What Happens During LASIK Eye Surgery

Before the day: the measurements that design your treatment

Every LASIK treatment at Global LASIK & Cataract Institute is designed from a full set of measurements taken at your consultation and typically rechecked on the day of surgery. Corneal topography maps the curvature of the front surface point by point. Pachymetry measures corneal thickness, which decides how much tissue can safely be removed. Where appropriate, wavefront analysis records the eye's higher order aberrations, the small optical errors that glasses cannot correct. Pupil size is measured in dim light, and the tear film is assessed, because a dry surface heals more slowly and gives less clear vision.

These numbers are what your surgeon uses to confirm you are a candidate and to program the laser. If any of them argues against LASIK, you will be told plainly and offered the procedure that fits, whether that is PRK, SMILE or the EVO ICL.

Step 1: numbing drops and positioning

You lie back under the laser and anesthetic drops are placed in each eye. A small speculum holds the eyelids open so you cannot blink onto the treatment, and the surgeon marks the cornea for alignment. Most patients say the drops sting for a moment and then the eye feels nothing but pressure for the rest of the procedure.

Step 2: the femtosecond laser creates the flap

In bladeless LASIK, a suction ring steadies the eye and your vision dims for a few seconds. The femtosecond laser then places millions of tiny pulses at a precise depth in the cornea, creating a thin, hinged flap in about 15 to 20 seconds. No blade touches the eye. The surgeon lifts the flap to expose the corneal tissue beneath.

Step 3: the excimer laser reshapes the cornea

You look at a fixation light while the excimer laser removes a microscopically thin layer of tissue in the pattern your measurements prescribed. An eye tracker follows small eye movements hundreds of times a second and pauses the laser if you look away. The laser is active for between 10 and 60 seconds per eye, depending on the prescription. You may notice a clicking sound and a faint odor; both are normal.

Step 4: the flap is repositioned

The surgeon floats the flap back into position, smooths it, and checks its alignment against the marks. The cornea's own suction holds it in place within minutes, which is why no stitches are needed. The second eye is treated the same way, and the whole visit in the laser suite is over in about 15 minutes.

The first 24 hours

You rest for a short while, the surgeon checks both flaps, and someone drives you home. Vision is blurry and the eyes water and feel gritty for the first few hours; the best thing you can do is sleep. Protective shields are worn that night so you cannot rub the eyes. Most patients wake up seeing clearly enough to drive to their next-morning check, where the flap is examined and the drops schedule is confirmed. Dryness, halos around lights and some fluctuation are expected for the first weeks and settle as the surface heals.

Who this is and is not for

LASIK suits adults with a stable prescription, healthy corneas of adequate thickness, and no active eye disease. It is not the right choice for keratoconus or very thin corneas, for uncontrolled dry eye, or for prescriptions beyond what the cornea can safely be reshaped to correct. Those patients are usually better served by PRK, the EVO ICL or a lens based procedure, all of which are offered here so the recommendation is never bent toward one procedure.