BEFORE

Long-term results from LASIK tend to be best in people who are carefully evaluated before surgery to ensure that they are good candidates for the procedure.

If you wear contact lenses, which can change the shape of your cornea, you'll need to completely stop wearing them and wear only your glasses for at least a few weeks before your evaluation and surgery. Your doctor will provide specific guidelines depending on the type of contacts you wear and how long you've been a contact lens wearer.

During the evaluation, your eye doctor will ask about your medical and surgical history and give you a comprehensive eye examination to evaluate your vision and assess whether you can undergo the procedure safely.

DURING

LASIK surgery is usually completed in 20 minutes or less. During the procedure, you lie on your back. You may be given medicine to help you relax.

After numbing drops are placed in your eye, your doctor uses an instrument to hold your eyelids open.

A suction cup is placed on your eye just before cutting the corneal flap.

Your eye surgeon uses the laser to cut a small hinged flap away from the front of your eye. Folding back the flap allows your doctor to access the part of your cornea to be reshaped.

Using a programmed laser, your eye surgeon reshapes parts of your cornea. With each pulse of the laser beam, a tiny amount of corneal tissue is removed. After reshaping the cornea, the surgeon lays the flap back into place. The flap usually heals without stitches.

During the surgery, you'll be asked to focus on a point of light. Staring at this light helps you keep your eye fixed while the laser reshapes your cornea.

AFTER

Your eyes will be dry, even though they may not feel that way. Your doctor will give you prescription eyedrops to prevent infection and inflammation, as well as drops to keep your eyes moist. You might have a brief, slight burning feeling or blurry vision when you use them. Do not use any eyedrops without asking your doctor about them.

Your eyes will probably heal very quickly. Most patients notice better vision within a few days. Call your doctor if you have any problems or unusual side effects.

Don’t swim or use a hot tub for 2 weeks after surgery. You might get a plastic shield to protect your eyes while you’re sleeping for a few days.

Your doctor will tell you when to come back for follow-up visits. The first one will probably be a day or so after the procedure. Learn more about recovering from LASIK eye surgery.

Your vision can still change after LASIK. You might have to use reading glasses as you get older. More than 10% of people need a second LASIK procedure sometime later to restore the effects. But overall, 90% of patients have vision that’s between 20/20 and 20/40 after LASIK surgery.