I got Lasik! I shared that I was getting it done over on Instagram and got a bunch of questions so I thought this was the best way to share my experience with lasik. For a little backstory, I started wearing glasses when I was in second grade, then contacts when I was in 6th grade. A few years ago I started to have trouble with my contacts. My eye doctor diagnosed me with an eye allergy and put me on a few different eye drops. For over two years I’ve had really dry irritated eyes and the eye drops didn’t ever really solve the problem so I decided to look into Lasik.
*This was just my experience – I’m not a doctor and your experience with Lasik might be different than mine!*
My doctor recommended TLC in Rockville, MD because he said they would be honest if I was really a good candidate. He also mentioned that they use newer equipment that uses lasers instead of blades to cut your eye initially (apparently this is safer and helps your eyes heal quicker than the old version that used blades). I went in for a free consultation and they did a BUNCH of different eye tests. At the end of the appointment, I met with the doctor and he confirmed that I was a good candidate. I also met with a salesperson and she told me everything I needed to know about the prep before the procedure, what the procedure was like, and what the “recovery” looked like!
Before The Procedure
Besides the first consultation and eye tests, you have to go to your regular eye doctor and get dilated. After that, I had to go back to TLC for a pre-op appointment to do all the tests again to make sure my eyes hadn’t changed at all. I couldn’t wear my contacts for three days prior to my pre-op appointment or before the actual operation. It ended up being exactly 7 days that I had to wear glasses. I also started an eye drop regimine a few days before the procedure. You can drive yourself to the pre-op appointment, but you do need someone to drive you home from the procedure.
The Procedure
The procedure itself is not really painful. When you arrive they give you an Aleve, a Xanax, and put in numbing eye drops. You also get to wear this super cute shower cap over your hair. The procedure is not painful, but a bit uncomfortable. The nice thing is that the whole thing only takes 15 minutes total so it is over very quickly. They tape the eye they are not working on shut so you can’t actually really see what they are doing anyway. The procedure is a bit nerve-wracking but I was able to just focus on breathing to stay calm. The doctor walked me through the whole process as he was doing it so I always knew what was going on. Once they are done, you can see better, but your eyes are a bit blurry. They put in a few more eye drops then send you home to take a nap.
After The Procedure
On the way home you have to wear these ugly sunglasses to protect from UV light. They also tell you to wear sunglasses anytime your outside for the week following the procedure. Once I got home, I put in all my eye drops (there is three total that you use) and took a nap. When sleeping you have to wear these goggles to make sure you don’t accidentally scratch your eyes. After the surgery, my eyes were a bit dry and stung a bit when I put in eye drops but didn’t really hurt. I had to continue to use the eye drops for 7 days post-procedure and each day my eyes felt better and better. Maybe it’s because my eyes were slightly dry and irritated prior to the surgery, but I really haven’t had any real pain or disruptions to my life after the first evening.
I asked over on Instagram if anyone had any questions about the process so here are the top ones!
Can you do one eye at a time? I think I saw this mentioned somewhere in the paperwork so I think you can!
Does it hurt? There is one part of the procedure that kinda hurt but it only lasts for about 15 seconds! It mostly just feels like intense pressure on your eye socket so its more uncomfortable then painful. The rest of the process is pretty painless. My eyes have just been dry but it seems to get better every day.
Any reason you wouldn’t recommend it? Honestly, the price! It’s definitely expensive and if you don’t have issues with contacts it might not be worth it for you! It also depends on what you pay for contacts/glasses normally. I figured out that it would pay for itself in 8-10 years so I found that it would be worth it. d
I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit more about my experience with Lasik! Have any other questions? Feel free to reach out over DM on Instagram!