You had LASIK eye surgery to help you see better. Now you feel great and want to get back to your normal life, including exercise. So, can you exercise after LASIK eye surgery? Yes, you can exercise after LASIK, but you must wait. How soon can you exercise after LASIK depends on the type of activity. It is very important to give your eyes time to heal safely. Following your doctor’s advice is key to protecting your new vision.
Image Source: www.discovervision.com
Comprhending Healing After LASIK
LASIK surgery changes the shape of the clear front part of your eye. This part is called the cornea. To do this, the doctor makes a very thin flap on the cornea’s surface. The doctor lifts this flap, uses a laser to reshape the tissue underneath, and then puts the flap back.
This flap does not get stitches. It sticks back down on its own. Think of it like a small lid on your eye. For a while, this flap is fragile. It can move out of place easily. It needs time to heal and seal back down. This is why you need to be very careful with your eyes right after surgery. Any pressure, rub, or bump could hurt the flap. This could cause problems with how your eye heals and how well you see.
Most of the healing of the flap happens in the first few days and weeks. But it can take several months for it to fully bond back to the cornea. Because of this, doctors tell you to avoid certain things for different amounts of time after LASIK. Exercise is one of the things you need to be careful about.
Why Exercise Needs Care After LASIK
Exercise is good for you, but it can also be risky for healing eyes right after LASIK. Here are the main reasons why you need to be careful:
- Sweat: Sweat can sting and irritate your eyes. It can also carry germs. Getting sweat in your eyes after surgery can cause pain, redness, or even infection.
- Rubbing Eyes: You might want to rub your eyes if sweat gets in them or if they feel a bit strange after surgery. Rubbing is very bad for the healing flap.
- Bumps and Hits: Some sports or activities put you at risk of getting hit in the eye. A hit, even a light one, could move the corneal flap. This is a serious problem and might need more surgery.
- Pressure: Heavy lifting or exercises that make you strain can raise pressure in your body. Some doctors think this might put stress on the healing eye, though this risk is lower than others.
- Water: Water, especially from pools, lakes, or oceans, has germs. Getting this water in your eyes can cause serious infections. Even clean tap water can be risky.
Because of these risks, your doctor will give you rules about when you can start exercising again. The rules help protect your eyes while they are healing.
Post LASIK Exercise Precautions
No matter when you start exercising, you need to take steps to protect your eyes. These steps lower the chance of problems.
- Follow Doctor’s Orders: This is the most important rule. Your eye surgeon knows your eyes and your surgery. Listen to exactly what they say about when to start different activities.
- Wear Eye Protection: For many activities, wearing protective eyewear is a good idea. This is true even for simple things like yard work. For sports, proper sports goggles or glasses are a must. They shield your eyes from sweat, dust, fingers, balls, or anything else that could hit your eye.
- Manage Sweat: Use a clean towel to wipe sweat from your forehead. Wear a sweatband. Try not to let sweat drip into your eyes.
- Avoid Rubbing: It’s tempting, but do not rub your eyes! If something gets in them, use the eye drops your doctor gave you or gently dab around the eye with a clean tissue, keeping the eyelid closed.
- Stay Away from Water: Avoid getting water in your eyes from showers, pools, lakes, hot tubs, or the ocean for the time your doctor tells you.
- Listen to Your Body: If your eyes feel uncomfortable, sore, or if your vision changes while exercising, stop. Rest and call your doctor if you are worried.
Taking these steps helps ensure your healing goes well and you keep your good vision.
Exercising After LASIK Timeline
The timeline for when you can exercise after LASIK depends on the activity. Different activities have different risks. Your doctor will give you a specific timeline based on your healing. But here is a general idea of when people can often return to different types of exercise:
- Very Light Activity (Walking Around): Often allowed within a day or two.
- Moderate Exercise (Like a Fast Walk or Gentle Bike on a Smooth Path): Maybe after one week.
- Running or Jogging: Usually after one week.
