What to Expect After Refractive Eye Surgery

Refractive surgery is sometimes advertised as a quick miracle. In fact, the process of completing a vision correction with refractive surgery can take up to six months. That being said, some types of surgery produce noticeable improvements with in a day or two. Others require recovery periods of a few days to a couple of weeks. Your refractive surgeon should inform you about what to expect. Some patients will experience visual side effects after surgery such as ghosts, halos, and starbursts. These complications can get in the way of visual clarity for several weeks after the operation. Your surgeon should also discuss realistically what level of visual improvement you can expect. If you are over 40, you may still need reading glasses. If you are very nearsighted or farsighted, you may experience some improvement but still not be able to achieve 20/20 vision.