Can You Be Put to Sleep for Laser Eye Surgery?

Yes, you will be awake throughout the corrective eye surgery procedure with LASIK. Some people assume that because they are undergoing a surgical procedure, they will be given anesthesia and put to sleep. During more invasive or major surgeries, anesthesia is used to sleep. Anesthesia prevents you from feeling pain because of the procedure being performed and is generally considered very safe.

However, general anesthesia requires the help of an anesthesiologist, a doctor who practices anesthesia. Or you feel quite anxious and prefer not to be awake when a high-power laser is aimed directly at your eye. Many people think that surgery that involves using a laser to cut the eye would require general anesthesia. But the reality of being awake during laser eye surgery isn't as scary as it seems.

LASIK eye surgery can be a great option for permanently correcting vision and ultimately getting rid of those annoying glasses and contact lenses that are often time consuming. Lasers monitor the eye's micromovements several times per second and turn them off as soon as they detect the slightest movement caused by sneezing or coughing. That said, undergoing any type of surgery is a terrifying prospect, and laser eye surgery is still a big decision. Your eye doctor will prescribe eye drops and pain medications that will last for several hours after surgery.

A patient from Camarillo asked me with concern today if injections or any type of needle were used to numb the eye during LASIK laser eye surgery. As expected, one of the most common fears of staying awake during laser eye surgery is that, in some way, the result may be compromised by sneezing, coughing, or moving at precisely the wrong time. We look forward to working with you to determine the best eye surgery or nonsurgical treatment for your individual needs. In addition to being designed as a minimally invasive procedure, to avoid any discomfort, anesthetic drops are applied to the eyes before surgery. Instead, topical anesthetic drops are the only type of anesthesia used to numb the eye during laser eye surgery.