What Is LASIK Eye Surgery?

LASIK, which stands for laser in-situ keratomileusis, is a popular surgery that can correct vision in people who are nearsighted or farsighted, or who have astigmatism.

LASIK Eye Surgery - LASIK painful or not, LASIK Surgery Risk, Types & Treatments

It’s one of many vision correction surgeries that work by reshaping your cornea, the clear front part of your eye so that light focuses on the retina in the back of your eye.

What are the Risks of LASIK?

Like any surgery, LASIK carries risks of problems or complications you should consider.

Some people have side effects after LASIK that usually go away over time. However, in rare cases, they may not go away. For example, almost everyone who has LASIK will have dry eyes and changing vision during the day. These symptoms usually fade within a month. For some people, though, they may take longer to disappear or they may remain.

Other side effects, either temporary or permanent, could include:

Eye pain or discomfort
Hazy, foggy, or blurry vision
Scratchy eye
Glare
Halos (rings) or starbursts around lights
Being sensitive to light
Small pink or red patches of blood on the white of the eye that go away over time

Other Rare Risks Include:

Worse vision than before LASIK, even with glasses or contacts (called loss of best-corrected vision)
Blindness
Eye infection
Also, with LASIK, your vision may end up being under-corrected or over-corrected. These problems often can be improved with glasses, contact lenses, or additional laser surgery.

If you are happy wearing contacts or glasses, you may not want to have refractive surgery. Together, you and your ophthalmologist can weigh the risks and rewards of LASIK.

What are the primary types of refractive error?

There are three types of refractive errors:

Myopia (nearsightedness):- In people with myopia, the mismatch in focusing power and eye length causes distant objects to be blurry and near objects to be clearer.
Hyperopia (farsightedness):- In people with hyperopia, the mismatch in focusing power and eye length causes near objects to be blurry and distant objects to be relatively clearer.
Astigmatism:- In people with astigmatism, either the corneal or lens shape is distorted, causing multiple images on the retina. This causes objects at all distances to appear blurry. Many people have a combination of either myopia or hyperopia with astigmatism.

Is LASIK painful?

Fortunately, LASIK eye surgery is not painful. Right before your procedure, your surgeon will place numbing eye drops into both of your eyes. While you may still feel a little bit of pressure during the procedure, you should not feel any pain.

Your surgeon may also give you another medication, such as Valium, to help you remain calm and relaxed during the procedure.

After your surgery, it is common to feel a slight itching or burning sensation in your eyes, but it should go away quickly.