Does Lasik eye surgery hurt?

3 questions in one.

1) Does it hurt, or can you even feel anything.
2) I hear on the radio that LASIK is now done 100% laser. Is that true?
3) I have astigmatism. Can I still have LASIK.

1. no
2. no
3. yes

Not one bit. Make sure you go to a respected surgeon with credentials and not the mall. I had mine done years ago and on a good day I have 20/15 vision. Night vision was decreased about 5%, but not having to wear glasses or contacts makes it worth it.

P.S.
A year and a half after my surgery I boxed Golden Gloves for 2 years with no ill effects.

You can't feel what they are doing to you and yes it's 100% laser, and it will fix astigmatism. However, before you decide to have the surgery ask the doctor about how it will effect the amount of tears your eyes produce and what sort of medicine they will give you to relax before the surgery. They gave my son vallium and he had major problems because he couldn't hold his eyes still due to the vallium and he got a corneal abrasion. That really hurts. When I had it done, I had no problems at all, but Vallium didn't effect me the way it did my son. Ask the doctor lots of questions. Here's some links that will help:

http://www.medicinenet.com/lasik_eye_sur...

http://www.medicinenet.com/lasik_eye_sur...

I have astigmatism, and I was about 20/250 before Lasik surgery last year. The procedure was painless, probably due to the Valium they gave me. The ride home (as a passenger, of course) was fairly uncomfortable, mainly due to light sensitivity. The doctor gave me dark goggles, but the light was still too bright. I was in some pain once I got home (maybe 3 hours post procedure), but I had some left over Vicodin, and took two doses of that. The Vicodin took the edge off. Slept fine that night. Woke up the next morning, and I COULD SEE FINE! Hallelujah! I was jazzed up about that. I drove myself to my one day check up (an 2 hour round trip) with no problems. For that check up, I was seeing at 20/25, less than 24 hours after the surgery. I went to work that afternoon (doing ultrasound which really requires you to use your eyes). For my one week check up, I was seeing between 20/20 and 20/15. Other than the touch of pain I had post procedure, before I went to bed for the night, I had no other problems. I would do it again in a heartbeat! No more glasses, no more contacts, no more cleaning solutions and saline!

My advice would be to talk to everyone....talk to your family, friends and co-workers. Then ask your family, friends and co-workers to talk to their family, friends and co-workers....you get the idea. I found my surgeon by word of mouth. I asked everyone I know if they had Lasiks (or knew anyone who had Lasiks), and what doctor they went to. Almost everyone I talked to in my area went to the surgeon I ended up going to, and everyone was perfectly satisfied. I went into the procedure very confident! Good luck to you!

Just one other thing....I went to a doctor who used computerized, laser equipment. No knives were involved. The laser tracked the movement of my eye, so it was pretty hi-tech. But, it cost me a pretty penny. I paid $5500 for both eyes, but I was not comfortable going to a doctor that advertised in the newspaper for $500 per eye. Sometimes you get what you pay for! Good luck to you!

I read that an answerer above me has a decrease in night vision since Lasik....but, mine has greatly improved! It is funny how the same procedure can give different results for different people!

When I did it, in 1999, the Lasik itself wasn't anything. The healing period, however, was something else. I understand the technique used now is painless and the healing period is nowhere near as bad and is greatly reduced. Yes, they can handle astigmatism - I had it.

Don't have this procedure done if you're over the age of 40 because you'll still need glasses. That's why I haven't had it done. I'm a rare person over 40 who still doesn't need reading glasses.

1) Lasik does not hurt during the surgery but right after, you might feel a stinging sensation, like you rubbed chilli on your eyes, to some, it may feel a little uncomfortable, for some, it might feel like the worse thing to happen. But the majority of people will not feel much.
2) There is 2 steps for LASIK. The first is to open the flap and then do the changing inside. There are 2 methods - Traditional, which is the blade or microkeratome and the other is the latest (since 2003 i believe) which is the intralase. It uses the laser to open the flap and is safer and has better results (check www.intralase.com)
3) Yes. LASIK not only corrects your shortsightedness but also your astigmatism but it depends on what laser machine your doctor uses to allow for different kinds of astigmatism, or possible, Higher order abberations through custom Lasik.

Depending on the laser machine that the doctor uses and the package you choose, there may be varying degrees of night vision changes. The Aspheric method by Bausch & Lomb helps to solve night vision along with the Custom Wavefront method offered by several companies. Check the FDA website (www.fda.gov) for more details on which machine has best results with Custom Lasik etc. Some Laser machines offer a eye tracker that helps to improve results by compensating if your eye moves.

As for the person who said that those over 40 should not do lasik, it is not exactly a correct statement. Actually it depends on individuals. To learn more about this, check the internet for something called Monovision and presbyopia. Or check allaboutvision.com

Another person talked about his son having a corneal abrasion. Chances are, this person did it with the Blade technique which increases the chances of it i believe.

The center i did it at did not give me any pills. Only local anastesia was required. I did not feel pain at all.