laser eye surgeryn=”left” />
I would really like Laser Eye Surgery, but have a massive phobia of surgerys/hospitals?

…Is there any scope to be put under general anathetic for it, or have a highly calming drug before hand, I fear with the level of panic I get from needles alone, I would never even get to the table for an operation like this.

Hi Sel…I too have a huge fear of hospitals and surgeries and I had PRK…Unfortunately, there is no scope for a general anesthetic…I asked!

My PRK surgeon told me they cannot give you more than a mild sedative (mine gave me valium) because the surgeons need you to be able to concentrate to stare at the blinking light to keep your eye from moving too much. Many of the lasers these days do have pupil tracking on them, but if you are knocked out, you have NO control over your eye movements, which can royally screw up your LVC surgery.

Rest easy…there are NO NEEDLES USED! You will never know about any type of pain at all! The Valium dose I got was 5 mg…and it really did take the edge off…I was sooo anxious!!! But my surgeon also told me they give valium, not so much as an anti-anxiety medication, but to help you sleep afterwards when you get home.

Sel, I had it all built up in my head about how bad it was gonna be…but it only took 10 minutes for both eyes…and the longest part was my surgeon positioning the laser! 30 seconds for my epithelium removal (which actually tickled!!), 60 seconds for the laser (and I had custom wavefront), and 20 seconds for the mitomycin C and saline rinse. All I really saw was the blinking light getting clearer and clearer.

Now, you have to make decisions about what is right for YOU. No one else can make that decision for you. If you have way too much anxiety and you think you’ll freak out when they’re polasiking the laser, then you probably aren’t a good LASIK/PRK candidate. You need to be awake and alert. Talk with your surgeon during your consultation. Perhaps there is something else out there they can prescribe you to take 30-60 minutes prior to your procedure that won’t totally knock you out, yet help relieve some of your anxiety.

I did ask about stronger than Valium medications…but my surgeon told me no because he needed me alert so I could do my part of keeping still.