
What to Expect After LASIK
Vision – Healing Time
The flap heals in about a week but the inner layers of the cornea will take around six (6) months to heal and stabilize. Most patients experience clear vision right away and notice little fluctuation. For others it may take more time for the vision to become clear – from a few weeks to several months. In addition, you might have great vision the day after your procedure but see less clearly several weeks afterwards. This fluctuation is a normal part of the healing process and is no cause for alarm. After six (6) months have elapsed we will determine the state of your vision more accurately.
Enhancements
Don’t worry! Just in case you are not seeing as you desire after the six (6) month healing period, we can usually improve it with a touch-up procedure. To give you the best possible correction with an enhancement it is best to wait until after six (6) months to allow for complete healing and the eyes to stop changing.
Halos at Night
It is almost guaranteed that you will see glowing and/or halos around lights at night for the first six weeks after your procedure. This is perfectly normal and will go away around the second month.
Monovision
Monovision patients (one eye for distance, the other for near) will usually require from one (1) week to several months to fully adapt to Monovision. The brain needs some time to learn to use your eyes differently than before. Some Monovision patients prefer to wear glasses just for night driving. These glasses have zero correction in the distance eye and only a mild correction for the reading eye. This allows the reading eye to help the distance eye for more difficult tasks such as nighttime driving, etc. Let us know if you feel you would benefit from this.
Dryness
Some patients experience dryness in their eyes after the procedure. For those patients we suggest a preservative-free artificial tears as needed. The need for artificial tears usually diminishes with time.