I had laser eye surgery nearly two months ago, so this post may not be for you if talk about eyes, surgery and medical procedures isn’t your thing… This post is quite long but I think it makes sense to give as many details as possible of my experience with having LASIK, both in general and here in Dubai.

Before laser eye surgery, I’d worn glasses for over ten years and contacts for the last two. I never loved wearing glasses (I didn’t wear them to mine and Harry’s first date and ended up walking into a sculpture on the way home…) and contacts irritated my eyes and frequently got stuck behind my eyelids…pretty grim. Harry had had LASIK in London before we met and was really pleased with his results. His positive experience helped to convince me to go through with it and to know what to expect for the procedure and recovery.

Disclaimer: obviously, I am not a doctor, everyone’s eyes are different and this is just my personal experience. 

Finding A Clinic

I’m still getting my head around the medical system in Dubai but laser eye surgery definitely isn’t covered on insurance… I shortlisted a few clinics and did my research: finding out more about the doctor who would be performing the surgery, how many procedures they had carried out and where they had trained, the price (not your key consideration given that your eyes are going to be zapped with a laser but I found a huge variance here and seeing very low prices wasn’t super encouraging), whether the clinic had connections to an institution in the UK or US, and Google or blog reviews.

I opted for Atlanta Vision Eye Clinic on the basis that the reviews were amazing, they were well-established in Dubai and they have a connected clinic in the US. I booked my free consultation (most clinics seem to offer this) and was sent a WhatsApp message of advice to prepare, the clinic location and contact details for if I had any pre-consultation queries.  

The Consultation

I had my consultation after diligently not wearing my contact lenses for five days. This was probably the most inconvenient part of the whole process. I’d worn contact lenses daily for the last two years, so having to teach all my yoga classes with my glasses sliding off my face wasn’t fun! Like many medical establishments in Dubai, the clinic is situated in a large villa with a mini swimming pool outside and a sweeping staircase.  I had my temperature checked (for Covid-19 reasons) and filled in a a questionnaire about recent travel. I wore my mask the whole time at the clinic for the consultation and the procedure, as did clinic staff.

The consultation was totally painless and took around an hour, I had my own appointment room and was able to relax here while the clinic staff popped in and out to perform the various tests.

I first saw the nurse, Melanie, and then the optometrist, Avril. Melanie and Avril ran a few different tests to determine my prescription and eye health. Avril ran through everything with me,  she was so calm and friendly and I had plenty of time to ask questions. My main concerns were about exercising, as I teach and practice yoga everyday, and about my prescription being on the low side (-1.5 with astigmatism). I was reassured that many people with a similar prescription to mine do the procedure and have great results (if you need to wear glasses/contacts then you are going to benefit from not needing to wear them!). As for exercising, you have to avoid getting sweat into your eyes for two weeks after the surgery but gentle yoga and stretching are ok!

The next stage was strange but not painful; I had drops put in my eyes to dilate my pupils. This was the first time I’d had this done and it was really odd – I could still see my general surroundings but couldn’t focus on my phone or anything close up! Once my pupils were at their maximum size (this took ten-fifteen minutes), I had a consultation with the surgeon, Dr Shashikant, who looked at my eyes with a bright light and confirmed that I was a candidate for LASIK (there are several types of laser eye surgery but I wanted to do LASIK due to the quick recovery time and high number of procedures performed). Dr Shashikant had a very calm demeanour, I think this is a requirement for someone about to zap your eyeballs with a laser…!

Being a private procedure, the next step was to discuss the cost (this varies depending on what sort of laser procedure is best for you), pre-surgery requirements and recovery. I wasn’t pressured into making a booking for the surgery and decided to take a couple of days to think things through. I was quoted AED12,000 for both eyes which isn’t cheap, but compares favourably against the next ten years of eye exams, contact lenses and glasses. Harry came to pick me up as my pupils were super big (I was warned not to drive myself to the appointment) and for the next few hours I couldn’t really do much as it took a while for my close-up vision to come back! On the plus side, I looked like an anime character with my giant pupils.

The Procedure

As with all medical procedures, there are risks and it’s a personal decision as to whether these are worth it. I took a few days to think things through and decide whether to go ahead. At the time, it was the height of summer in Dubai and we were gradually coming out of lockdown. I wasn’t super busy, Harry and I both work from home and I knew I’d have all the time I needed to recover and that Harry would be around to drive me to and from appointments. I’d already not been wearing contact lenses before my consultation so it made sense to not wait too long to do the procedure. 

Contact lenses change the shape of your cornea (the clear window at the front of the eye) and it’s advised not to wear them both before your consultation and before the procedure. Different clinics will have different advice on this. I decided not to wear my lenses at all to give my eyes plenty of time to return to their natural state. Honestly, out of the whole experience, the pupil dilation and not being able to wear my contacts were the most inconvenient aspects, and neither was really that bad!

