Also I found the procedure traumatizing.
How so? I’ve often thought about getting this done. What should I expect?
The pressure on the eyeball was much greater than I expected. There’s some type of suction ring they use, I assume, to firm up the eyeball in order for the laser to do its thing.
Put it this way...if the procedure had resulted in imperfect vision, I would have gone back to glasses rather than go through it again.
I'll give you the rundown of my experience of the surgery itself (not including the extensive pre-op exam). I had Lasik done at Lasik MD in Mississauga (suburban Toronto), Ontario, in January of 2003.
The total surgery only took about 10 minutes; I was in the laser room for less than 15 minutes total. I went in and spoke with the surgeon for a few minutes as he looked over my exam chart; it was the first time I had met the surgeon (they have optometrists handle the pre-op exams). He had a question about the axis of the astigmatism in one eye and sent me out to have that verified, after which I returned to the laser room.
First they had me lie down on the "bed" portion of the laser, which pivots out from the foot of the bed. They put numbing drops in my eye; they continued to add more numbing drops almost continually through the process. They taped down my eyelashes, which helped hold my eyes open; they then dropped a speculum (metal ring) onto my eye, which completely prevents the eye from closing. That sounds uncomfortable, but the numbing drops, combined with artificial tears they also continually dripped into my eye, made blinking unnecessary.
They then placed another ring on my eye; this is a portion of the microkeratome used to cut the flap in the cornea. By this time my eyeball was completely numb. They then attached a vacuum hose to the second ring and turned on the vacuum, which holds the ring firmly and precisely to the eyeball; the pressure also has the effect of making your vision go dark in that eye due to an interruption of blood to the optic nerve. This is safe for the time period involved.
Next the handheld microkeratome (electric oscillating blade with handle) was attached to the ring on my eye. When he was satisfied that things were in place, he engaged the blade on the microkeratome; I heard the sound of a small electric motor operating. I felt a slight tingle in my eyeball as the blade made the cut, but no pain; the cut only takes a couple seconds. Then the microkeratome is removed and the vacuum pressure is released, at which point my vision returned, though slightly distorted.
That's where it got just plain weird. They lifted the flap that had just been cut (the hinge was at the top); that's just weird to see happen. My vision went completely unfocused, just incoherent light with no shape at all, due to the removal of the flap. Continuing to irrigate the eye, they swung me under the laser. I was told to look at the red light ("which one?"), and the laser began its work.
Two things surprised me about the actual laser portion of the surgery. First, it was loud - it made a loud grinding noise while operating. It would blast away for 6 to 10 seconds, then take a break for a few seconds; this was repeated about 6 times before it was finished. The other surprise was the smell - it smelled like burnt hair, which was sort of gross.
So after the laser was done (barely a minute), I was swung back out from under the laser. They irrigated my eye some more, then they put the flap back down and brushed it smooth. At that point they removed the keratome ring and speculum from my eye, and untaped my eyelashes. I was able to blink, and I immediately noticed that my vision in that eye was much better than it had been before, though everything I saw looked like I was looking through a glass smeared with vaseline or something.
The entire process was then repeated with the other eye, after which the surgeon did a brief exam and pronounced it "beautiful." I was taken to a recovery room where a few other patients rested; the room was darkened and I was given large, dark wraparound sunglasses. I was in the recovery room for maybe 45 minutes before they took me back out to the lobby; at this point I noticed that my eyes had become very sensitive to light (normal and expected). They did a more thorough check of my eyes and gave me all the drops I would need (steroid, artificial tears, artificial tear "gel", antibiotics), and tape-on shields to use for the first few nights.
I then walked to my hotel (across the street) and took a nap. It was about 6pm.
I woke around 8pm wanting a snack; I noticed my eyes burning a bit, much as if I had been in the sun all day without sunglasses. I grabbed a snack and went to bed for good.
The next morning I got up and my eyes felt fine - no burning, no pain, no discomfort. Maybe a bit dry, but the artificial tears took care of that. I took off the shields and could immediately tell that I wouldn't be wearing glasses anymore. Maybe not quite 20/20 yet, but close. I walked back to the clinic for the post-op checkup; everything was fine. I flew home that day and went to a party that night - very quick recovery.
My vision is now in the 20/10 to 20/12 range (much better than 20/20), and I haven't needed glasses since. I'll need reading glasses in another 10 to 15 years like everyone else, but for now my vision is rather extraordinary.