An increasingly popular alternative to spectacles and contact lenses is laser eye surgery. However, if the prospect of a retinal surgeon handling your eyes makes you feel queasy, you might be curious to know how long the procedure takes and how fast you can leave the facility.
During the procedure, the laser tool is normally used for within 28 seconds each eye, while the total time spent in the operation chair is about 20 minutes.
Continue reading to learn how long the procedure takes and other information about the laser vision correction operation.
What is Laser Eye Surgery?
A procedure called refractive surgery, or surgical vision correction, includes laser eye surgery. However, there are other forms of refractive surgery than laser vision correction. Refractive lens exchange (RLE) and implantable collamer lenses (ICL) are two more techniques that do not use lasers.
The cornea is reshaped during surgery using lasers to improve your vision. The outermost layer of the cornea is the first part of the eye, where light is bent as it travels through. The way light focuses through your eye can be altered via laser vision correction by altering the cornea’s curvature by selectively vaporizing tissue.
What Time Does it Take to Complete the Whole Procedure
Although there are a few various kinds of surgical laser eye procedures, the length of each procedure does not differ significantly between them. You should plan on spending a maximum of two hours at the clinic for any form of laser eye surgery.
This allows the medical staff and your eye doctor time to get you ready for the procedure. The eye is prepared by being numbed with local anesthetic drops, you are made comfortable in the recliner, and a device to keep the eyelids open is inserted.
Different Types of Laser Surgery Procedures
LASIK
One of the more popular laser vision correction techniques is LASIK. Your eye doctor will need to cut a flap of the topmost layers of corneal tissue in order to do laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis. A laser is then utilized to remodel the exposed tissue after this flap has been relocated to the side.
The lappet is later moved and given time to self-seal. The quantity of tissue on the cornea required to be reshaped and the length of time that you really spend beneath the laser depends on how much refractive defect is present. However, the majority of people complete both eyes in less than 10 minutes.
PRK
PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) is yet another laser eye surgery technique that is frequently used. PRK does not involve the formation of a corneal flap, in contrast to LASIK. Instead, either using a solution of chemicals or a manual tool, the upper layers of cell membranes are completely removed.
This epithelial layer removal enables the laser to target the underlying tissue. However, the entire PRK process ought to take approximately 10 minutes for each eye, which is similar to LASIK. Following a PRK laser procedure for vision correction, the epithelium will grow back.
SMILE
Small incision lenticule extraction, sometimes known as SMILE, is a more recent method for doing laser eye surgery. One-step, minimally invasive vision correction has been praised for the SMILE technique.
The outermost layers of the cornea are not removed, unlike with LASIK and PRK. Instead of removing the exterior tissue, the deeper layers are shaped into a disc using the laser. The cornea is then modified from within as a result of the removal of this disc of the retina through a keyhole incision.
During the procedure, the laser tool is normally used for close to 27 seconds per eye, while the total time spent in the operation chair is about 20 minutes. As part of this, the eyes must be sterile and anesthetized, the laser must be used, the disc must be removed, and the surgery must be finished.
Read More: Smile Eye Surgery Procedure, Cost, Pros and Cons
What Time it Takes to Recover After the Eye Surgery
It may take a few weeks for your vision to entirely clear after your laser eye surgery. Depending on the type of laser vision correction surgery you underwent and the nature of your regular activities, you may need to take some time off.
After having LASIK, you can start working again the next day if your job is somewhat sedentary, such an office job. You can postpone it a bit longer, often 3 to 5 days, if you have the SMILE procedure. Because the epithelium regenerates more slowly after PRK, your surgeon may advise you to take up to two weeks off from work or driving.
Activities that are more likely to complicate the situation or result in an eye infection might have to be ignored for a little while longer. Swimming (because of the danger of getting sick from the water) and contact sports like basketball and martial arts are examples of high-risk activities. You should plan to avoid these kinds of activities for between two and four weeks after having PRK and for a minimum of a month after having LASIK.
You can resume these tasks within a week after having SMILE because it is a minimally invasive procedure and preserves the eye’s biomechanical stability better. Your recuperation time will be comparable to these periods if your line of work entails an opportunity of infection in the eye or injury. The military and on-site building work are examples of high-risk professions.