- Lifting Weights (Light): Often after one week.
- Lifting Weights (Heavy or Straining): Maybe after two weeks or longer.
- Swimming (Pool): Usually after one month, often with goggles.
- Swimming (Lakes, Ocean, Hot Tubs): Often two months or longer, even with goggles.
- Sports with No Contact Risk (Like Tennis or Cycling): Often after two weeks, with protective eyewear.
- Sports with Some Contact Risk (Like Basketball or Soccer): Usually after one month, always with protective eyewear.
- Contact Sports (Like Boxing, Martial Arts, Rugby): Maybe three months or longer, and often doctors advise against these entirely, or only with very strong protective gear.
This is just a general guide. Your personal healing might be faster or slower. Always get the OK from your eye surgeon before starting any activity.
Let’s look closer at specific activities and when you can do them safely after LASIK.
Safe Activities After LASIK Early On
In the very first few days after surgery, your activity will be limited. This is normal. Your eyes are starting to heal.
- Day 1-2: Most doctors tell you to rest a lot. You can do very light things like walk slowly around your house. Avoid bending over or lifting anything heavy. Do not let water get in your eyes when you shower (maybe take a bath instead or be very careful). Wear the eye shields your doctor gives you, especially when sleeping.
- Day 3-7: You might feel much better. You can likely do more walking. Gentle activities that do not make you sweat a lot and have no risk of bumping your eye are usually okay. Think slow walks outside on a flat path. Do not push yourself. Avoid anything that makes you breathe hard or strain.
This early time is about letting the flap settle and start to heal firmly.
Running After LASIK
Many people love to run. It’s great exercise. But running can cause risks after LASIK. You bounce, which could affect the healing flap. You sweat, and sweat can get in your eyes. You might run outside, where dust or bugs could fly into your eyes.
- When Can I Start Running? Most eye doctors say you can start running or jogging about one week after LASIK surgery.
- Making Running Safer:
- Start slow. Do a mix of walking and jogging at first.
- Wear a sweatband to keep sweat out of your eyes.
- Bring a clean towel to wipe your face (gently).
- Wear some type of glasses or sunglasses to protect your eyes from dust and wind. Wrap-around styles offer good protection.
- Avoid running in very dusty or windy places early on.
- If your eyes feel dry, use the artificial tears your doctor gave you before and after running.
Running feels good, but be patient. Waiting just one week greatly lowers the risk to your healing eyes.
Lifting Weights After LASIK
Lifting weights is another common exercise. It involves using your muscles against weight. This can be with dumbbells, machines, or your own body weight. Lifting weights can raise the pressure in your head and eyes for a short time, especially when you strain or hold your breath. There’s also the risk of touching your face or eyes without thinking, or even dropping a weight near your face (though this is less common).
- When Can I Start Lifting Weights?
- Light Weights: You can usually lift light weights (weights that are not hard for you to lift many times) about one week after surgery. Focus on controlled movements, no straining.
- Heavy Weights or Straining: For heavier lifting or exercises that make you strain a lot (like deadlifts or heavy squats), you might need to wait two weeks or longer. Your doctor will tell you for sure. The goal is to avoid anything that makes you really bear down or hold your breath hard, as this can briefly increase pressure in your eye.
- Making Lifting Safer:
- Use lighter weights than usual when you first start back.
- Breathe out when you lift the weight (this helps avoid holding your breath and straining).
- Wear a sweatband or use a towel to keep sweat out of your eyes.
- Try not to touch your face while lifting.
- Consider wearing protective glasses, especially if lifting weights overhead or doing exercises where something could accidentally poke your eye.
Ease back into lifting weights. Don’t try to lift your heaviest weight right away.
Swimming After LASIK
Swimming feels good and is easy on your body. But water is a big risk for healing eyes after LASIK. Pool water has chemicals like chlorine that can irritate your eyes. All water sources (pools, lakes, rivers, ocean, hot tubs) can have bacteria and other tiny living things that can cause very bad eye infections. Getting water under the healing flap is particularly dangerous.
