Following your first-day aftercare session after your laser eye surgery, you will be allowed to drive as much as you choose. It is advisable, however, to drive small distances for the first few days and to be mindful of things like starbursts and halos surrounding lights when driving at night.
These ‘side effects are to be anticipated and are a normal part of the eye’s healing process, with the majority of patients reporting them to be quite light or not perceiving them at all. Further down the page, we discuss the normal side effects of Laser Eye Surgery that you may experience throughout your recuperation.
As a result, you’ll be back on the road in no time after Laser Eye Surgery. However, this begs the following question: what are your plans for the 24-hour period immediately after your treatment during which you are unable to drive?
This is the time period during which we encourage all patients to take a back seat and recover. This often entails arranging for transportation or persuading a friend or family member to drive you home from the clinic after your treatment and then returning for your first-day aftercare session. A fantastic reason to unwind and hire a chaperone.
The Dreaded Screen-Free Period: Reconnecting with Your Devices Following Laser Eye Surgery
Typically, following laser eye surgery, you can look forward to lying around and binge-watching your favorite television series for the sixth time.
However, after laser eye surgery, the situation is more reversed. There is a period during which it is advisable to abstain from all displays — televisions, cellphones, tablets, desktop computers, and e-readers — and even from other sources of enjoyment such as reading a book.
However, do not be discouraged just yet. You’ll be relieved to learn that this dreadful “no screen” time is often just 24 hours long, from the minute you sit up after treatment. Additionally, the more rigorous you are and the farther away from your gadgets you keep, the more quickly and smoothly your laser eye surgery recuperation will progress and the sooner you’ll be back to them.
Many of us are aware that we may benefit from a break from our phones or laptop. But what are you to do throughout this whole day of being unable to work on your computer or simply pass the time by browsing through Facebook?
It is recommended that you just put your feet up and spend some quiet time in a relaxing atmosphere — at home or at least someplace away from bright lights and devices — throughout this 24-hour period. This is consistent with the typical postoperative protocol, which requires patients to take two days off work — the day of your laser eye surgery and the following day — to recover and adjust to their new eyesight and eyedrop regimen.
When this period concludes, there are various points to consider before returning to regular gadget usage, especially if you spend a lot of time at a computer. Due to the fact that using a screen might cause your eyes to dry up, it is advisable to gradually reintroduce them and to have the lubricating drops on available to apply at various intervals throughout the day.
It is typically recommended to reduce your screen time as much as possible. An excellent approach to accomplish this is to use the Pomodoro technique to divide your time spent on them into 25-minute pieces.
Swimming, saunas, and sumo wrestling: Post-Laser Eye Surgery Exercise and Bathing
Many individuals choose Laser Eye Surgery to enhance their chance and ability to participate in sports and fitness. Whether it’s to boost their performance in sports such as golf, pool, archery, or tennis, or just to prevent perspiration from getting under their contacts at the gym or dealing with glasses flying about while running.
Thus, such busy individuals may be reluctant about undergoing therapy if they believe it would require significant time away from their sport. The bad news is that you will have to stop exercising and participating in sports for a period of time, but the good news is that this period will likely be much less than you expect.
When your eyes heal following Laser Eye Surgery, they undergo a fully normal and anticipated inflammatory response. As a result, they become somewhat more sensitive than normal for a period, and your body steps in to provide them with all the resources and care they need.
This implies that, at least during the acute periods of recuperation, you should assist them by abstaining from vigorous activity and avoiding letting anything such as perspiration, dust, or debris come into contact with your eyes and disrupt or delay this process.
This is why it is advisable to take a bath rather than a shower for the first 24 hours after surgery — and to postpone your visit to the sauna, steam room, or jacuzzi. Additionally, this is why it is suggested that you refrain from activity or sport until around the third day after your treatment.
Within this time, light exercise such as walking and stretching is normally OK – the limits are more for safety than anything else — and by day three, you’ll be ready to resume activities such as running, stationary cycling, and lifting light weights.
Due to the fact that the cornea will still be in healing mode for the first few weeks, it is critical to minimize perspiration getting into your eyes and to avoid touching them. By the second week, the corneal tissue should have recovered enough to allow participation in activities such as tennis, squash, swimming, mountain biking, and skiing (while wearing the appropriate eyewear).
Physically demanding and high-impact activities such as boxing, martial arts, water skiing, and sumo wrestling are often prohibited for at least one month after therapy. Your surgeon will provide you with more precise information about when they believe you will be fit to return to your chosen sport or activity. Click here to read more about more How to prepare for a laser eye surgery
Final thoughts
If you’re looking to care for yourself after laser eye surgery, this article is filled with actionable tips you can use to recover quickly.
