What Happens on the Day You
Come to the Clinic?
The day of surgery
It is natural to feel nervous,
anxious or excited prior to your surgical procedure.
Again, this is a completely natural and normal response.
Do not to wear perfume or cologne
on the day of your surgery. Also, please do not use
any hair products that contain alcohol such as hair
spray or mousse.
Please remember to pre-arrange
alternate transportation for after your surgery, because
your eyes will be irritated and sensitive to light.
This usually dissipates within 24 hours after surgery.
It is important that you remove all facial makeup (lipstick,
facial creams, eye makeup etc.) a minimum of 3 days
prior to surgery. For your own safety, surgery will
be cancelled if makeup is present.
We also recommend avoiding alcohol
24 hours prior to and 48 hours after your surgery, as
this tends to dehydrate the tissues. Wear comfortable
clothing on your surgery day, and avoid clothing such
as wool that may generate lint in the surgical suite.
In consideration of others, and
to ensure your visit is as comfortable as possible,
please do not bring young children/infants with you
to the clinic.
When you arrive on the day
of your surgery, expect to be at the clinic for a duration
of two hours. You will be asked to fill out a patient
consent form. Once the forms are completed you will
then meet with one of our surgical counselors who will
go over the drops procedure and what you can and can't
do after surgery.
You will be required to return
to our clinic within 24 hours after your surgery for
your first (mandatory) post-operative appointment. Your
appointment time will be given to you immediately after
your surgery.
Surgery
After applying anesthetic eyedrops
to numb the eye, the ophthalmologist uses a special,
automated instrument called a microkeratome to fashion
a micro-thin, hinged flap in the top layer of the cornea.
This flap is then gently retracted and the excimer laser
which has been computer programmed especially for your
amount of refractive error, vaporizes the underlying
cornea to the desired degree of curvature. The flap
is carefully replaced and the eye's natural suction
enables it to adhere without the need for stitches.
The entire procedure takes less than 15 minutes for
both eyes and is remarkably pain-free.
As a patient, all that is
required of you is to lie down beneath the microscope
arm of the laser and look at a red fixation light for
a minute or two. A spring-like device called a lid speculum
will be positioned in your eye to keep your eyelidsduring the procedure. If you happen to move your
eyes for a second, the laser will stop so that no irregular
reshaping of your cornea takes place. A mild sedative
can be given preoperatively if you are especially anxious
or nervous. Visual recovery is relatively quick with
most patients seeing fairly well the very next day without
eyeglasses. Some patients, however, may take up to 5
or 6 days to achieve their best vision
For more detailed information,
click here to request an information
package or you may also click
here to download further information that you may find
useful.
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Meet
patients who have had laser eye vision treatment or
the CK read-again without-glasses correction? Click
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