Having any type of surgery can be terrifying—especially elective procedures, which can feel like a gamble. One of the things that helped me decide to get corrective eye surgery was reading about other people’s experiences across the internet. It gave me a realistic sense of what to expect, how long I might need to pause my regular routine, and what a typical recovery looked like. I’m sharing my own experience in hopes it can be a helpful starting point for your own research.

Before Surgery

I won’t lie—I was deeply anxious before having surgery. Just a year prior, I thought I would never get laser eye surgery. At that point, my glasses weren’t impeding my life, and I was concerned about the risks of permanently dry eyes and chronic pain. But as my glasses became more of a daily inconvenience, I revisited my research. That’s when I learned about alternative forms of laser eye surgery that were safer, gentler, and directly addressed the concerns I had. During this research, I came across Dr. Gdih’s clinic. His expertise in the field and the TransPRK technology gave me the courage to book that first appointment.

If you’d like to hear more about why I decided to get laser eye surgery, you can watch this video on our Instagram.

Surgery Day

I was still nervous for surgery but not downright terrified as I had been before. The whole process was pain-free, and I was in and out of the room within 15 minutes with the actual laser portion taking less than 60 seconds per eye. The surgery itself is mildly uncomfortable but pain free. Numbing drops are applied, but your eyes are held open during the procedure so you can focus on the light. The most uncomfortable part was the cold drops applied to my eyes afterward, and even then, it was more the shock of the cold than anything. Truly, this was probably the easiest part of the whole process. Once surgery was over, I had much better vision than when I started, though it was still quite blurry.

First Week

Immediately after arriving home, everything felt fine. I was in a great mood, if a little exhausted. Around hour two, I felt the numbing drops start to fade and my eyes began to sting. I took the prescribed Tylenol 3, but unfortunately it didn’t work. This was my second time not having great results with Tylenol 3, so I now know to request alternative pain relief! I switched to ibuprofen along with the eye drops, which did the trick, and I slept through the rest of the night.

On days 1-3, my vision was still fairly blurry, though it improved slightly each day. I was still taking ibuprofen for mild pain management, and my eyes were quite swollen. During these days, I mostly slept and played Grey’s Anatomy in the background. My eyes were very sensitive to light—whenever I tried to watch the show, I had to use my phone at the lowest brightness setting while wearing sunglasses. The TV remained too bright for me until week two. The hardest part? The drops. Four different kinds. Four times a day. I’m terrible at using eye drops, so applying them was a challenge, but having someone help made a huge difference. If you’re a competent drop-user, you’ll breeze through this part more easily than I did!

Days 4 and 5 are when I saw the most improvement. Each time I woke up, my vision looked noticeably clearer. I stopped needing ibuprofen and only experienced mild dryness in the mornings, which disappeared after my first round of drops. I felt my energy return, and I could walk more around the house and do more activities. My eyes were also slowly growing more accustomed to the light. By day 5, I no longer needed sunglasses to look at my phone, but still needed them to be comfortable in bright rooms. At the end of the first week, I was able to do much more and wasn’t tied to so many eye drops. Still, I focused on recovery, not doing too much and returning to normal activities slowly.

By the end of week two, I eased back into studying and working part-time. Regular-size text on my laptop was slightly blurry, but enlarging it solved the issue. I did get headaches from too much screen time, but those eased up by the end of the week as my vision sharpened and light sensitivity diminished.

One Month Onwards

Every week I felt I could see more, though the rapid improvements were no longer as noticeable. I could tell my eyesight kept improving as I realized I could read a little farther than before and see things in the distance that I couldn’t previously. My eyes were also becoming increasingly less sensitive to light.

After the first couple of weeks, progress became steady but less dramatic. Each week, I’d catch myself reading signs from a little farther away or noticing details I couldn’t see before. My eyes grew less sensitive to light. I keep wearing my sunglasses to protect my eyes, but not necessarily because it is uncomfortable anymore. Dryness also improved. I went from taking drops three times daily to twice daily (usually before bed or after waking up) to once daily. I continue to take my eye drops daily to promote healing, though they’re easy to forget since I don’t feel like I need them anymore.

Final Thoughts

TransPRK recovery continues over the course of a year as the epithelium fully regenerates. But now, almost three months post-surgery, I feel completely healed. The first few days were the hardest, but the comfort I feel in my eyes now is something I’d choose again in a heartbeat. I recommend TransPRK to anyone who’s considering it. 

If you’re ready to start your journey, book a complimentary appointment with us and see if you’re eligible.