My surgery was booked for a Wednesday afternoon. I rearranged my yoga classes to give myself Wednesday afternoon and all of Thursday off from teaching. I planned a really relaxing morning where I’d wash and blow-dry my hair (you have to be careful about getting water in your eyes afterwards), eat a nice lunch and finish up all of my tasks that needed me to use a computer or read. Obviously life had other plans and I ended up spending Wednesday morning finalising the purchase of our new car and figuring out logistics with the new car and the rental car… I got back with ten minutes to spare before I had to leave for the clinic. Not ideal but it definitely took my mind off of the procedure!

Wearing perfume or make-up isn’t allowed (I rarely wear either these days) but you can eat and drink as normal before the procedure (I didn’t get to have my leisurely lunch but did grab a bagel and an iced coffee on my way home). I was warned that the laser room was really cold so had hastily packed a cardigan and a pashmina to wear over my summer dress.

I only started to feel nervous when we got to the clinic. Harry waited with me until I was called to go upstairs. Melanie and Avril ran the same checks and tests again to check that the clinic had all of the right numbers to program into the laser. I was given all of the eye drops that I’d need to use after the procedure and given directions as to how to use them. I was also given a printed sheet of instructions which was helpful as I wasn’t really listening too closely at this point! Avril put anaesthetic drops put into my eyes and these were given a little time for these to take effect before I went into the procedure room.

The procedure room looked more like a dentist than a hospital. I lay down on a reclined chair and had to wiggle up to get into the right position (I’m only 5’2!). I was given covers for my hair and my shoes but didn’t have to take off any of my jewellery. The whole procedure was super fast, I’d heard people say that it was not painful but was uncomfortable but, for me, I didn’t even find it uncomfortable. The worst part of the procedure was having my eyelashes taped down as I have really long lashes (thank you, Persian heritage).

This is the part you may want to skip if you are squeamish…

The first step of the procedure was to put a clamp/clip type thing on my left eye to hold it open, this didn’t hurt at all but it did feel weird not being able to blink! It looked a bit like an eye lash curler but more sinister. My eyes were totally numb so I didn’t feel anything, other than a slight pulling when my eyelashes were taped down so that they weren’t in the way. My left eye was positioned under the first laser and I was told to look at the white light. This is the laser which cuts a flat in your cornea, and enables the second laser to reshape the cornea and correct your vision. After a few seconds it was done! My left eye was covered with a patch and the process was repeated on my right eye.

My right eye was then positioned under the second laser. This time I was asked to look at the red and green lights. This is when it gets kind of weird though – after the first laser cut the flap it felt like my whole visual field had been flipped back and also expanded out?! I couldn’t see the red and green lights clearly but tried my best to focus as my vision felt like it swam and swirled around the room! After a few seconds this laser had done its work! Dr Shashikant then used a tiny window-scraper type device to smooth over my eye and to put the cornea flat back in place, it wasn’t painful but it looked very strange to quite literally have my eye smoothed over with a tiny scraper! while being unable to blink! At some point my eye was gently washed out with water but again, this felt strange but not painful. A clear contact lens was then placed in my right eye to protect my eye while it healed.

The whole process was then repeated on my left eye. The second time around, I smelled a slight burning smell from the laser, similar to if you have ever (mis)used a curling iron and singed a tiny bit of hair. I’d read about this online and it had sounded really dramatic but it was just the slightest smell of burnt hair for a few seconds.

After my second eye was done I slowly got up and was led back to the consulting room. My eyes felt quite watery and like I needed to blink a lot after having them held open. My eyelids felt quite heavy, similar to how I used to feel at 4pm in the office on pretty much every day. Dr Shashikant did some checks and said that everything looked good, but told me to try to not squeeze my eyes shut (which was he one thing I did want to do). Avril put some more anaesthetic drops in my eyes so that my eyes would feel comfortable for the drive home and then I was reunited with Harry in the waiting area!

Recovery

On the drive home my eyes felt a little odd but not painful. My vision was blurry – almost like there was a film over my eyes, I can liken it most to using an oil-based eye make-up remover and feeling like there’s an oily film in front of your vision. As soon as I got home, I lay down in bed with the curtains closed (it was around 4pm by now and not super bright outside). I napped for a couple of hours and listened to podcasts on my phone until dinner time. We ate dinner with just a low lit lamp on so that it wasn’t too bright for my eyes but my eyes felt totally ok, just a little blurry but I could see my surroundings (and my food) absolutely fine.

I had drops to use every two hours for the day of surgery and then every four hours for the next week. If sounds like a lot but it was very quick to do – one was an antibiotic, one an inflammatory and one a hydrating drop. For the first couple of nights I slept wearing an eye mask as I was worried about rubbing my eyes in my sleep but I didn’t end up touching them at all. Eye make-up isn’t allowed for two weeks and for the first few days I took baths instead of showers so that I wouldn’t get water in my eyes. After my first consultation, I was told that it was ok to shower so long as I kept my eyes closed.

