Are you awake during laser eye surgery?

Over 30 million people have had LASIK vision correction since 1999. It is becoming increasingly popular as technology advances and becomes more affordable.

Even with today’s technology, people still have many concerns about laser eye surgery. One common question people often ask is, “are you awake during LASIK?”

Most people think that laser surgery on part of your body requires general anesthesia. But, this is not the case. This is because the use of general anesthesia carries a greater risk than the LASIK procedure itself. So, surgeons usually avoid its use.

The surgical procedure is so quick—it only takes a few minutes—that patients only need numbing eye drops. These make sure that you will not feel any pain but you will not put to sleep.

To make you say calm` and relaxed, the eye surgeons explain every step of the surgery.

What happens if you blink during LASIK?

Most people envision LASIK to involve big, scary lasers which shoot beams into their eyes. If you’re someone who has trouble putting things in your eyes, then this image is quite worrisome.

So how do you keep from blinking during eye surgery?

Surgeons use a special blinking retainer called a lid speculum. This holds the eyelid in place and helps prevent blinking. The latest LASIK equipment can track the eye’s movement at an amazing speed of 4,000 times per second. This means that if you did blink or move your eye during surgery, the equipment would halt operations. It will resume as soon as the eye is back in place.

What does laser eye surgery do?

LASIK surgery corrects refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Laser eye surgery works by reshaping the cornea. The cornea focuses light onto the retina at the back of the eye. If you need glasses, your cornea does not reflect light correctly. Reshaping your cornea with lasers helps it focus light to create a more sharp and clear image.

What’s the best laser eye surgery?

We answered the question, “are you awake during laser eye surgery?” Now you may be wondering what the best laser eye surgery is for you. To find out, we recommend getting a free video appointment with our eye specialist. Here we can answer any questions you may have about laser eye surgery.