The whole idea of going through a LASIK eye surgery seems extremely scary since it involves a foreign object operating on the most sensitive organ of your body i.e. your eyes. It seems more frightening when someone says that the surgery involves a LASER or a Blade. You start thinking that a LASER beam would be used to create a hole in your eye (and also head if you think logically!) Or a saw type Blade would be used to cut open your eyes! But the truth is completely different. You won’t feel a thing during the whole surgery and the best thing is the whole operation would be over in just 10-30 minutes. Isn’t its excellent? But you still aren’t convinced by my words, are you? So, let me explain you in details..
What actually happens in LASIK?
LASIK is a surgical procedure which is used to correct the common refractive errors of eyes such as myopia, presbyopia, Hyperopia and astigmatism. For this surgery, a small flap is created on the cornea using either LASER or microkeratome (involves a blade) and it depends on the technology your surgeon is using. This small flap is slightly lifted above to remove the microscopic tissues in your eyes. The amount of tissues removed depends on the refractive error you have developed. This tissue removal reshapes the cornea which allows the light to fall exactly on the retina at the back of the eyes (which didn’t happen previously). As the light falls on the correct position of the retina, you get clearer images since the brain is able to process it precisely. After it’s done, the flap is fixed back into its place.
Does the use of LASER or Blade actually cause any sort of pain during the operation?
No, you won’t feel any kind of pain while going through the whole procedure. Your surgeon will provide you a relaxing drug before you sit for the surgery. And also before starting the surgery your surgeon would ‘SURELY’ put anesthetics in your eyes. (Anesthetics are drugs use to numb the organ so that it doesn’t feel any kind of pain).
What if by chance you close your eyes during the operation?
Chill, that won’t happen since your surgeon will clamp your eyelids with a device prior to the surgery. So, you need not worry about blinking (which is natural).
What happens during the surgery?
During the surgery, the only thing you will be asked to do is look at the orange light. Yep that’s all. Rest would be done by the surgery. And while the surgeon operates don’t panic because your experienced surgeon has done the procedure many times before! Although yes, for few seconds, you might see everything going black! But don’t worry; you will get back your vision very soon.
What should you expect after the surgery?
You won’t get a perfect 20/20 vision just after your surgery. You have to wait at least for 6-8 hours or even a day for a clear vision. There have been very rare cases where the patient didn’t achieve perfect vision within 24 hours. However, they got their vision with a week’s time! (That happens when the patient’s eyes are not healthy enough to withstand the surgery)
After the surgery, you would be given some eye drops and even some pills so that you don’t get any kind of infection or dry eyes. You may feel slight heaviness in your eyes but it is the effect of the anesthetic. The nurses will provide with an eye-pad so that no dust or dirt enters your eyes during the healing process. And yeah! You can’t drive your own car just after the surgery, so you should better take someone with you so he or she may drive you back home after the operation.
Are there chances of getting any kind of eye problem due to this surgery?
Well, no surgery in this world is absolutely perfect, not even LASIK. You may face some problems such as irritation in the eyes, halos around light, weak night vision, dry eyes and more days after the surgery. But for that your ophthalmologist will prescribe eye drops to cure them. With time these things will automatically reduce as your eyes will also heal naturally.
Conclusion: LASIK seems like a painful surgery because it is performed on most sensitive organ but it’s nothing like that. Your surgeon and ophthalmologist will take full care of you ‘before, during and after’ the surgery. During the surgery, you will be given anesthetic so you won’t feel any kind of pain. They will also prescribe you a number of eye drops so that you don’t develop any sort of infection. You will also get eye drops for dry eyes (which are common after LASIK) and irritation. Therefore, you need not to panic by the LASIK procedure! Just think about the benefits you will get from it like a perfect 20/20 vision and relief from glasses and go for it!!