Common Post-LASIK Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

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LASIK is a very effective surgery with a high rate of success. But, it is not entirely free of risk.

Sometimes patients tend to create complications after the procedure, especially during the first few weeks of recovery. While recovering from LASIK, your eyes are prone to physical damage infection.

Your eye doctor will discuss how to avoid these mistakes before your procedure. They will show you strategies to prevent injuring yourself after LASIK.

Following your eye doctor’s instructions before and after your LASIK procedure is vital. Adhering to their rules increases the chances of it being a success!

Keep reading to learn about a few of the most common things to avoid during your LASIK recovery. 

Avoid Rubbing Your Eyes

After LASIK, you will likely experience some degree of dry eye. Dry eyes are a very common complication after LASIK.

That is because some of your tear response nerves have to get separated during your procedure. This separation is normal and usually heals quickly.

But until it does, the lack of tears it creates can cause varying degrees of itchiness, soreness, and discomfort in your eye. It can be tough to resist rubbing your eyes to relieve some of the symptoms.

But resisting the urge is vital to having a successful outcome from your procedure. Rubbing your eyes can disrupt the healing process and undo the work your surgeon did.

During LASIK, a flap gets made in the top layer of your cornea, called the epithelium. This flap allows your surgeon to reshape the thicker cornea tissue underneath.

Reshaping the cornea is what corrects your eyesight during LASIK. Once the reshaping is over, the flap gets placed back down and reattaches during recovery.

During the early stages of recovery, this flap will be prone to detach, which can cause significant problems. Use eye drops to limit your dry eye symptoms.

It is advisable even to put them in before you experience dry eye symptoms. Also, be sure to wear the eye shields given to you while you sleep to avoid rubbing your eyes during the night.

Avoid Heavy Lifting and Exercise

Rubbing your eyes is always bad for your eyes, during LASIK recovery or not. But you will even have to avoid simple household tasks as you begin your recovery.

Lifting heavy objects or strenuous exercise can strain your eyes. The strain even simple activities can put on your eyes is enough to cause flap complications.

During the first few days, even bending over at the waist can increase eye pressure enough to detach the flap. Make sure you schedule several days to relax and let your eyes heal after LASIK.

Avoid Getting Water in Your Eyes

Your eyes after LASIK will be susceptible to bacterial infection. Even clean tap water can carry enough bacteria to cause an infection in your eyes.

You have to avoid swimming and soaking in tubs for a week or so, although you can still shower during this time. Just be sure to avoid getting water or shampoo in your eyes by keeping them closed as much as possible.

And avoid rubbing your eyes in the shower!

Ready for LASIK and the visual freedom it provides? Schedule a LASIK consultation at Stahl Eyecare Experts in Manhattan, NY!


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GARDEN CITY, LONG ISLAND
450 Endo Boulevard Garden City, NY 11530
Phone: 516.832.8000
For a LASIK consultation, please call (516) 832-8000 ext. 4
MANHATTAN
185 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor (On the corner of 34th Street) New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212.689.7676
For a LASIK consultation, please call (516) 832-8000 ext. 4
HAUPPAUGE, LONG ISLAND
200 Motor Parkway, Suite D-25 Hauppauge, NY 11788
Phone: 631.952.8000
For a LASIK consultation, please call (516) 832-8000 ext. 4
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If you are seeking a Long Island LASIK specialist, the eye doctors at Stahl Eyecare Experts would like to offer you a great opportunity in laser eye surgery. Brought to you by professional, experienced Long Island LASIK surgeons, our one-of-a-kind medical facility brings not only cutting-edge technology, but experienced hands in ophthalmology as well. Helping you achieve your personal best vision is mission critical at our Long Island LASIK office. If LASIK cost is something that has been holding you back please feel free to review our options regarding LASIK Financing. We are dedicated to providing the best in patient education so that our patients can make a well-educated decision as to whether or not LASIK would be a good vision correction option. Remember, not everyone is a good candidate for LASIK. This is precisely why you need to have an experienced LASIK surgeon in Long Island evaluate you to make sure that this is the right eye surgery procedure for you! If LASIK is not the best procedure for you, we offer other ophthalmology procedures such as cataract surgery to help you see better. If you are seeking a Long Island cataract surgeon we are happy to offer cataract consultations to educate you about this process and determine your vision correction options.

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