I had no pain or discomfort at all during my recovery. The next morning my eyes were SO much clearer. I could see my phone but tried my best not to look at it as backlit items (phone, laptop, tablet) felt a little uncomfortable to look at. I was able to read my Kindle with the text made a little bigger as this didn’t make my eyes feel uncomfortable.

I had a follow-up appointment 24 hours after my initial procedure, Harry drove my to my appointment but I was told that many people drive themselves! Dr. Shashikant said my eyes were healing well and removed the clear contact lenses which immediately made my vision a little clearer. My left eye was super sharp already but my right eye was still a little blurry, but a lot clearer than before. I was cleared to drive and a few hours later found myself driving to Motor City to return our hire car – it was a little never wracking to be driving without wearing glasses or contact lenses but my eyes felt fine!

On and off for a few days after the procedure, my right eye felt a little like it had an eyelash or something very small under my top eyelid. It wasn’t painful, I just had to keep reminding myself that i) there was actually nothing there and ii) not to touch my eye. This gradually went away and after 3-4 days I didn’t notice it anymore.

On the Friday (two days after the procedure) I was back to teaching my online yoga classes and on Sunday I went to a studio class (I was very careful not to touch my eyes or get sweat in them and I skipped doing inversions as it just felt a bit weird to do them, despite there being no reason not to). One of the biggest surprises for me was that my eyes weren’t sore or red, to anyone who didn’t know it didn’t look like I’d had anything done!

One Month Later

I’ve since had another consultation at one week post procedure, and one month post procedure. My eyes have healed well and are now 20/20 vision, the left eye is actually better than 20/20 and my right eye may improve a little more too! For the first couple of weeks I still felt like I was wearing contacts sometimes and would think to myself that I had to take them out before bed, or panic that I’d forgotten my glasses! Harry and I went out to celebrate our anniversary a week after and I knew that I couldn’t wear eye make-up so spent a while doing a red lip, only to remember that I had to wear a mask to walk to the restaurant! So after a quick selfie the red lip came off…

Now, over a month later, I can do all the things again and my eyes feel great! I was warned that dryness could be an issue but my eyes don’t feel any drier than they did when I wore contacts. It took me three weeks to throw away the rest of the contact lenses I had and to be convinced that I definitely didn’t need them anymore! I still have all my old pairs of glasses and I’ll donate these when I get the opportunity to. I still use the hydrating drops once a day or so to keep my eyes comfortable as Dubai is quite a harsh climate with the strong sunlight and AC. I feel like I’ve always had perfect vision and I definitely save time in the mornings putting in contact lenses!

My Tips and Advice

• Schedule your procedure for a time where you have no big plans for two weeks or so afterwards. This may be the best year for doing it as who has any big plans at the moment?! 
• Not being able to sweat, swim or wear make-up for two weeks didn’t affect me that much but if you have a big event and want to wear eye-make-up then its something to bear in mind! If you work at a computer I’d maybe do the procedure the day before the weekend so that you can rest your eyes for a few days before going back to work.
• I would not recommend reading anything on Reddit or random things on Google about the procedure. I asked Harry about his experience, read some blog posts which were helpful and non-alarmist and, when I first posted about my consultation, was surprised by how many people replied saying that they had done it too and were super happy!
• Have a friend, housemate, partner or relative to take you to the consultation, surgery and follow-ups. I would have been fine getting an Uber to all of these really but it was nice to not be on my own!
• For the surgery appointment, wear something that you can take off easily when you get home – I was going to wear a yoga outfit but didn’t like the thought of having to take off a sports bra and potentially getting it stuck on my head… a button-up top or dress is a better idea.
• You don’t need to throw out your make-up and skincare, but this gave me a good excuse to chuck away a bunch of mascaras and eyeliners that were 2+ years old – the last thing you want to do is give yourself an eye infection…
• Download some podcasts to listen to afterwards. I listed to Deliciously Ella and Almost 30.
• Buy a nice eye mask to sleep in, it really helped me to feel calmer about not potentially touching or rubbing my eyes.
• Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to use the drops during the first week. 
• It’s a good excuse to order Deliveroo on the night you have the procedure both as a reward for being brave and because my eyes definitely felt too blurry to cook or prepare food. I was also weirdly scared of accidentally squeezing lemon/lime into my healing eyes…
• Stock up on snacks or have someone around to buy you whatever your heart desires!
• Treat yourself to some nice, new non-prescription sunglasses! I opted for ones with extra-dark lenses as some people have more light sensitivity after the procedure. This wasn’t the case for me but they look cool anyway..

I hope this was helpful, if quite long! And I’m not at all offended if you skipped it – I’ll be back with a catch-up post very soon!

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