Do I Have to be Awake During LASIK Eye Surgery?

Let’s face it, most medical procedures can be quite daunting. This is especially true when it comes to LASIK eye surgery. It makes a lot of sense; perhaps the most precious organs in your body besides your brain are being worked on and altered. This truth combined with the limited or skewed information that most people have about the actual LASIK procedure can create some unnecessary anxiety when it comes time for many people to seriously address their vision problems.

One major concern that many potential patients bring up often is:

“Are you awake during LASIK eye surgery?”

The quick answer to that questions is “Yes!”  

While this answer causes many potential patients to no longer see LASIK as a viable option for them, the truth is that they are making an unfounded decision out of fear. While this fear is completely understandable, the truth about LASIK eye procedures is that they last between 10 to 15 minutes at most. This makes the use of general anesthesia unnecessary. This is because the use of general anesthesia, unless it is absolutely necessary for a major surgical procedure, is dangerous and can damage a body very quickly, even in low dosages.

Hence, the use of general anesthesia is avoided as much as possible.

That is why only some localized numbing drops for your eyes, and perhaps a mild sedative for extreme anxiety, are used during LASIK eye procedures. The laser that actually reshapes your eye is usually only working for about a minute per each eye. You won’t have to worry about any incidental movement (such as a cough or sneeze) ruining your surgery either. The technology used in a LASIK procedure keeps your eyes open and also tracks your eyes up to 4,000 times per second to avoid any miscalculations or problems.

If you are thinking about LASIK eye surgery but need more information, please give us a call here at Diamond Vision! And if you are from Georgia you can contact our Atlanta LASIK Treatment Center.