Is a gritty feeling after bandage lens removal normal after PRK?

What's normal

The bandage contact lens has been covering the healing surface, so taking it out exposes a brand new, still fragile layer of cells. StatPearls says the lens typically stays in about 3 to 5 days until epithelial healing is complete.

The surface is not perfectly smooth yet. EyeWiki describes the cornea healing from the edges toward the center and forming a ridge where the cells meet, around days 4 to 5, which then takes weeks to smooth out. That ridge is why vision fluctuates and why the eye can feel scratchy when you blink.

Dryness adds to it. StatPearls lists dry eye as one of the most common complications after laser refractive surgery. Frequent preservative free lubricating drops are the usual answer, and most people find the grittiness settles within a day or two.

Usually appears the day the lens comes out, around day 4 to 7, and settles within a day or two with lubricating drops.

When it stops being normal

Grittiness that is worsening rather than settling, or that comes with real pain, is different. A randomized trial in the Journal of Current Ophthalmology found that removing the bandage lens on day 4 rather than day 7 was associated with more complications overall, 14.6 percent versus 6.1 percent, including filamentary keratitis at 7.6 percent and recurrent corneal erosion at 4.61 percent.

Call your surgeon if you get a sudden sharp pain on waking, if the eye becomes very red, if there is discharge, or if vision drops after it had been improving. Those can signal an erosion or an infection rather than ordinary healing.