Should I use Preservative or No Preservative tears after LASIK?

Question

My Doctor prescribed artificial tears for me after the lasik surgery but it has preservative in it? while I've seen many online articles about using none preservative? I've been using the one with preservative for 17 days now? is that bad? & can I shift now?

Daniel Chang, MD · Answer

Not all artificial tears are created equal.  The preservative is only one component of the artificial tears.  While using preservatives too often may be damaging to the ocular surface, some of the modern preservatives are relatively mild.  Ultimately, your doctor should have a recommendation of which artificial tears would be best for you.  They can titrate their recommendation based on their findings of your ocular surface.

Emil William Chynn, MD, FACS, MBA · Answer

you should use preservative free tears every hour for a month after any type of refractive surgery as this helps the healing and visual recoverypreop and months postop you can get away with preserved tears as they are cheaper and you won't be using them so often

Should I use Preservative or No Preservative tears after LASIK?

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