A lot of people worry about LASIK surgery risks, and a common one that they worry about is whether or not the surgery will be painful. Even though a lot of people worry about the risks of LASIK, the fact is that it is typically a low-risk surgery. But even knowing that doesn’t keep people from worrying.
So is pain something you need to worry about with LASIK surgery? And if it is, then how severe of a risk is it? Well, the best way to answer this is to take a closer look at LASIK surgery and recovery to determine when patients may feel pain and whether or not that pain is concerning enough to delay getting LASIK.
During LASIK Surgery
Most people are concerned about whether LASIK surgery itself is painful or not. You’ll be glad to hear that the answer to this question is: LASIK is typically a painless surgery. Before the surgery begins, you will be given numbing eye drops that will quickly take effect. Once the eye drops take effect, the surgery can begin safely.
After the surgery is underway, you should feel very little of anything that happens. The surgery will be very quick, totaling less than 30 minutes in most cases. Much of the surgery time is actually taken up by preparation and set up while the surgery itself takes less than a minute per eye. About a day after surgery, your vision will show a lot of improvement.
After LASIK Surgery
For most patients, pain is not an issue until after the surgery, and even then it’s relatively minor. Those patients who experience pain after surgery often describe it as an itching or burning sensation, or like they have something in their eyes. Because sensations like this are fairly common in patients, it’s normal for you to receive some sort of eyeshield that will prevent you from rubbing your eyes. The discomfort will shortly pass, so the most important thing to do is keep your eyes protected as they begin to recover.
If you keep your eyes well protected as they recover, you should experience little to no pain. The eye’s corneal tissue heals quite quickly, so discomfort will be temporary. However, if you aren’t careful and do rub your eyes while they are still healing, you could damage the flap made on your eyes during surgery, and if that were to happen, you may be required to have another surgery to repair it. The more you can protect your eyes as they heal, the more painless and easy your recovery will be.
After your surgery, there is also a possible risk for infection, which could cause some pain as well. The best way to prevent infection after your surgery is to make sure that you’re doing everything your surgeon tells you to do to take care of your eyes and keep them clean following surgery. If your eyes stay clean, there should be little risk for infection.
As you can see, pain does occasionally accompany your LASIK recovery. But this is entirely normal, not just for LASIK, but for any surgery that you may have in your life. In fact, compared to other surgeries, LASIK may actually be less painful than others you may go through.
Other LASIK Surgery Risks
You may have heard of some other LASIK surgery risks aside from pain. These risks are less common, and most patients who experience these side effects only have them for a short time. However, many people have no side effects after their LASIK surgery.
Some of the common side effects of LASIK surgery include halo vision or glares, particularly at night while driving. Some patients who experienced these side effects may experience them long-term while others will see them fade as their eyes continue to heal from the surgery.
Another risk of LASIK is problems with the flap healing properly. Again, these problems should be minimized if you can avoid rubbing or harming your eyes during recovery, however, occasionally it’s possible that the flap will not heal correctly, resulting in the need for an adjustment to the flap .
At times, it’s possible that the surgery will undercorrect or overcorrect your vision. However, this is becoming less and less of an issue. As technology improves, LASIK surgeons are able to be more and more precise during surgery. If your surgeon is careful in their assessment of your eyes before the surgery, you should have almost no problem with under- or overcorrections.
Though LASIK has a few inherent risks, like all surgeries, the fact remains that it is still relatively safer than most surgeries as well. And with it’s incredible results, it’s one of the best surgeries you’ll have in your lifetime.
LASIK Surgeons Who You Can Trust
When it comes down to it, the surgeon you choose to do your LASIK surgery has a lot to do with how well your results turn out. Even though LASIK surgery is mostly performed through computers, the ability of the surgeon still comes into play before and during the surgery as your vision is assessed and the correct adjustments are made.
Because of this, it is essential to choose top surgeons to perform your LASIK surgery. At Davis Vision, we’re honored to be the home of surgeons who are highly skilled and experienced. Dr. Davis himself has performed over 40,000 LASIK eye surgeries during his career, and that experience shows in his consistently great results.
If you are ready to find out if you qualify for LASIK eye surgery, reach out to Davis Vision and schedule an assessment to see if you qualify to receive LASIK or not. During your appointment, feel free to ask any questions you may still have about LASIK surgery risks. Your surgeon will be more than happy to give your estimation about the risks of LASIK and how to minimize them as much as possible. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to ask about our spring discounts. We look forward to seeing you in our office soon!
