LASIK surgery in Singapore is a type of refractive surgery that aims to correct the vision of individuals with myopia or hyperopia. Moreover, it is also an effective treatment for those experiencing astigmatism.

Like all medical procedures, patients will have questions regarding some aspects, such as preparation, process, and postoperative care. As much as possible, you shouldn’t shy away from relaying your concerns to your surgeon. You wouldn’t want to face an unexpected complication before, during, or after the operation.

Therefore, continue reading this article to learn more about these 8 questions you might have regarding LASIK surgery.

8 Questions Patients Have Regarding LASIK Surgery in Singapore

1. Am I Eligible for the Operation?

Before you learn more about LASIK surgery, it is essential to determine what you should do or need to become eligible for the operation. Fortunately, most individuals can undergo LASIK as long as they have myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism.

An ophthalmologist will conduct an eye exam to determine if you can undergo LASIK surgery. During your appointment, they will assess the shape, thickness of your cornea and the size of your pupil. Additionally, they will also check your eyes for refractive errors, such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.

However, individuals who don’t meet the following criteria cannot undergo LASIK surgery to avoid complications:

A patient must be at least 18 years old.
A patient must not have an autoimmune disease.
A patient must not be pregnant.

You shouldn’t consider LASIK if you have healthy eyes and have no history of cataracts, glaucoma, and chronic eye condition. Additionally, it isn’t an effective treatment for other eye conditions. If you are experiencing other conditions, such as age related macular degeneration in Singapore, consult your ophthalmologist to receive the right aid.

2. How Much is It?

Like any other medical operation, such as ReLEx SMILE in Singapore, LASIK surgery can be expensive for some individuals with a tighter budget. Therefore, you must ask your doctor about the total expenses you need to account for before undergoing the procedure.

The average LASIK surgery cost in Singapore is between $2900 to $4500. While it can be expensive for your budget, you don’t have to worry about hidden fees or extra charges.

3. Who Will Perform the Operation?

Next, you want to ask your ophthalmologist who will perform LASIK surgery. If it’s someone other than them, you want to investigate their background, credentials, experience, etc.

While you can trust your ophthalmologist, it pays to be sure that the surgeon operating will have the necessary skills and experience to ensure nothing wrong happens.

Since you will be relying on them to operate according to plan, you don’t want someone who lacks training or experience to lead the procedure. You want experts, not amateurs.

4. Is It Painful?

This one is perhaps the most common question patients have whenever their doctors recommend surgery. Fortunately, anaesthesia is an effective pain-numbing solution that makes individuals insensitive to pain. Whether it is through gases, ointments, or drugs, there are various ways surgeons could use to administer anaesthesia.

For LASIK surgery, your ophthalmologist won’t use general anaesthesia. Instead, they will apply pain-numbing eye drops since the operation will only take a few minutes. Before it begins, your surgeon will explain everything to you and ensure you know what to expect.

5. Are There Any Risks?

Since LASIK surgery will do some damage to the eyes, specifically the cornea, you need to ask your ophthalmologist if there are risks you should be aware of before undergoing the operation. The following are some of the possible side effects you can experience after LASIK:

Impaired night-time vision
Dry eyes
Inflammation
Infection

Fortunately, these risks are temporary and disappear after several weeks or months. Therefore, LASIK surgery is fairly safe. However, consider asking your ophthalmologist for more information.

6. What Will Happen During the Operation?

Since the primary goal of LASIK surgery is to alter the shape of your cornea to improve your overall sight, surgeons will do the following steps to ensure the operation is a success:

Your ophthalmologist will test your eyes and see if your records are correct.
Surgeons will use eye drops to numb your eyes.
Surgeons will create a thin, circular flap in your cornea using a femtosecond laser. Afterwards, they will fold it back, giving them access to your underlying cornea.
Next, surgeons will use a cool ultraviolet laser to remove tissue from your cornea, enabling it to focus light on your retina.
The flap will be unfolded, and surgeons will advise you to give it time to heal.

Although you are awake during the procedure, your ophthalmologist will apply numbing eye drops and sedatives to ensure you remain calm.

7. What Happens After the Operation?

After LASIK surgery, your ophthalmologist will conduct a brief examination to see if the operation is a success. Once they are done, you can go home. However, refrain from driving since your eyes underwent surgery. Therefore, you should have a family member, relative, or friend bring you home.

For the next couple of days and weeks, you will have to visit your ophthalmologist for follow-up check ups to see if your eyes are healing properly.

8. When Will I See the Results?

Although you might experience some side effects, such as inflammation or fuzzy vision, you can expect improvements in your eyesight immediately after LASIK surgery. As the days go by, you can expect your eyes to work better as it heals from their wounds.

Conclusion

Undergoing LASIK surgery in Singapore can help improve the vision of individuals suffering from myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. Although it isn’t a viable treatment for other conditions, such as age related macular degeneration, it is a quick and effective solution for people looking to improve their eyesight.

Like other surgical procedures, patients like you will most likely have several concerns about what to expect and do before, during, and after the operation. Hopefully, these 8 questions tackled in this article will be useful once you decide to undergo LASIK.

However, at the end of the day, you must address your concerns to your ophthalmologist since they are experts in this field of medicine.

Speaking of eye experts, visit Nova Eye Centre if you’re looking for an ophthalmologist who can answer questions regarding LASIK surgery that are not in this article. Check their website for more information.