When can I put a contact lens in again after laser surgery?
Not until the clinic that treated you says so and the surface has healed, which is measured in weeks rather than days. Putting a lens on a healing surface is a route to infection and, after a flap procedure, to disturbing the flap.
- Subject
- Glasses & contacts
- Topic
- Lenses before assessment or surgery
- Kind of question
- When…
- Procedures
- Contact lenses, LASIK, SMILE
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
What this answer depends on
- Which procedure you had
- How the surface looks at the follow-up visit
- Whether the lens is being used for a prescription or for appearance
Related guides
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Glasses & contact lenses in Lenses before assessment or surgery . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Procedure PRK
- Procedure TransPRK
- Comparison LASIK vs PRK
- Comparison SMILE vs PRK
- Non-surgical option Contact lenses
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026