Lasik: 28 Things to Expect

Recently, I had the Lasik procedure done. My vision is great, and I am very happy I did it. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like, here’s my everyday-Joe summary:

Preparation

1. I went in for consultation on a Saturday. The following Saturday, I underwent surgery. This short time frame is not unusual.
2. The first visit is a relatively thorough eye exam (air puffs and everything). Surgery day involves more eye examinations.
3. Before the surgery, they gave me some Valium for the “anxiety.”
4. They numb your eye using eye drops. It makes your eyes feel a little dry and uncomfortable.
5. They also dilate your eyes using drops.

Surgery

1. You are awake during the operation!
2. You must keep your eye open for the entire duration of the operation, which is not difficult considering your eyes are numb.
3. There is a dull pain when the doctor cuts your eye (yes, a human does this part). The lasers don’t hurt.
4. When your cornea is pealed back, your vision is absolutely dismal.
5. I keep hearing burning eye smells like squid. It did smell like burning something, but I wouldn’t say squid.
6. It was a little difficult staring at the red dot because your vision temporarily goes black when the doctor cuts your eye. I think this was due to the pressure on the eye as he holds it down.
7. The “laser” portion takes about 1 minute after the eye is cut open.
8. After the lasers are done, the doctor puts your cornea flap back in place using tweezers. You’ll immediately notice a difference in your vision (it’s great!).
9. Each eye is done one at a time. While one is being cut, the other is taped shut.
10. The second eye hurts more than the first. The doctor even warned me. I think it’s because you know what’s coming. I was also definitely more nervous during the second eye.

After the Surgery (first two weeks)

1. Your vision should be improved almost immediately after you walk out of the operation. Yes, you will be walking, but, no, you shouldn’t drive (see next two points).
2. Your eyes will hurt a lot the first 48 hours. It will be a sharp burning pain like when you dip your eye in spicy sauce. You are given numbing eye drops for this (they work for about 20 minutes).
3. Your eyes will be very dilated. Everything is vibrant, bright, and headache inducing. It was kinda cool, but it is nearly unbearable to be outside even with sunglasses.
4. You will need to wear goggles to sleep for the first week. This sucked. Make sure you have a nice soft pillow so the goggles don’t smash into your face too hard.
5. As soon as you get home, just go to sleep. They recommend you sleep as much as you can the day of the surgery. Sleeping is best anyway since the burning sensation will be at its worst immediately after the surgery.
6. No, you can’t see any marks on your eyes.
7. You are told to avoid water in your eye for the first two weeks. I accidentally tested this and got some in my eye during a shower. Yup, it burned.
8. Your eyes will feel dry. Constantly. It is annoying. They will give you drops for this. It mostly goes away after two weeks. This will correlate with your vision quality.
9. Your night vision will decrease, especially early on. Here’s what I observed: the dryness causes a haze, which fogs up your vision near light sources. Since light sources fuzz up your vision and mask darker areas, seeing things in the dark becomes very hard. This haze is largely unnoticeable in daylight.

After the Surgery (Long term)

1. Your vision goes from very good to very fuzzy for the next 24 hours. This will continue, but not as erratically, over the next few weeks.
2. You still can’t rub your eye (I am told up to 2 months).
3. Water from showers are okay after the second week. I have not tested if I can swim yet.
4. Follow up or corrective surgery is usually free or very (very) cheap.

Obviously this experience won’t speak for everybody. I have two friends who got Lasik. One has perfect vision and loves it. One is complaining that his vision still isn’t perfect. We all had the same doctor.