Do both eyes recover at the same speed?
Laser eye surgery is usually performed on both eyes at the same time. There are 2 reasons for this. First, with the current techniques the risk for complications has become so low that it is safe to treat both eyes at the same time. Secondly, such a treatment is much more convenient then when both eyes are operated separately.
After the intervention, it is normal to compare the right and left side. However, it is not quite correct to do so. The eyes never recover exactly the same way. You may wonder how this is possible, as in fact the exact same procedure is applied to both the left and the right eye. So, how is it possible with the modern equipment, which is extremely accurate, that such a difference in recovery can occur?
The main reason lies in the fact that an eye is a living tissue. In medicine, as in nature in general, nothing is 100% alike. After the operation, a short-term reaction occurs of the cornea on the front side of the eyes and this troubles the image. It is noticed especially within the first hours after the operation. It is this very reaction of the eye that is not identical.
So, during the first few days there is always a difference between left and right, both in the sensation as in the visual acuity. This is perfectly normal. It is possible that one eye sees better during the first couple of days, or even that one eye is more irritated than the other eye. Most of the time these differences disappear during the first couple of weeks. At the end of the recovery period, generally no difference can be observed anymore between the two eyes.
Different techniques result in a different post-operative process. Where ReLEx smile and Femto-LASIK give a very rapid recovery of the eye sight, the recovery is slower after a PRK. More specifically ReLEx smile offers such a quick recovery, that most patients are able to read subtitles on TV in the evening. To give you an idea, when using an older technique such as PRK, after one week, people have in general the eye sight that patients with a ReLEx smile have after 24 hours. This doesn't mean that PRK has become redundant. PRK is still applied in some treatments. However, ReLEx smile is the technique at Medifocus which covers 90% of all performed treatments.
So, if one cannot really compare the eye sight between left and right after a surgery, how can one know if the recovery takes place as it should? Well, at every check, we will tell you what your eye sight is like in comparison with an average. In this way, you will know whether the cure is in line with what we see most of the time. Particularly during the first couple of weeks, your eye sight will be followed up closely as this is when the major part of the recovery happens.
Would you like to find out what the possibilities are for you? Don’t hesitate to contact us, without any obligation.
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