Let’s face it. You don’t want to put your life on pause after you get lasik. And the intimate parts of your life with your partner are no exception. Sex is an important part of a healthy relationship. You may not have thought there could be any connection between sex and lasik, but there is a small one to know about.
You don’t have to give up sex after lasik. And you don’t necessarily have to worry about your eyes either, but there are some things to note. Sex can be a workout and cause you to sweat. After lasik, it is important to keep sweat out of your eyes to allow for the best healing.
Keeping this in mind and possibly making a few small modifications to your sexual routine can keep both you and your partner happy.
What We Want To Avoid After Lasik
The biggest restriction after lasik is to avoid getting water in the eye. This is why after lasik it is important to avoid swimming in lakes, oceans, pools and hot tubs. Also why you want to avoid getting water in your eyes when washing your face or when taking a shower.
There are two main reasons why water can interfere with healing after lasik.
Infection Risk
Water provides a source of infection. This is perhaps the biggest reason to avoid water. Bacteria love to live in water. While you may think water may be clean, it can still contain bacteria (although some sources of water will contain more bacteria than other sources).
The lasik flap does heal up very quickly. The thin scratch in the eye created by the lasik flap heals over in less than a day. Once this occurs, the risk of bacteria getting into the eye drops dramatically. But we still want to be cautious and avoid excess bacteria for the first few weeks after lasik. While very rare, any excess bacteria can potentially get through the healing cornea and cause an infection to develop. Something that we all want to avoid.
Irritation To The Eye
Contaminants in water can cause general irritation to the eye. Ever splash sea water in your eyes? Than you know exactly what I’m talking about. Salt and other “stuff" in water can irritate your eyes. On a normal day this will just be annoying. But after lasik, this can cause a set-back to your recovery.
Everyone after lasik will have some degree of dry eye. Within the eye are tiny nerves that allow you to produce tears. These nerves are disrupted by the lasik flap and treatment. Until these nerves grow back, the eye has a decreased ability to produce tears - it dries out more.
When the eye dries out, inflammation forms on the surface of the eye. Not only is inflammation annoying in that it makes your eye feel irritable, but inflammation will also cause your eye to dry out more! This in turn causes more inflammation to develop. A vicious cycle. Thus, after lasik, we want to prevent inflammation from building up on the eye.
Things that irritate the eye will cause inflammation!
What is one common and important source of water that can irritate the eye? Sweat! And not only will sweat irritate the eyes, but sweat can drip bacteria from our forehead down into our eyes.
After lasik, it is important to keep sweat out of your eyes.
Sex Can Be A Workout
You can get a decent workout during sex. While it may not be the same as running a 5k, the intense physical activity from sex can work up your heart rate and burn some calories. But at the same time, sex can make you sweat. Why is this important? Well, after lasik we want to keep sweat out of the eyes.
That’s really the only connection between sex and lasik. So, as long as you take steps to prevent sweat from getting in your eyes, you’re good to go.
So how can you have sex without worrying about your eyes after lasik?
- Probably the most practical way is to change up your position. You will be more physically active in different positions during sex. Being on top requires more energy than being on bottom. The more energy required, the greater than chance of you breaking into a sweat. So allowing your partner to be on top will keep your heart rate, energy exertion and thus sweating at a minimal level during sex (but also be sure that your partner isn’t sweating on you).
- Turn on the fans! This is especially important if you live in hot and humid environments. Fans will provide more air circulation around your body. This air circulation will encourage evaporation and prevent any sweat from collecting on your forehead or face.
- Slow down your sex. Instead of high intensity for a shorter duration, extend out the duration. This will keep your physical activity more moderate and can also allow for a more intense or deeper experience with your partner.
- If you notoriously sweat a lot, you may want to consider wearing a headband or a sweat band during sex. While this may seem or look ridiculous, it can be an effective way to keep sweat out of your eyes. When your partner gives you a funny look, just blame it on the lasik.
Summary
Sex is an important part of relationships and there is no reason you need to avoid it on the account of lasik. But sex can give you a workout and cause you to sweat. It is important to just be aware that you will want to avoid getting sweat in the eyes. By taking a few precautions, both you are your partner can enjoy each other’s company without worry.
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