- When Can I Start Swimming?
- Pools: Most eye surgeons say you must wait at least one month before swimming in a chlorinated pool.
- Lakes, Rivers, Ocean, Hot Tubs: For these, the waiting time is often even longer, maybe two months or more. These water sources have many more germs.
- Making Swimming Safer (After the Waiting Time):
- Always wear tight-fitting swimming goggles that seal well around your eyes.
- Even with goggles, try not to open your eyes under water.
- Rinse your face gently with clean, cool water after swimming (but still avoid getting water directly in your eyes).
- Use lubricating eye drops after swimming if your eyes feel dry or irritated (check with your doctor first).
It is crucial to wait the full time your doctor tells you before swimming. An eye infection after LASIK can be very serious and harm your vision.
Contact Sports After LASIK
Contact sports are sports where you might touch or bump into other players. This includes sports like basketball, soccer, football, martial arts, boxing, rugby, wrestling, and even some team sports like volleyball or baseball where balls or hands move fast near your face. The biggest risk here is getting hit directly in the eye. A hit could easily move the corneal flap before it is fully healed. This is a serious emergency.
- When Can I Play Contact Sports? This type of sport has the highest risk. Doctors usually tell you to wait at least one to three months after LASIK before playing contact sports.
- Making Contact Sports Safer (After the Waiting Time):
- Talk to your doctor about the specific sport.
- Inquire if your doctor recommends avoiding the sport completely or if there is a way to play safely.
- If you do return, you absolutely must wear strong, protective sports eyewear. This eyewear should be designed for your sport and fit correctly to protect your eyes from impacts. Simple glasses or sunglasses are not enough.
Some doctors may advise against returning to high-impact contact sports permanently after LASIK due to the ongoing risk of flap injury, even months or years later. Discuss this risk clearly with your surgeon.
Protecting Eyes After LASIK During Activity
Protecting your eyes is not just for sports. You need to be mindful of your eyes during any activity after LASIK, especially in the early weeks.
- Wear Your Shields: Use the clear plastic shields your doctor gives you, especially when sleeping, for as long as they tell you. This stops you from rubbing your eyes while you are asleep.
- Be Careful Washing Your Face/Hair: For the first week, maybe longer, be very careful not to get water or soap directly in your eyes. Tilt your head back in the shower.
- Avoid Dusty or Dirty Places: Try not to be in places with lots of dust, dirt, or airborne bits that could get in your eyes, especially soon after surgery.
- Yard Work/Gardening: Wear protective glasses or sunglasses when doing things like mowing the lawn, trimming bushes, or gardening. Things can fly into your eyes.
- Avoid Smoking Areas: Smoke can irritate your eyes.
- Manage Dryness: Use the artificial tear drops your doctor gives you often. Dry eyes can feel uncomfortable, and you might be more likely to rub them.
These simple steps reduce the chance of irritating your eyes or causing a problem with the healing flap during everyday activities.
Sweat in Eyes After LASIK
Getting sweat in your eyes is a common problem during exercise. After LASIK, sweat in the eyes can be more than just annoying.
- Why Sweat is a Problem: Sweat is salty. It can sting and make your eyes feel bad. This makes you want to rub them, which is dangerous for the healing flap. Sweat also carries germs from your skin that could cause infection.
- How to Avoid It:
- Wear a wide sweatband across your forehead.
- Keep a clean, soft towel handy to gently pat sweat away from your forehead and cheeks before it runs into your eyes.
- Tilt your head slightly back or to the side if you feel sweat coming.
- Wipe down exercise equipment before use, especially if others have been using it, to avoid transferring germs to your hands and then near your eyes.
If sweat does get in your eye, do not rub it. Blink a few times. If you have your doctor-approved artificial tears with you, you can try putting a drop in (make sure your hands are clean!). If it keeps stinging or feels bad, stop exercising and contact your doctor if you are worried.
