How Is Lasik Surgery Performed?

Who Qualifies

Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery helps people who regularly use corrective lenses. The surgery itself reforms your cornea, with the goal of removing any need for glasses or corrective lenses. Occasionally, you may still need reading glasses after getting this surgery. LASIK is not for all patients, though. It's successful for a relatively wide range of vision issues, including astigmatism, farsightedness and nearsightedness. Though technology is currently evolving to expand the range of patients for whom its successful, those who are on the extremes of any of these conditions may not be good candidates for LASIK.

Starting

If your ophthalmologist determines that you are a good candidate for LASIK, she will thoroughly evaluate your eye. The Mayo Clinic notes that you must have stable vision (meaning your vision is not worsening too quickly) and be in relatively good health overall, as well.

When your eye is examined, a computer maps the shape of the cornea and clearly identifies any irregularities to be corrected during the surgery. The mapping is similar to creating a topographical map of your eye and enables the surgeon to focus specifically on the tissue on the cornea to be smoothed or adjusted.

Surgical Procedure

The procedure itself is short, about 30 minutes in most cases. You recline in either a chair or a gurney, depending on the surgeon, and receive numbing drops in your eye. The surgical team will use a lid speculum to prevent your lid from closing during the procedure. The surgeon then places a tiny suction cup on your eye. Don't be surprised if this causes your vision to dim. The surgeon then cuts a flap on cornea using either a mechanical microkeratome or laser keratome. The process is similar to peeling away the first rings of an onion peel. The flap itself is about the size of a regular contact lens and enables the surgeon to gain access to the cornea's surface.

Using a laser, the surgeon then begins to resurface your cornea. During this time, patients are required to focus on a specific object or light to hold your eye in the same position during the LASIK process.The cornea is slightly flattened to resolve nearsightedness. The cornea is steepened to allow light to focus on the retina in cases of farsightnedess. For astigmatism, the cornea is reshaped to become rounded. The surgeon then closes the corneal flap and leaves it to heal without stitches.

You may smell something during the surgery, similar to hair burning. Don't be alarmed as this smell is a normal part of the resurfacing process. It's the impact of the laser as it refaces the cornea.

If surgical procedures are unnerving, request relaxing medications, such as Valium, before the surgery.