What Happens During LASIK

Your LASIK day surgery will occur in a suite specialized for laser eye surgery. In Austin or elsewhere, you'll seldom find a laser suite with the same combination of technical advances, attention to detail, and comfort for patients.

Even the air is special. It's important to tightly control the air density because even a small change may affect laser surgery. So each suite has its own very advanced Liebert environmental control system. It very closely regulates the exact humidity, temperature and air filtration. For your Eye Physicians of Austin ophthalmologist, the Liebert system offers yet another chance to improve the quality of your LASIK surgery.

In the suite, the staff and your Eye Physicians of Austin ophthalmologist make sure you're comfortable in a reclining chair. Then a few drops of topical anesthetic numb the eye. (These drops may sting a bit.)

An eyelid holder (speculum) is placed between the eyelids to keep them open and prevent you from blinking.

(Thanks to the American Academy of Ophthalmology for most of the following material. - The Academy is the organization for Eye M.D.s, including laser eye surgeons in Austin and nationwide. The Academy's educational materials have been carefully written and screened by experts. We like the way they say such things and the medical standards they promote.)

A suction ring placed on the eye lifts and flattens the cornea and helps keep your eye from moving. You may feel pressure from the eyelid holder and suction ring, similar to a finger pressed firmly on your eyelid. From the time the suction ring is put on the eye until it is removed, vision appears dim or goes black. An automated microsurgical instrument, either a microkeratome or, more often, an Intralase laser, is attached to the suction ring. Both devices move under a paper-thin layer of the cornea and stop at a preset point, far enough from the edge of the cornea to create a hinged flap of corneal tissue. If the surgeon uses the microkeratome, the moving blade makes a buzzing sound. The Intralase laser clicks when it moves. The suction ring and attached equipment are then removed from your eye.

The microkeratome blade lifts the corneal tissue.

As the corneal flap is lifted and folded back, your vision gets blurrier. The laser, preprogrammed with measurements customized to your eye, is then centered above the eye. In most cases, a pupil tracker will keep the laser centered on your pupil during surgery.

The laser sculpts the exposed surface of cornea.

You will stare at a special pinpoint light called a target light (fixation light) while the laser sculpts the exposed corneal tissue. The laser makes a clicking sound that can be heard during the procedure. After the laser has completed reshaping the cornea, the surgeon places the flap back into position and smoothes the edges. The flap adheres on its own in two to three minutes.

The tissue flap is replaced.

What happens after LASIK?
For details, see After LASIK surgery.