Getting Back to Exercise: A Step-by-Step Idea
Here is a possible step-by-step plan for returning to exercise, based on general advice. Remember, your doctor’s plan is the one to follow exactly.
- Days 1-7:
- Rest a lot.
- Walk around your home.
- Maybe gentle, slow walks outside on smooth ground after the first couple of days, if you feel up to it and your doctor says it’s okay. Keep these walks short.
- Wear eye shields at night.
- Be very careful showering/washing face.
- Avoid bending below your waist, lifting, or anything that makes your face turn red from effort.
- Week 2 (Days 8-14):
- If your doctor says yes, you can likely start more moderate exercise.
- Try faster walking, light jogging, or cycling on a smooth, safe path (away from traffic or bumps).
- You might be able to start light weight lifting (many reps, low weight, no straining).
- Use a sweatband and towel.
- Consider protective glasses for outdoor activities.
- Still avoid swimming, contact sports, and heavy straining.
- Weeks 3-4 (Days 15-30):
- You can likely increase the intensity and length of your running or cycling.
- You might be cleared for heavier weight lifting, but still be careful with straining.
- You might be cleared for sports with a small chance of contact, like tennis or careful team drills (always with protective eyewear).
- Swimming in a pool might be allowed by the end of this period, only if your doctor says so, and always with goggles.
- Months 2-3 and Beyond:
- If your doctor says yes, you can likely return to most activities.
- Swimming in lakes, rivers, or the ocean might be allowed now, but still usually with goggles.
- Contact sports might be allowed, only if your doctor says so, and always with approved, strong protective eyewear. Be aware of the higher risk.
This timeline shows how you slowly add back more risky activities as your eye heals more and more.
Table: General Exercise Timeline After LASIK
This table provides a quick look at when you can often return to activities. Always check with your eye surgeon for your personal timeline.
| Activity Type | General Time to Wait After LASIK | Important Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Very Light Walking (Indoors) | 1-2 days | Avoid bending over or straining. |
| Gentle Walking (Outdoors) | 3-7 days | Smooth path, avoid dust, maybe wear sunglasses. |
| Moderate Cardio (Fast Walk, Bike) | 1 week | Manage sweat, consider eye protection. |
| Running / Jogging | 1 week | Manage sweat, wear protective eyewear. |
| Light Weight Lifting | 1 week | No straining, manage sweat. |
| Heavy Weight Lifting / Straining | 2+ weeks | Get doctor’s OK, use proper breathing, manage sweat. |
| Swimming (Pool) | 1+ month | Must wear tight goggles, get doctor’s OK. |
| Swimming (Natural Water/Hot Tubs) | 2+ months | Must wear tight goggles, higher infection risk. |
| Non-Contact Sports (Tennis, Golf) | 2+ weeks | Wear protective eyewear. |
| Moderate Contact Sports (Soccer) | 1+ month | Must wear strong protective eyewear, get doctor’s OK. |
| High Contact Sports (Boxing) | 3+ months, maybe never | High risk, must wear strong protection, get doctor’s OK. Often not recommended. |
Remember, this is a general guide. Your healing might be different. Some people heal faster, some slower. Your doctor’s advice is the best advice.
Grapsing Long-Term Activity and Eye Safety
Most people can return to all or most of their normal activities after their eye surgeon clears them. However, thinking about protecting your eyes becomes a lifelong habit, especially if you are active.
Even after the flap is fully healed (which can take months), a very hard hit directly to the eye could theoretically still cause problems, though the risk goes down a lot over time. For many sports, especially those with fast balls, flying objects, or hands near the face, wearing protective eyewear is a smart choice even years after LASIK. This includes racket sports, basketball, baseball, hockey, and others.
Your doctor will tell you when your eye is fully healed. This is when the flap is as strong as it’s going to get on its own. Until then, be extra careful. Even after, think about eye safety as part of your sport or activity gear, just like you would wear a helmet for cycling or pads for skating.
