The Surgery
LASIK and ASA generally take five to fifteen minutes per eye. The staff at the surgery center will explain the surgery to you step by step. You can be confident that your eye surgeon will make you aware of everything that’s happening during every step.
Prior to LASIK or ASA eye surgery, your eyes will be numbed with anesthetic drops. These drops are designed to make your experience as comfortable as possible. There are NO shots or injections of any kind before, during, or after the procedure.
During the creation of the LASIK corneal flap, you will feel a slight pressure sensation. After the eye surgeon lifts the flap, you will be asked to focus carefully on a red light while the excimer laser reshapes your cornea. Keep in mind, the surgeon can stop the laser for any reason in just a fraction of a second. Slight movements of the eye during surgery are not uncommon, and will not cause any damage to the eye. Sophisticated eye tracking software allows the laser to follow and compensate for your eye movements during the procedure.
Once the cornea has been reshaped with the laser, the corneal flap is laid back over the eye, where it adheres naturally without the need for stitches. At this point your vision will be slightly blurry, but your focus will rapidly improve over the next few hours.
In contrast to LASIK, ASA requires no corneal flap. A bandage contact lens is worn in the days following surgery to allow corneal healing, and vision gradually improves over the next few weeks.
