Tired of waking up and not being able to see a thing? You might be ready for LASIK surgery, where a laser is used to reshape the cornea which improves how light focuses on the retina, resulting in improved vision.

Say goodbye to spectacles and contact lenses for good!

1. Near sightedness
2. Far sightedness
3. Astigmatism

Before getting Lasik surgery done, there are a number of factors that will need to be assessed in order to decide if a patient can have it done safely.

First and foremost, the health of the eye is considered. There are many things a surgeon will look for before deciding on surgery. Glaucoma, high eye pressure, dry eyes, infections or inflammations and corneal condition.

An eye scan will be scheduled where the patient’s eyes are mapped in detail to help the doctor decide how to progress with the surgery. He will specifically look for corneal thickness, shape and irregularities to decide which area to perform the surgery on. Glaucoma and cataracts are factors that can affect the decision to go ahead with the surgery.

The overall health of the patient is also taken into consideration. Diabetes, hypertension, pregnancy, medication, auto immune conditions and other medical conditions may render a patient ineligible for Lasik surgery.

Once it is decided that the patient can safely have refractory surgery done, they are given certain instructions, such as not wearing contact lens for a certain number of days before the surgery, not using cosmetics etc.

Lasik surgery usually takes between 20 and 30 minutes. Once the surgery is over, the doctor will monitor the patient for a while before scheduling a follow-up appointment and discharging them.

The patient will not be allowed to drive home.

The patient can expect some discomfort and pain after the surgery. These can usually be managed with medication prescribed by the surgeon.

Some other effects of the surgery can be any one or a combination of a blurry vision, halo, watery eyes and itchiness.

The patient will also be asked to avoid cosmetics for a few weeks after the surgery.

It is important to know that optimal results of the surgery are not observed till a few weeks or even months after the surgery itself. The patient will also be advised to avoid high-impact sports and water sports such as swimming.

Lasik surgery is generally considered low risk. However, before the decision to do the surgery is made, the surgeon will walk a patient through the process and make them aware of possible risks.

These risks can include possibility of vision not improving as much as anticipated, infection and excessive tearing.

Slightly serious risks involve over-correction or under-correction of the corneal tissue. Under correction happens when an insufficient amount of tissue is removed. This is easily rectified with another surgery within one year of the first. Over correction is when more tissue than required is removed and is much more difficult to fix.