LASIK is by far the most prevalent and safest refractive surgery procedure. It has been employed to treat a host of visual anomalies. Since its a surgery, people often harbor a false belief that LASIK is a painful procedure. In fact, LASIK is a relatively painless technique, and what the patient experiences during and after the surgery can be categorized as mild discomfort rather than pain.
LASIK is performed with the patient awake and mobile, and this certainly corroborates that the operation is relatively painless. The surgeon typically administers a mild sedative (for instance Valium) and anesthetic eye drops. LASIK involves creation of a flap of corneal tissue. This hinged flap may be created with a microkeratome (a surgical blade) or a femtosecond laser. During this initial step of flap formation, the patient may experience a little bit of pressure on the eye.
In the following step, the flap is folded back to reveal the middle section of the cornea, in order to make way for precise ablation by the excimer laser. Then the flap is repositioned to allow natural healing. Upon completion of the surgery, the patient may experience discomfort, scratchiness and...