Laser Eye Surgery

For most laser eye surgery procedures there are typically 7 steps.

• You will be given a last minute briefing on the day of the surgery, this is designed to make you feel more relaxed and comfortable. The whole procedure will take around one and a half hours.
• You may be offered valium eg 5mg Diazepam to calm any last minute nerves. Just to clarify, there are no big needles involved. Your eye will anaesthetised by a series of drops. The first one might sting a fraction but the rest will be painless.
• The procedure is performed with you lying down. Wear comfortable clothing and bust not to wear any make up or creams. The area around the eye will need to disinfected to prevent infection.
• You might be concerned about  how you will stop blinking. Your eyelids will be held open by a special instrument called an eyelid speculum. This will stay in place throughout the operation and drops will be placed on your eye to keep it moist.
• The first step of the procedure is to make a flap. It is a bit like the flap that is made as you peel a potato. The flap is important because it helps speed recovery and make the procedure relatively painless. With the older style procedure a huge chunk of skin was scrapped off to let the laser do its work. You can imagine how painful that was when the anaesthetic wore off.. The flap will be either cut with a blade called a microkeratome or laser called an  IntraLase laser. The flap of cornea is then folded back so the laser can reshape the structure of the cornea.
• You then look at a red light directly above your eye. This keeps your eye steady while the laser does its work. The laser will pulse in very short bursts and you may even smell burning – that is the tiny amount of your cornea be vaporised by the laser.
• Once enough cornea is removed the flap is repositioned and allowed to settle back down for around 5 mins to ensure good adhesion. Around this time antibiotic drops are placed in the eye to help control any possible infection.
• Your eye will need protection for a day. You will probably have a clear shield taped over the eye. This will be removed when you have a follow up appointment the next day.

After the laser eye surgery you will be given instructions by the staff and will leave you’re your medications. Remember to have someone drive you home as your vision will be a little blurry for a day or so.