Key Takeaways for Exercising After LASIK
- Patience is key: Your eyes need time to heal after LASIK surgery. Do not rush back into exercise.
- Listen to your surgeon: Your doctor’s instructions are the most important guide for when you can exercise safely.
- Start slow: Begin with light activities and slowly increase what you do.
- Protect your eyes: Use sweatbands, wear protective eyewear (like wrap-around glasses or sports goggles), and avoid rubbing your eyes.
- Avoid water: Stay out of pools, lakes, hot tubs, and the ocean until your doctor says it’s safe, and then always use goggles.
- Know the risks: Understand that contact sports have a higher risk of injury to the eye.
- Be aware of sweat: Keep sweat out of your eyes to avoid irritation and infection.
- Call your doctor: If you have pain, redness, blurry vision, or think you might have hurt your eye, contact your eye surgeon right away.
Returning to exercise after LASIK is a goal for many people. By following your doctor’s advice and taking smart steps to protect your eyes, you can safely get back to your activities and enjoy your improved vision while staying active.
Frequently Asked Questions
h4 Can I go for a run one or two days after LASIK?
No, typically you must wait longer. Most doctors advise waiting at least one week before starting running or jogging to allow the corneal flap time to heal more firmly. Running involves bouncing and can cause sweat to get in your eyes, which is risky in the first few days.
h4 What happens if I accidentally get sweat in my eyes after LASIK?
If sweat gets in your eyes, do not rub them. Gently pat your face dry with a clean towel away from your eyes. You can use the artificial tear drops your doctor gave you to rinse your eye gently if needed (make sure your hands are clean first). If the stinging lasts a long time or your eye looks very red or hurts, call your doctor.
h4 When can I lift heavy weights after LASIK?
You usually need to wait longer for heavy weight lifting than for light weights. Doctors often recommend waiting at least two weeks or more before doing exercises that involve heavy weights or a lot of straining. This is to avoid increasing pressure in the eye while it’s healing. Always get your surgeon’s specific approval.
h4 Do I need to wear goggles when swimming in a pool after LASIK?
Yes, even after your doctor says you can swim (usually one month or later), you should always wear tight-fitting swimming goggles that seal well. Pool water has chemicals that can irritate your eyes and germs that can cause infection. Goggles help protect your healing eye.
h4 Is it ever safe to play contact sports like basketball or soccer after LASIK?
You usually need to wait at least one to three months or longer to play sports with a risk of contact. Even then, you must wear strong, protective sports eyewear designed for the sport. Some doctors may advise against returning to high-impact contact sports permanently due to the ongoing risk to the corneal flap. Discuss the risks with your surgeon.
h4 What kind of protective eyewear should I use for exercise after LASIK?
For general protection from sweat, dust, or wind during running or cycling, wrap-around sunglasses or sports glasses can work. For sports with any risk of impact (like tennis, basketball, soccer, etc.), you need stronger sports goggles or glasses designed to protect against hits. Ask your doctor what they recommend for your activity.
h4 Can I do yoga after LASIK?
Gentle yoga without poses where your head is much lower than your heart might be okay after about a week, if your doctor approves. Avoid poses that involve bending over sharply, inversions (like headstands or handstands), or anything that puts pressure on your eyes or increases pressure in your head for the first few weeks. Discuss specific poses with your doctor.
h4 When can I go in a hot tub after LASIK?
Like swimming, hot tubs carry a risk of infection from the water. You should wait at least two months or longer, and ideally avoid getting your head under the water even then. Always follow your surgeon’s specific instructions regarding water exposure.
h4 What are the signs that I returned to exercise too soon?
Signs you might have done too much or returned too soon include increased pain in your eye, significant redness, blurry vision that gets worse, light sensitivity, or feeling like something is in your eye. If you notice these symptoms after exercising, stop immediately and contact your eye doctor.