What to Expect with a Lasik Procedure

For 2 days prior to your surgery appointment, you will be asked to stop using any eye makeup and face creams. You are more likely to pick up an infection if there are any cosmetic products on your eyelashes. Your doctor will also tell you to wash your eye area (including eyelashes and eyebrows) with shampoo right before your procedure.You will also have to go without perfume or cologne, because the fumes can actually affect the laser. Plan on having someone drive you and pick you up after your time at the hospital as your vision will be too blurry for safe driving. Same goes for your first post-op visit. Even if you plan on public transit, you should have someone accompany you for safety. For the surgery itself, it really only consists of 2 major steps and the entire process will be over in just a few minutes. Step 1 - Creating Corneal FlapsYour eye is completely numbed with a topical anesthetic, and you may also be given a sedative to help you relax for the surgery. A tool called a speculum is used to hold your eyelid open after being treated with antiseptic. The small flaps are then cut into your cornea with another instrument called a microkeratome. There are two kinds of microkeratomes. It may have an actual blade, or it can use a laser (usually called bladeless lasik or intralase). The laser version can make thinner flaps, making it a much better option for patients who can't have traditional lasik surgery because they have cornea that is thinner than usual Step 2 - Laser AblationAfter the flaps have been cut and folded back, the deeper corneal tissue, known as the "corneal bed" will be exposed. It's here that the excimer laser will be applied, to ablate the corneal bed surface to change its shape. A computer program is used to help guide the laser, which will apply repeated pulses of ultraviolet (UV) light to the eye. Cells will be instantly vaporized without any damage to neighboring tissue. This cell destruction will change the shape and curve of your underlying cornea. The flaps are then folded back into place and left to heal without stitches. When it heals, the refractive errors in your eye that required you to wear prescription lenses should be fixed now that the curve of the cornea has been adjusted.