Preparing for Your Exam

Posted on: 3 May 2016

Vision correction surgery is quickly becoming one of the most popular methods for improving vision, but many people are still frightened of the potential recovery period. Listed below are two tips that can help ease your recovery after your vision correction surgery. 

Use Eye Protection

One of the most important things that you can do after your surgery is to make sure that you protect your eyes as much as possible. The main reason for this is that you do not want to rub your eyes because when you do there is a chance that you can move the flap that was made in your cornea during the surgery, especially during the first few days after the surgery. If the flap does get moved, then you will need to return to your eye doctor to have the flap repositioned. 

The biggest risk of you rubbing your eyes will be in your sleep as you roll around in bed or early in the morning when you first wake up. It is important to wear the eye shields that many eye doctors will provide after the surgery while you are sleeping in order to keep your eyes from rubbing on your pillow or blanket. In addition, having these shields over your eyes will prevent you from rubbing your eyes first thing in the morning when you might still be too groggy to remember to keep your hands away from your eyes. 

If you do end up having to go out before the flap is completely healed, make sure that you wear sunglasses or non-prescription glasses to protect your eyes from dust. This is important as dust and debris being blown into your eyes can force you to rub your eyes. 

Have Pain Medication On Hand

Another tip to make your recovery process much easier is to simply keep basic, over-the-counter pain medication on hand. In most cases, you will not require strong medication as basic painkillers are usually sufficient to deal with the discomfort that you will feel for the first day or two after the surgery. However, you will want to make sure that you speak with your eye doctor before using any medication in order to avoid even the slightest chance of complications.

If you do experience more pain than normal painkillers can handle, do not hesitate to contact your eye doctor. Severe pain can often be a sign that something is wrong with the healing process and needs additional treatment. If you are healing fine but simply experiencing a lot of pain or have a low pain threshold, the eye doctor will often be willing to provide a prescription for stronger pain medication.

Contact an eye doctor (such as one from California Eye Specialists Medical Group Inc.) today in order to discuss the possibility of getting vision correction surgery and what the recovery process entails. Utilizing pain medication and eye shields can greatly ease the recovery process after vision correction surgery.