Tips For Dealing With Dry Eye Post LASIK

September 27th, 2018

Did you recently get LASIK? You may find that your eyes are more dry than normal!  One of the symptoms of LASIK is dry eye. 95% of patients experience it in some way.

LASIK is not usually the cause of dry eye. Instead, many patients may have dry eye that wasn’t dealt with before LASIK.

This implies that LASIK tends to exacerbate existing dry eye. Whether you had dry eye before LASIK or not, you’ll have to deal with annoying symptoms. These include redness, swelling, and itchiness at the beginning of your LASIK recovery. Keep reading to learn some helpful tips for dealing with dry eye after LASIK!

Artificial Tears

After your surgery, you’ll get prescription eye drops. These help keep inflammation and infection at bay during recovery. It is very important for you to use these exactly as instructed. This means using them even when your eyes don’t feel dry.

You’ll also want to buy artificial tears. These can help when your eyes feel too dry. It’s key to avoid rubbing your eyes when they feel itchy or too dry. Rubbing your eyes after LASIK can damage the delicate flap in your cornea!

Eat Foods With Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish like salmon or tuna help promote good eye health. Additionally, Omega-3 fatty acids can help with tear production in particular.

If your eyes are bothering you, supplement your diet with fish, chia seeds, flaxseed, and walnuts. These foods naturally contain Omega-3 fatty acids. If you can’t incorporate Omega-3 fatty acids into your diet, you can also buy supplements.

Avoid Dry Climates

This may sound like it is easier said than done, but it is an important part of avoiding dry eye altogether. Dry air, smoke, and debris can create dry eye symptoms.

If you cannot avoid living in a dry area, get one or more humidifiers to keep in your home. If you work at a place with lots of airborne particles such as a construction site, wear protective goggles (this is a good idea anyway to avoid injury!).

Treat Your Dry Eye Before LASIK

If you have dry eye symptoms before LASIK, you will have to treat your dry eye before the procedure. To be a good LASIK candidate, your eyes need to be generally healthy. If you suffer from dry eye, your eyes aren’t healthy enough to get LASIK. Dry eye is easily treatable with punctal plugs or meibomian gland expression.

Punctal plugs are very small plugs placed into the drainage canals of the eyes. This forces tears to drain slower so that they remain on the surface of the eye longer. The plugs are removable if the eyes become too watery.

Meibomian gland expression refers to the clearing out of the meibomian glands. These glands produce the oil in your tears. This is a critical component that stops the tear from evaporating. Over time, these glands can become blocked with a waxy deposit.

The waxy deposits can be broken up with an ultrasonic device or melted away with warm compresses.

Don’t let dry eye stop you from experiencing LASIK! Schedule an eye appointment with Dr. Danny Lee in Huntsville, AL today!