LASIK Surgery and what happens during surgery at North Shore Eye Care

LASIK is the most commonly used surgical procedure for correcting near-sightedness (myopia) far-sightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism. The surgeon creates a "flap" at the surface of the cornea, then folds it back so that the laser can access and re-shape the cornea. The LASIK procedure takes about 10-15 minutes per eye: The surgeon administers anesthetic eyedrops, and then applies an instrument called a lid speculum to keep the eye from blinking and closing. A corneal flap is created using an instrument called IntraLase Laser. The flap is comprised of a thin layer of surface corneal tissue.  The flap is gently hinged back across the cornea in order to give exposure to the cornea. The corneal bed is now re-shaped by the excimer laser as it re-contours the corneal bed specifically to the patient's wavescan prescription requirements.  The laser uses a light beam to precisely ablate or remove a pre-determined amount of tissue across the cornea.The corneal flap is then  re-positioned. No sutures are required because the eye has natural suction capacity that holds the flap in place and securely. Now antibiotic and anti-inflammatory eyedrops are applied. An eyeshield is applied to protect the eye while it is healing. Both eyes can be treated on the same day. Patients can resume a majority of activities on the day following surgery.  At North Shore Eye Care , all of our refractive surgeons (Dr Jeff Martin, Dr Larry Zweibel and Dr John Mauro) are board certified ophthalmologists.