How Long Does Laser Eye Surgery Take to Heal?
Recovery from laser eye surgery can take a long time - up to six months. This recovery time may be affected by the intensity of your eye surgery, as more intense surgeries will generally lead to longer healing times.
After your procedure, your laser eye surgeon should inform you on how to care for yourself in order to heal as well as possible and avoid issues, and they should invite you back to attend mandatory aftercare appointments. During these appointments, they should assess your healing progress and offer advice where necessary.
The experts at Cosmetic Surgery Solicitors have written the following guide to help you understand the healing process following a laser eye procedure, how to tell if something has gone wrong, and what to do if you believe it has.
What is the laser eye surgery healing process?
Following your surgery, your eyes will need to rest. You may suffer some blurriness or watering of the eyes which is normal. Immediately after the surgery, your eyes will need a day to recover. During this initial recovery period, you should not look at any glaring lights, including bright screens, and avoid straining them in any other way.
For the entire duration of the healing period, you should avoid getting water in your eyes. This may contaminate the affected area and lead to infection or slow down the natural healing process. A good way to stop dust in your eyes is to wear glasses. While this is not a completely reliable solution, it can help you to reduce the chances of getting potential contaminants or irritants in your eye. UV regulating sunglasses can help to reduce the impact of intense sunlight on your eyes, allowing for better healing.
You should arrange to meet your cosmetic practitioner at regular intervals over the course of your healing period. Your practitioner should recommend the frequency of these visits and they will use this time to conduct basic eye-sight tests and assessments of your eyes' physical health.
Due to the length of the healing period, it will not be possible for you to completely avoid using your eyes in certain circumstances, for example, at work. During the day, eye drops composed of sterile water will help to keep your eyes from drying out and will help if you get anything trapped in them; you can purchase eye drops over-the-counter at most pharmacies. You should also drink lots of water to ensure your body and eyes stay hydrated. Ensure to take regular breaks from work involving screens or reading to give your eyes time to rest.
It may take months for your eyes to fully heal and for you to see the benefits of the surgery. To ensure these benefits are maximised, follow the above guidelines for healing and stay in contact with your surgeon.
How will I know if something has gone wrong?
Issues with laser eye procedures are generally low in the UK, however, due to the sensitivity of the eyes and the accuracy with which eye surgery must be conducted, issues can be serious and should be dealt with as soon as possible to minimise impact.
While laser eye surgery is conducted with the intention of improving eyesight, it can sometimes do the opposite - partial loss of vision following laser eye procedures is rare but can happen. This may be due to natural rejection of the surgery by the body, or due to the surgeon's negligence.
A more common and less severe form of vision loss is aberration. Aberration can result in glare, starburst, halos or loss or vison in low-light.Most aberrations are only temporary, but partial loss of vision can be permanent and have a significant impact on day-to-day life.
Another rare side effect that can occur following laser eye surgery is ptosis - the drooping of the eyelid. Ptosis is caused by pressure being applied to the lid as the eye heals and it is usually temporary. However, in cases where ptosis does not go away after the healing period, further surgery may be necessary to return the eye to its previous state.
Infection is one of the more dangerous effects of negligent treatment. Infection is possible following any surgery as the affected area can be susceptible to bacteria. While this is less common following eye surgery, it is still possible and can lead to permanent damage to the eye and loss of vision if not identified and treated early. Signs of infection may include swelling, itching, pain or discolouring of the eye. If you believe your eye may have become infected, you should speak to a medical professional immediately.
What can I do if I believe something has gone wrong?
If you believe that something has gone wrong with your surgical and healing process, you should seek medical help as soon as possible. This is essential as you may be able to catch the illness early and reduce its impact. Failure to do so may result in permanent damage to your eye.
Once you have sought medical help and diagnosis, you should try to understand why something went wrong. If you believe it was due to your cosmetic surgeon's negligence, you should consider making a cosmetic surgery compensation claim. Medical care can be expensive and a compensation claim can help you to secure funds to cover your costs and place the blame on the correct party.
If you believe you have suffered from negligent cosmetic surgery, you should seek help from a different medical professional, such as your GP. Once you have done this, speak to one of our expert cosmetic surgery claims experts. We will assess your situation in an initial consultation and explain how we can help you and what your chances of success are.
Cosmetic Surgery Solicitors deals with cosmetic surgery negligence on a no win, no fee basis. This means there is minimal financial risk to you when you make a claim with us as you will only be required to pay your fees if you claim after we have successfully claimed compensation for you.
Following our initial assessment, we will work to gather evidence to support your claim. This may come in the form of witness statements, medical records or financial records that display your loss of earnings. We will collate this evidence to decide how much compensation you will need to recover to cover your costs.
Once we have a strong argument as to why your cosmetic surgery negligence claim is valid, we will approach the other party to inform them that a claim is being made against them. We will facilitate all communications with the different parties on your behalf, and seek to come to an agreement.
If the other party disputes your claim, court proceedings may be necessary, and we will represent you in subsequent hearings. You will not be required to attend court hearings, we will do this on your behalf.
The compensation that you claim from your case will cover care that you require to recover from your physical and psychological injuries, any earnings that you lost for not being able to work, and your legal fees.
To speak to one of our expert cosmetic surgery negligence claims solicitors today, call us on 0808 115 6401, or fill out one of our online contact forms and we will call you back at a time convenient for you.
