• 

  Find

  
  clinics in your area
• 

  Compare

  
  clinics & read reviews
• 

  Contact

  
  all clinics directly
• 

  Save

  
  money with our special offers

• Light adjustable lens
• What is Laser Eye Surgery?
• Laser eye surgery cost
• Laser eye surgery risks
• Lasik
  • Lasik
  • Lasik procedure
  • Lasik recovery
  • Lasik complications
  • Lasik vs Lasek
• Lasek
• Wavefront
• Intralase
• Laser eye surgery for reading
• Non Laser Treatments
• Refractive lens exchange
• Implantable contact lenses
• Eyesight Guide
• Macular degeneration
• Glaucoma

Lasik procedure:

Understanding exactly what happens during the Lasik procedure is vitally important in deciding whether to go ahead and have the surgery. Lasik is an extremely common surgery with around 100,000 people each year in UK deciding to have it done.

People hear all sorts of things about what to expect during the Lasik procedure and more often than not, what they have heard is not true. For example, one of the biggest reasons that people decide against having Lasik eye surgery is the thought of having an injection in your eye. There are however no injections involved at all in the procedure! Your eyes are anaesthetised using eye drops, which at worst result in mild stinging of the eyes for about 20 seconds.

Before you will be considered safe for Lasik surgery you will first have a consultation to assess your suitability. The consultation will be carried out by either an optician or a surgeon (depending on the particular clinic) and they will typically check the following:

Lasik consultation:

• Your prescription: This is similar to what happens during a regular eye test although it is likely that eye drops will also be instilled in to your eyes. These eye drops help to relax the muscles in your eyes which enables the Optometrist to get an even more accurate measurement of your prescription. These drops cause your vision to be slightly blurred and hence you are advised not to drive to the appointment and generally not to drive for the rest of the day.

• Pupil size: It is extremely important to check the size of your pupils, as people with large pupils are more likely to have night vision problems following surgery. If your pupils are larger than a certain size (approx 6mm), your surgeon may recommended that you have wavefront lasik, as this greatly reduces the risk of night vision problems. 

• Corneal thickness: In order to be suitable for Lasik eye surgery your cornea needs to be of a certain thickness. If your cornea is too thin for standard Lasik, you will be recommended either Intralase Lasik or Lasek eye surgery.

• Corneal integrity and topography (curvature): The cornea is the part of the eye that is lasered during the procedure and so it is vitally important to check that it is healthy and of a regular shape.

• Night vision problems: Your night vision aberrations are measured using a wavescan machine which assesses your current level of night time blurriness. If it is over a certain level, then your surgeon is likely to recommend that you have Wavefront lasik surgery. You can read more about these night vision problems at the following guide: Laser eye surgery and night vision explained.

• Dryness of eyes: Lasik eye surgery will normally cause some dryness of the eyes following surgery. This typically disappears within 6 months of surgery. If you already have dry eyes, your surgeon may be reluctant to treat you as it could exacerbate the condition. Read the following for more information on this: Laser eye surgery and dry eyes.

• General Health of your eyes: It is vitally important to check your eyes are healthy prior to surgery.

 

Assuming you are suitable you will be booked for your Lasik eye surgery.

What to expect on the day of surgery:

• Before you have the actual treatment you will most likely have a pre-surgery consultation with your surgeon. The surgeon will ensure that you fully understand exactly what to expect during the procedure and check that you are happy to proceed. The surgeon may well take a few final measurements to double check everything is ok. After this, you are ready for surgery. Your surgery will be as follows:

• An Anaesthetic eye drop (not injection) is first applied to the eye. This will cause a slight stinging sensation but will wear off after 20 seconds or so. Within 1 minute your eyes will be completely numb.

• A small clip is used to ensure your eye lids are kept open so that you do not blink during the surgery.

• A thin layer of cornea is then separated from the surface of your eye (a flap) using a microkeratome (scalpel) and then gently lifted, allowing the surgeon to access the inner layers of your cornea.

• If you are having Intralase Lasik, the flap is created using a laser.

• The laser is then applied to the inner layers of the cornea for anytime up to one and a half minutes depending on your exact prescription requirements. The aim of the laser is to reshape your cornea to eliminate the prescription in your glasses / contact lenses. The higher your prescription the longer the laser will be applied for. The laser is typically applied for 10 seconds for every dioptre of your prescription. This means if your prescription is -5.00 then it will be 50 seconds.

• An antibiotic eye drop is instilled with the flap open to minimise the risk of infection. The surgeon then replaces the flap to its original position and smoothes it over and it is allowed to heal naturally. A bandage contact lens is often placed on to the eye following surgery in order to protect it.

• The whole procedure typically takes about 15 minutes.

• You can then begin your Lasik recovery.

 

Got a question about laser eye surgery? Ask it in our laser eye surgery forum.

 

Share on Facebook
Tweet