Have you ever thought about the question, “how does LASIK feel?” Or perhaps you’re unsure of what it is?
LASIK eye surgery is a procedure that is performed while you are awake – very similar to the way you’d be awake during a minor dental procedure. One of the most common questions people seem to ponder is how the surgery feels. The short answer is that it feels a little awkward, but other than that, it really doesn’t feel like much at all.
Let’s delve into the actual procedure.
The First Steps of Surgery
Prior to having this kind of eye procedure, your doctor will administer eye drops. These feel pretty much the same as any other kind of eye drops, but the difference is they contain a local anesthetic that will numb the eyes within a couple of moments. As the drops are distributed and you blink your eyes, the numbing agent will be distributed across your eyes. Think of it the same way as windshield wiper fluid works! Your eyes then become numb and you will not feel any pain during the procedure.
Holding the Eye Open
Once you lie down comfortably in a laser suite, those numbing eye drops will have set in. Your doctor may decide to administer more, depending on the effects. Your eyelids will not be numb, though, so you may feel an instrument being used to hold your eyes open.
Take two clean fingers and hold your eye open with them, as if you are putting in a contact lens. Feel how your eye adjusts to reduce the blinking? This is very similar to how you will feel during surgery.
How Does LASIK Feel During Surgery?
There are two main components to this surgery: creating a flap and reshaping your cornea. In order to create the flap, the doctor will use a suction tool. Some patients say they feel slight discomfort or mild pressure during suction and that contributes to that awkward feeling. This is usually the most uncomfortable part of the entire procedure. The doctor usually asks you to look at a light while the laser is treating the eye, but you won’t feel the actual treatment.
How Does Surgery Feel Afterward?
After LASIK eye surgery, many doctors will recommend that you rest your eyes as much as you can for about a day or two. In those couple of hours right after surgery, it is normal to feel a slight burning, discomfort or very mild tearing. This means your eyes have begun to heal from the surgery.
In the same way that a scab starts to itch when it is healing and how a cough will develop when you are clearing out a head cold, there will be a small amount of irritation during the very first few hours after the surgery. This irritation will go away as the eye heals over the coming days.