Oh what a wonderful trip we had to Vegas! The sun was shining bright, the heat was around 90+, we had five pools from which to choose, and a $25 pool drink credit per day. The joys of being relaxed and doing nothing!
Since I was a month post-Lasik, I knew I would need to protect my eyes from the heat and sun. Something I should have though of before the surgery, but it was workable.
Here is what I did to protect my eyes while on vacation.
I asked my eye doctor if there were extra precautions I should take. The basics were these:
- Sunglasses at all times.
- A hat with a visor (I used a baseball cap) at the pool and any time outside during the day.
- Lots and lots of eye drops.
Now, I did those but I added some items.
On the plane to and from Vegas I did had the following:
- Extra Lubricant Eye Drops
- Motorcycle “padded goggles
”
- Small spray bottle of water
” Planes tend to have dry air due to the oxygen and circling air in the cabin. The motorcycle goggles kept the flowing air out of my eyes. The small spray bottle of water kept my face and eyes moist to help prevent extra dry eye.
I had two pairs of motorcycle goggles. The dark pair was for during the day and the pair with clear lenses worked for indoors and at night. It is amazing how dry air can wreck havoc on dry eyes.
Now at the pool, I had the following:
- Sunglasses
- Spray bottle
- Eye drops
- Baseball cap
- Towel
Towel you ask? You bet!
I suspected that my sunglasses would only block so much sun and wind. Vegas, especially at the pools. can be windy and the direct sun harsh. I took a small hand towel with me to the pool and draped it over the top of visor part of my cap and my sunglasses. This blocked any wind and sun that may have gotten behind the glasses. I am glad I did take the towel. I found myself using extra drops even with the extra blocking.
Overall, a sun vacation after recent Lasik is doable. One needs to be aware of the risks and be prepared. If you prepare ahead of time there should be no complications. I can only recommend that if you DO plan to take a sun vacation right around Lasik, schedule the Lasik for after the trip.
Daily Observations
- Eyes less tired by end of day.
- Switched to bottled eye drops. One bottle has currently lasted me a little over two weeks.
- Eyes less sensitive to indoor light.
- Eyes less dry at the 45 day mark.
- Still protecting eyes when doing anything dusty (like cleaning) or outdoors.
- Current Lasik total cost: Visits + Products = $4151.00
