Laser Eye Surgery Forum

Lasek recovery

I have been recommended to have Lasek treatment on my eyes to cure my Myopia, due to thin corneas.
I am due to have this with the wavefront technolgy.
I have been told that I will require approx 1 week to recover from this surgery, which is longer than I had anticipated after reading the Lasik information before I went for assessment.
As I work for myself, I can just about afford this amount of time off, but have become slightly apprehensive after reading some forums regarding the time it takes to recover.
As I need to work on a computer, I need to be sure that I will be able to do this and return to work after just 1 week, and not take upto 2-3 weeks for recovery as has been intimated on some forums for this surgery.
Can you please try to allay me fears that a longer time is generally not required for this surgery (I appreciate that nothing can ever 100% certain, but if it is 90% or better that the recovery time will be no longer than 1 week, then that would help.
Many thanks

It is correct that you will need Lasek if you have thin corneas as Lasek does not remove any of your corneal tissue. Like you said, no one will ever give you a 100% guarantee but I think the vast majority of people will be able to return to work after 1 week. The fact that your job does not require any physical exertion means you are more likely to be able to return within 1 week. Also everyone has different tolerance levels so perhaps you may be back to work within 1 week but just have slightly uncomfortable eye’s but be able to cope with it. Going back to work when your eyes are still a bit sore is in no way going to put your eyes at risks, it just may mean that you are in a bit of discomfort. Providing the procedure goes perfectly and there are no complications then I think there is probably a 90% chance of you being back to work with 1 week. One final thing to mention is that the higher your prescription the more likely your recovery is to be longer. What is your prescription? This does not constitute medical advice and I am only giving you an answer from my experience.

Thanks for your answer.
I cannot find my prescription just at the moment, but seem to remember it being either 4.6 or 5.6 in both eyes (pretty much the same in each eye).
I will see if I can find the prescription and put it on here later.
Thanks again for your answer, I feel a little bit less apprehensive now.

Further to my initial question, I have now had the Wavefront Lasek treatment (on Friday 30th April).
The treatment itself I thought was quite painless and took approx 2 hours from when I first walked through the door(even allowing for nothing happening for the first half hour).
Immediately after surgery, I was collected and taken home and my eyes felt very tired. Within approx 30 minutes of leaving the clinic the antiseptic drops were wearing off and I just wanted to shut my eyes and go to bed as I couldn't keep my eyes open.
Once home I put some drops into my eyes and then went to bed as recemmended by the Surgeon.
The next day my eyes felt a lot better and visibility was reasonably good (and a lot better than it was without my glasses previously).
I subsequently had my eyes checked on that same day and were told that they were healing well.
That day, my eyes felt fine and I could go out for walks etc and could even read number plates from a distance that would be suitable to enable me to pass my test.
The day after that(Sunday) was as predicted by the Optometrist my worse day, and I felt like I did not want to open my eyes at all as they felt like something was stuck in them (and were light sensitive)
After having an easy and lazy day, I decided to go to bed very early and awoke the next day feeling much much better.
My sight seemed to be getting better, then getting worse and this process kept repeating itself over the next few days.
On the Monday, my eyes had recovered adequately enough for the bandage contact lens to come out.
I was able to watch some television, albeit occassionaly it did appear to be a little blurred.
On Tuesday I went back into work for the odd hour and even managed to read and reply to e-mails.
Luckily my reading prescription was very slight and so far has this has not been a real problem.
I actually went back to work on the Thursday and do not appear to have any adverse effects since then.
It is now a week and a half since the surgery and I believe that my eyesite is pretty good and probably better than i would have thought it would be at this stage.
I certainly think that the more rest you get and the amount of drops you can use over the first couple of days to keep your eyes moist assists enormously in the recovery.
I also think that my eyesite is improving on a daily basis as they heal from the surgery, and I have not experienced any problem with halos etc.
I have my next appointment on this coming Friday and I will let you know on here what is said then.
To date, I have been very impressed with this surgery, and would recommend it straight away if asked by anyone at this time.
Hope this helps anyone who may read it.