Ophthalmologist Questions LASIK

What is used to keep your eyes open during LASIK eye surgery?

I'm due to get LASIK at the end of the month, and I'm just worried about the way the procedure is going to be done. I understand that my eyes need to be open throughout the surgery, but what's going to be used to keep them open?

13 Answers

OphthalmologistLASIK
You will not blink during surgery because an instrument called a lid speculum will be used to hold your eyelids open.
The instrument is called a speculum. It gently holds your eyes open.
A small lid speculum (you have topical numbing) so you don’t feel it and you can’t blink against it
An instrument called a lid speculum is used to keep your eyes open. So don’t worry about that.
A small, springy instrument called a lid speculum is used to keep your lids from blinking or closing. It doesn't hurt; you will feel pressure on your lids, but not pain. During the procedure, you will be asked to focus on a light above you, but small movements are normal, and will be automatically and rapidly tracked by the laser itself. Don't worry or stress yourself out - the procedure will be very fast and will not hurt. Within a very short time, you will notice a big improvement in your vision and will be very glad you had it done - you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner!

Nancy A. Tanchel, M.D.
When we perform LASIK, we use a soft wire device called an eyelid speculum that gentlily spreads the eyelids and allows us to expose the eye for the laser treatment. It keeps the eyelids out of the way and we encourage our patients that it is okay to blink normally
Generally, a small, delicate eyelid retractor is used to hold your eyelids open during the very short LASIK procedure.
A small device called a "speculum" is used to keep the eyelids open. You won't be able to blink during this procedure. The laser also has a tracking computer that will stop the laser if your eye moves off center and resumes when you re focus on the target.
Typically, we use an eyelid speculum which holds the lids open. It doesn't hurt and prevents you from blinking during the procedure.
Good luck and I hope this was helpful!

Nisha Patel, MD
An eyelid retractor will be used to keep the eyelids open so you don’t need to worry about not blinking.

Frank Cao
Your eyes will be kept open with speculum. Don't worry about it. Just relax and it will be done.
A wire lid speculum is commonly used to hold the lids open. The eyes are anesthetized with a drop of proparacaine before the lid speculum is inserted. You will also most likely have your eyelids and lashes draped to prevent infection.
Usually, the day of LASIK you will get some relaxing medicine prior to procedure. Some give 10mg Valium. Then, you are taken back to a LASIK suite and laid down under a microscope. Next, a gentle wire lid speculum is placed to keep your lids open. You will not be able to close the eye that is being worked on.