skip to main content
Menu
Search

LASIK Surgery to Both Eyes | LASIK Video

May 4, 2017

This patient had LASIK performed on both eyes.  Having the vision correction procedure the same day on both eyes is very common.

The patient is about 45 years old and had worn contact lenses and glasses his whole life.  He is myopic (nearsighted).  By the way, his wife had already had surgery with me and was giving this to her husband as a gift.

 

Topical Anesthesia

The cornea is one of the most sensitive areas of the body, yet topical numbing drops, called Proparacaine, completely numb the eye for the procedure.  In addition to the Proparacaine eye drops, I will also use artificial tears to keep the cornea moist and to allow me to easily position the corneal flap.

You can hear the two of us talk during most of the procedure.  We did not have a microphone for our patient, but you should be able to hear our conversation.  Incidentally, most of the background noise is from the power generator which is always running.  In the unlikely event of a power outage, the Excimer laser will not lose power.

Creating the Corneal Flap

There are several ways of creating the flap.  The flap is custom tailored to a specific thickness based upon the patient’s refraction.  

If you notice, the corneal flap remains attached or “hinged,” on the side of the cornea next to the nose.  This allows efficient unfolding and repositioning of the flap after the Excimer laser ablation.

When I peel back the flap, you will hear me remark that the green fixation light will get blurry.  This is due to moving the flap.  The vision sharpens when I replace the flap.  

Excimer Laser

I have vision correction suites in all 3 of my locations.  This is the Wavelight EX500 excimer laser and is my preferred laser.  

The Excimer laser allows me to accurately remove the precise amount of corneal tissue to change the curvature of your cornea using UV light.  

If you would like to make an appointment or if you have questions regarding a laser vision correction procedure, please call (301.825.5755).  

Mark Whitten, M.D.
Vision Correction Surgeon
LASIK, Cataract & Raindrop