What Kind of Eye Drops Are Needed After Lasik Eye Surgery?

Typically an antibiotic eye drop is required for 7-10 days to reduce the risk of infection and a steroid eye drop for roughly 1-2 weeks is required to reduce inflammation. Often lubricating drops and other dry eye treatments are also needed in the post-operative period. 

Standard Lasik post-op eye drop routine includes antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops for one week along with aggressive artificial tears (lubrication) for several months.  Expect dramatic vision improvement in the first 24 hours.  Most people are able to drive and return to work the next day.

I have my patients use three eyedrops in relation to their Lasik surgery. The first is an antibiotic drop, that we ask you to start the day before your treatment and continue for 5 days.  The risk of infection with Lasik only exists for about 4 hours, so 5 days of drops is more than enough. The second drop is a steroid eyedrop that we have you use for about 14 days in a tapering manner(4 times a day for 4 days, then three times for four days, etc). This helps to lessen inflammation and quiet the eye. the third eyedrop is an antiflammatory drop that is similar to a liquid motrin. It, again, helps with comfort and inflammation and is used for about a week. All in all, there are typically only about three hours of discomfort after treatment, a few hours of risk of infection(I have never had one of these), so the eyedrops more than cover the issue.