What to Expect During Your LASIK Procedure Patients are most concerned about experiencing pain during their procedure, but overwhelmingly patients state that the procedure is truly painless. Before your procedure you will receive a series of eye drops including antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and anesthetic drops, which will completely numb the surface of your eye. An eyelid holder will prevent your eye from blinking during the procedure and a suction ring will prevent any movement while the protective corneal flap is created. You will not see or feel the corneal flap being fashioned, but a little pressure or vibration sensation is common. You will be fixating on a red light during the laser treatment, which is lost when the suction ring is applied and normally appears less distinct when the protective flap is opened. As the laser treatment is applied, you will hear clicking sounds and smell the odor of the laser gases, which are also both completely normal. With Custom LASIK, the laser treatment for your right eye is unique to you, as is the laser treatment for your left eye. Once the corneal flap has been created, the eyetracker is locked into position and the customized treatment profile is applied. The optical or treatment zone is maximized, and the contour more natural to improve your visual quality at night. Once your cornea has been reshaped with your prescription, which usually takes between 15-90 seconds, the corneal flap is rinsed and smoothed back into position. It usually takes 1-2 minutes for the natural suction within the cornea to reseal the corneal flap and allow you to blink normally. Dr. Machat will talk you through each step and patients typically comment that it is usually over before they know it. The Custom LASIK procedure literally takes Dr. Machat only 4 -5 minutes to perform for each eye. Most patients request to have both eyes treated during the same session and this is fine, unless there are medical reasons to treat one eye at a time. You will typically be in the laser suite for about 12 minutes. Only one eye is treated at a time, so that if there are any concerns at all, the second eye will not be treated that day. Safety is our primary concern and most patients are recommended to TLC because of our exceptional safety record and our ability to correct any problems that may occur. The Excimer laser and all instruments are thoroughly tested before your procedure. In fact, the microkeratome, which creates the corneal flap is cleaned and tested between eyes as well.