What happens during laser eye surgery?

Having laser eye treatment is easier than it sounds. In fact, the total time you spend undergoing surgery will not be longer than ten minutes. Here are the steps you will go through during a typical operation:

  1. First, the doctor measures your eyes to determine the amount of long sightedness, short sightedness or astigmatism you have.
  2. The doctor examines the health of your eyes and talks you through the procedure to answer any concerns you may have.
  3. Your doctor tests the excimer laser and enters the desired correction into the computer, which establishes the specific set of excimer laser pulses needed.
  4. You are asked to enter the laser room, where you then lie down on an operating bed.
  5. You will experience no pain during the laser eye surgery as the treatment involves no injections.
  6. The doctor will place a patch over the eye that is not being operated on.
  7. Anaesthetic drops are placed in the eye that will receive the surgery.
  8. To hold your eyelid open the doctor will simply use a small speculum that does not cause any pain.
  9. You will have to look at a small intermittent light.
  10. For LASIK eye surgery, the flap is made with the keratome, whereas if you are having PRK eye surgery, the most superficial layer of your cornea will be wiped away.
  11. The eye laser makes a clicking noise.
  12. The blinking light will get hazy as the treatment progresses.
  13. Performing the treatment takes less than one minute of actual laser time.
  14. The doctor will place eye-drops - and in some cases a temporary contact lens - in the eye that has undergone surgery.
  15. After the surgery has been performed, the doctor will ask you to sit up and rest for a few minutes.

Easy, right? To find if you are eligible for laser surgery, read: Are you suitable for laser eye surgery?