What To Expect During LASIK Surgery
August 10th, 2018
If you’re interested in living a life free of glasses and contacts, LASIK may be the answer you’ve been looking for! LASIK is life-changing and gives you the opportunity to see the world with clarity. This sounds fantastic, but you’re probably still nervous about undergoing a surgery like LASIK. This is completely normal! Take charge of your anxiety by learning more about what to expect when you get LASIK. Just keep reading to find out more!
How LASIK Fixes Your Vision
If you wear glasses or contacts, your eyes suffer from a refractive error. A refractive error occurs when the light that enters your eye does not focus properly. Your cornea is in charge of focusing. During LASIK, your LASIK surgeon at the Laser Eye Center will reshape your cornea to correct your refractive error. By correcting refractive errors, patients are able to see clearly without glasses or contacts.
Everyone’s cornea has irregularities that shape their vision. LASIK surgeons use special corneal-mapping technology to accurately assess these abnormalities, allowing them to correct refractive errors.
Before any incisions are made, anesthetic eye drops are applied. These drops fully numb your eyes, making you unable to feel any pain during LASIK. After the numbing drops have been applied, a small flap is cut into the top layer of the cornea with a femtosecond laser. This laser uses infrared light at a specific wavelength to safely cut into tissue. All you have to do is look at the light while the laser is reshaping your cornea.
After the flap is created, it is lifted, and a secondary laser called an excimer laser is used to carve away a tiny amount of corneal tissue underneath. When the top layer of your cornea is laid back down, your vision is corrected. Because the corneal flap naturally attaches itself after LASIK, there’s no need for stitches.
How To Prepare For LASIK
Before LASIK, it’s important to set yourself up for success. You will undergo an extensive exam that will allow your doctor to determine important things about your eyes such as your prescription, general eye health, and corneal thickness. To be considered a good candidate for LASIK, you must have thick enough corneas.
You will be asked not to wear makeup for a few days before the surgery to minimize the risk of infection. You will also be asked to refrain from wearing contacts for two weeks before your exam, as they can physically change the shape of your corneas.
On the day of your surgery, you will have to find someone to drive you there are back. Although you do not go under general anesthesia during LASIK at the Laser Eye Center, your eyes will be very sensitive to light after the surgery. You cannot drive yourself home after LASIK as result. Since your eyes will be very sensitive after LASIK, you will be told to go home and rest your eyes for several hours. Your eyes may feel dry or scratchy, but this is only temporary. On the day after LASIK, you’ll be required to attend a follow-up appointment. This is to make sure your eyes are healing properly and your vision has started improving. To get the best results from your LASIK procedure, make sure to attend all follow-up appointments that your doctor recommends.
Want to learn more about LASIK or find out if you’re a candidate? Schedule your consultation with the Laser Eye Center today!
