LASIK Manhattan

The surgery is very short—typically completed in less than half an hour. You will be provided with numbing eye drops before surgery; if you need medication to help you remain calm and relaxed, that can also be provided. After the surgery, your eyes will need to be shielded to protect your corneas and prevent you from rubbing your eyes. Ask your doctor how much time to allow for the entire procedure.

Your recovery requires resting your eyes for several hours immediately following your procedure, so your doctor will likely encourage you to take a nap or relax in a dark room when you go home. You’ll need to avoid reading, looking at screens, or doing anything that makes your eyes work hard. You can likely return to most normal activities the day after the surgery. At your follow-up appointment, 24-48 hours after your procedure, your surgeon will check your healing to give you the go-ahead to drive and return to work. You’ll still need to be cautious with your eyes for several weeks, so be sure to follow your surgeon’s instructions.

Most people qualify for LASIK, but not everyone is an ideal candidate. To be a good candidate for LASIK, your surgeon will need to ensure that your eyes, body, and overall health are such that you’re eligible for the procedure. First, you must be at least 18 years old and at a point where your hormones and vision have stabilized—for this reason, pregnant and nursing patients should consider waiting until menstruation has returned to normal. Additionally, you should be in good overall health, as a compromised immune system or conditions like uncontrolled diabetes could increase the risks involved with surgery. Finally, your eyes should be healthy and free of disease and injury, and your corneas should be at least 0.5mm thick.

You’ll have a post-operative appointment with your surgeon within 24-48 hours of your surgery to check on your healing, your vision improvement, and discuss any symptoms or side effects you may be experiencing. During this appointment, your doctor will also tell you whether you’re cleared to drive—though driving at night may still be difficult for a little while. You’ll likely get the go-ahead to return to work as well if you haven’t already. Keep in mind that you’ll still need to be careful about not rubbing your eyes or getting any other substances in them.

LASIK is one of the safest elective surgeries available today, with a complication rate of less than 1%. As such, you’re unlikely to experience serious complications due to LASIK, but it’s still helpful to be aware of risks and side effects that may be a little more common. While side effects—including dry eye, glare, halos, double vision, or light sensitivity—typically resolve as the eyes heal, there is a slight chance that these can persist. Additional risks include flap complications, corneal inflammation or infection, and over, under, or uneven correction. Keep in mind that only 1.2% of patients are dissatisfied with their vision improvement after LASIK however, as complications are rare.

A recent review of 97 peer-reviewed clinical studies found that 90.8% of study participants achieved 20/20 vision or better after LASIK eye surgery and 99.5% achieved 20/40 vision or better. These statistics can be improved with more precise surgical methods, including custom LASIK and using technology like wavefront mapping to identify higher-order vision errors. At Dello Russo Laser Vision, we only perform custom procedures using the latest technology and techniques to ensure we provide the best vision correction possible for each patient.

LASIK complications are very rare and experienced by fewer than 1% of patients, so the likelihood that something could go wrong during your procedure is very low. The rate of complications has also been shown to decrease with a surgeon’s experience, so finding an experienced eye surgeon is important for minimizing your likelihood of experiencing complications. While temporary side effects are common, they generally improve and disappear quickly as the cornea heals. Keep in mind that the most modern technology also helps improve the safety of the surgery while helping your surgeon provide the most precise correction possible.