Running After Eye Surgery
PinkNinjaLaura
Posts: 3,202 Member
The first local 5K of the year is April 19. I walked it last year prior to starting C25K and would like to run it this year - kind of coming full circle.
On April 4 I'm having PRK corrective eye surgery. The recovery for PRK is longer than LASIK. I've been told the first 3-4 days will be "pretty painful" (although I'll have numbing eye drops & Tylenol with codeine to help get me through it), then on day 5 I go back in to have temporary contacts taken out and the rest of that day I'm apparently just going to want to have my eyes closed. I asked the surgeon and on day 6 I can resume working out (just not swimming, or something like basketball where I might get jabbed in the eye), although it will likely take a couple days after that for my vision to completely stabilize at 20/20.
Day 6 will be April 9, 10 days before the race. This particular race is a little bit of a pain in the butt logistically, so I wouldn't want to do it just for the sake of doing it - I want to run it for time (although last year it was quite cold & there was snow & ice on the route). It's a fairly flat course which would be a nice starter after not running hills all winter.
I know I could run it, but is it realistic to expect to be able to run it well under the circumstances? Curious what more experienced runners think.
On April 4 I'm having PRK corrective eye surgery. The recovery for PRK is longer than LASIK. I've been told the first 3-4 days will be "pretty painful" (although I'll have numbing eye drops & Tylenol with codeine to help get me through it), then on day 5 I go back in to have temporary contacts taken out and the rest of that day I'm apparently just going to want to have my eyes closed. I asked the surgeon and on day 6 I can resume working out (just not swimming, or something like basketball where I might get jabbed in the eye), although it will likely take a couple days after that for my vision to completely stabilize at 20/20.
Day 6 will be April 9, 10 days before the race. This particular race is a little bit of a pain in the butt logistically, so I wouldn't want to do it just for the sake of doing it - I want to run it for time (although last year it was quite cold & there was snow & ice on the route). It's a fairly flat course which would be a nice starter after not running hills all winter.
I know I could run it, but is it realistic to expect to be able to run it well under the circumstances? Curious what more experienced runners think.
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If you haven't done so yet, I would post this in the long distance running group.0
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I didn't since it's just a 5K...0
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I'd still post it in the Long Distance Group. One of Carson's fav distances is a 1-mile race. It's about end-goals and mind-set not the distance of your next race.
I wouldn't. I always underestimate healing time and always regret it.0 -
After having done a tad bit of research (because that's just me) so I actually understand the procedure it seems that the risk or concern is not really that you'll still be in pain or discomfort but actually that your vision may not completely even out for up to 3 months post OP. If it were me I wouldn't want to be in a situation where my vision might blur or my sight might become slightly disoriented while I was running especially if there's any potential for inclement weather. Did you specifically discuss a competitive race under those conditions with your surgeon? Whatever you decide: prayers for expedient recovery post OP and well wishes during the procedure!0
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Thanks lilbeesmommy. I didn't discuss this specifically with my surgeon, but today I asked a good friend of mine (a long-time runner who has been an informal running coach for me since I started) and she told me that I could probably run it, but don't plan on being competitive (and by that I mean competitive with myself, not the rest of the field). She pointed out that it's not just taking a week off from my running & other training it's also that I'd be doing speed work/pounding that I'm not going to feel up to that.
I've been thinking all winter that I would do this 5K just to kick off the season, but the race itself isn't particularly important to me (just that it was the earliest one) so I'm okay with skipping it.0
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