The Procedures of LASIK Eye Surgery

LASIK surgery becomes more and more popular among people who want to correct visual refractive errors permanently. It is a relatively easy and painless operation with mature technologies. But it is a surgery after all which may also involve some risks. So it is better to know the procedures of LASIK completely, which will probably help decrease underlying surgical risks.

Only one eye will be corrected per visit

The surgery is always carried out with the patient’s eyes wide open and typically only one eye will be treated during one surgery. If you insist on having both eyes treated at one time, that is fine, too. The reason is that reshaping two eyes at the same visit involves more surgical risks and it is harder for the surgeon to control visual outcomes. During the operation, the patients are sometimes given a mild sedative like Valium to guarantee a more safe surgery.

Three steps of the surgery

On the whole, LASIK surgery is divided into three steps, including creating a flap of corneal tissue, remodeling cornea with the help of laser underneath the flap and repositioning the flap. Flap creation or cutting is generally a necessary preparation before the removal of some corneal tissues. And placing back the flap after corneal reshaping is a necessity, which assists postoperative eye recovery. However, there are some other details of LASIK that should pay attention to.

Preoperative eye anesthetization and body positioning

The administration of eye drops is required 15 minutes before surgery to anesthetize the eye and prevent any eye infection. Then a special solution is applied to clean the surrounding areas of the eye. After that, one of your eyes will be covered to avoid any distraction during the operation. You can lie down in a bed with your eyes in line up with the laser, and an eyelid holder will help make sure your eyes are wide open for surgical convenience. There is usually no infection before the surgery, and you may not feel any pain on your eyes except for a little discomfort. But do not worry because the discomfort is normal.

Details of corneal flap creation

A suction ring device which is ring-shaped will be applied to your eyes and some pressures will be placed on your eyes to create suction. The pressure will be enhanced sufficiently to induce dimmed vision or even completely blacked out. But that is fine because this is a common symptom during the operation for making an ideal flap. A microkeratome which is in fact a surgical blade is used to cut a thin corneal flap once the eye is fixed still. There is also an alternative way to cut the flap by laser. After the cutting procedure is finished, the suction ring will be removed from your eyes. And the doctor will lift the flap, hold it back and dry the exposed tissue.

Reshape the cornea by removing some tissues

You will be asked to stare at a blinking light which is usually red-orange so that the laser beam can be projected into your eyes directly. With the help of a series of short pulses, the laser beam will remove corneal tissues from the stroma which is located in the middle section of the cornea. After that, your cornea will be reshaped. During this procedure, a computer will control the strength and location of laser beam so that your pupil will be positioned accurately even though your eyes may unavoidably move. So you can put your heart at peace during the corneal reshaping period. As long as the computer and device work well, you can be sure to have an accurate reshaping.

A conclusion

Finally the flap will be replaced back to the original position without any stitches. After all of the above procedures are implemented, your LASIK surgery is finished. Knowing these details of the surgery will be helpful to you.