close their eyes and rest for the first four hours after their surgery.
- Post-surgery check-ups – LASIK patients can expect to have a post-op check-up on the day after their surgery. This is to ensure that the healing process is running smoothly and the surgical treatment is satisfactory. Patients will likely have a second check-up a week later. Make sure to tell your doctor about any symptoms that you may have noticed and ask any questions about the recovery process.
LASIK Eye Surgery Near Me
If you are looking for a qualified surgeon to correct your vision errors, then look no further than Dr. Moosa at the Excel Laser Vision Institute. As a Harvard-trained surgeon with thousands of surgeries under his belt, Dr. Moosa has the experience and the confidence to help you achieve your vision goals. Excel Laser Vision Institute has offices in Los Angeles and Orange County.
Why Women Who are Pregnant or Breastfeeding Should Put Off LASIK Surgery
When visiting a LASIK clinic in Los Angeles as a potential LASIK patient, you will receive an in-depth eye exam and health evaluation. Eye care professionals such as those of Excel Laser Vision Institute will look for any signs that may disqualify you for the procedure in terms of your eye condition, health history, and current health status. You may be disqualified from LASIK and pointed to an alternative laser eye surgery, or you may be told to wait until your health conditions align with the ideal candidate. One reason that a doctor may tell you to come back to be reevaluated is if you are currently pregnant or breastfeeding.
Women who are breastfeeding or pregnant are generally told to put off their LASIK eye surgery because this could affect the results of their procedure or even jeopardize the safety of the baby. Here are some of the main reasons why a LASIK professional will tell a woman who is pregnant or breastfeeding to delay their laser eye surgery.
Hormonal Changes
Women undergo natural hormonal shifts when breastfeeding and pregnant, which can ultimately affect their visual acuity. According to recent studies, these hormonal fluctuations can cause the eye lens to swell which may alter a patient’s prescription. LASIK is known for treating farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism but these hormonal shifts could actually make it more difficult to achieve precise vision correction. Experts at Excel Laser Vision Institute, a LASIK eye center in Los Angeles, recommend that women undergo LASIK before pregnancy or 2-6 months after breastfeeding. This will ensure that hormones are relatively balanced and a patient’s true prescription can be treated.
Medication Use
LASIK surgeons typically utilize certain medications on LASIK patients that may not be safe for pregnant or breastfeeding women to take. For example, LASIK patients are often given a mild sedative in order to relax them prior to the surgery. When taken by a pregnant woman, this could potentially cause harm to the baby. Laser eye surgery patients will also be given eye drops that help numb and dilate the eye during the surgery and antibiotic eye drops to prevent infection as well as steroidal eye drops for inflammation. These drops have the potential to enter a woman’s bloodstream and pose risks to a pregnancy in the third trimester. Finally, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding will not be able to take any painkillers which could potentially make their procedure more uncomfortable and inconvenient.
Radiation Exposure
As with many medical procedures, LASIK surgery exposes patients to some levels of radiation from the laser technology. This happens when the laser is creating tiny corneal incisions and reshaping the tissues in the cornea. While this is very minimal and unharmful to the ideal candidate, this radiation may be dangerous for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. In order to avoid any of these risks, doctors will always recommend that women put off any elective procedures until after their period of breastfeeding is over.
LASIK Eye Surgery Near Me
While women who are currently pregnant or breastfeeding may not be ideal candidates for LASIK, they can often receive the procedure later on. LASIK experts in Los Angeles like Doctor Moosa recommend that women wait a minimum of 2 months after breastfeeding to visit a LASIK clinic and have a thorough evaluation. LASIK specialists will be able to identify any potential risks and steer patients in the right direction to achieve their vision goals.