What to Expect During My LASIK Surgery?

Don’t Worry About It

First of all, don’t worry and get all nervous; there’s really nothing to fear from LASIK surgery (I’ve had it done). Your doctor will probably give you a mild sedative to calm your nerves and then put drops in your eye/s that will numb them so you will feel little or nothing during the actual surgery. The surgery itself normally takes only about fifteen minutes for both eyes.

The Procedure

After your eyes are numbed, you will lay down on a comfortable lounge chair, like in your dentist’s office. During your LASIK surgery, the area around your eyes will be gently cleansed and you will be asked to look up into a ‘target/light’. Your LASIK eye surgeon will control a computer that uses cool pulses of ultra-violet light to cleanly and precisely create surgical flaps on the center of your corneas. These lasers smoothly sculpt the surface of the corneas. The flaps are then replaced. Each pulse of the laser evaporates only a very tiny layer of corneal tissue, about 1/500 of the thickness of a human hair.

Following your LASIK surgery, you will NOT need any stitches since the cornea has superior bonding qualities. You will NOT need any eye patches after your procedure.

Most patients notice a remarkable improvement in their vision immediately after their surgery. Your eye surgeon may ask you to read the clock on the wall of the operating room; you will probably be amazed at how easily you can do this. Your vision may continue to stabilize for up to six months following the surgery.

Follow-Up

You will need someone to drive you home after your LASIK eye surgery since you will have received some sedation medicine. You will also probably be somewhat fatigued following the surgery, mainly because you will have been nervous and are now calm and happy. Take the day off, get some rest and follow your ophthalmologist‘s instructions on taking care of your eyes.

If you have questions about preparing for your refractive eye surgery, read our article, “What to do before LASIK Eye Surgery”.

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