It’s been 3 weeks since I had LASEK surgery (before surgery, my myopia was about -5.2 / astigmatism about -2.7)
During the exam, the results did say I had dry eye, but I didn’t feel dry eye except when wearing contact lenses... Even now, I don’t think my eyes feel dry. They say you have to put in artificial tears often, but because I don’t feel discomfort from dryness, I keep forgetting. I’m in week 3, and I still haven’t used up one box of artificial tears.
During surgery, the sight of the machine touching my eye in front of me was so scary that I endured it while singing songs in my head. Right after the surgery, I could see well... I heard LASEK gradually improves vision, but I could just see well right away. My corneal thickness was about 590, and they removed about 90 from it. Because my myopia and astigmatism were severe, they removed a lot...
(Reason I had LASEK even though my corneas are thick: I’d heard that with LASIK, it can be a big problem if the eye gets hit wrong, and because I collapse when I get nervous due to vasovagal syncope, the director recommended LASEK since the surgery time is shorter and the surgical method is less scary.)
Maybe because they removed a lot of cornea, from when the anesthesia wore off on the day of surgery, it hurt for 5 full days. Usually people say it hurts for about 3 days and then doesn’t hurt at all after that, but for me it hurt like death for 5 days. Tears kept coming out, and because of the tears my eyes swelled so I couldn’t open them, and I couldn’t do anything... I would rather have died (actually).
During the painful period, many people say they listen to the radio or podcasts, but I was in so much pain that I didn’t even have time to listen to anything. It was the first time in my life I felt pain like this. Even looking at a tiny light made my eyes hurt, and I got stressed from the pain and became sensitive. During that period, I sincerely regretted having the surgery every day. But from day 6, it didn’t hurt, so I used the computer right away.
You’re not supposed to wash your face with soap before removing the protective contact lenses, but I just did it. I know I shouldn’t have, but I washed my hair, showered, washed my face with soap, and rubbed my eyes all of it. (I did wear the plastic eye shields every night before sleeping.)
They said my vision would recover to 1.2, but now it’s about 0.9, and only one eye doesn’t focus well. A few days ago, my right eye was blurry, but for the past few days, my left eye has been blurry. It’s not a huge inconvenience, and I think I just need to wait...
Also, even touching only the white of my eye hurts. When things like eyelashes got in, I used to just remove them, but now it hurts so I can’t remove them.
I’m not sure about glare/halos. I originally lived without paying any attention to it at all, so I don’t remember what it was like before.
Biggest downsides of LASEK: Every time I go out, I have to wear sunglasses or UV-blocking glasses. I have to put in the prescribed eye drops four times a day for 6 months. I can see things I don’t want to see way too clearly.
Other than that, I’m extremely satisfied.
This review is a surgery review pursuing reconstruction.