Las Vegas Eye Institute Discussed the Answer to the Question on “How Long Does LASIK Take?”

Las Vegas, Nevada -

Las Vegas Eye Institute, based in Las Vegas, NV, answered the question, “How Long Does LASIK Take?” in a new blog post. A common concern for potential patients, Dr. Matthew Swanic discusses the length of the procedure and breaks down the full timeline for the patient’s full experience, for both LASIK and a variation known as PRK or ASA and LASEK.

Dr. Swanic explains that LASIK surgery consists of two parts, each using its own laser to accomplish its goal. The first part of the surgery creates the corneal flap using a femtosecond laser. The corneal flap must be created in order to allow the second laser to reach the back of the eye. If corrective treatment is only applied to the epithelium–the surface area of the cornea–the corrective effects will not last. However, if applied to the stroma–deeper corneal tissue–patients will experience permanent results.

The second part of the procedure uses an excimer laser to correct the shape of the eye’s stroma. This treatment almost always takes less than a minute, even when treating both eyes at once. Dr. Swanic explains, “Treatments for nearsightedness (myopia) are typically shorter than treatments for farsightedness (hyperopia), but both are typically completed in under one minute. The higher the correction the longer the treatment. […] The average treatment tends to be in the 20-30 second range.”

Dr. Swanic and his team at Las Vegas Eye Institute also offer PRK (Photo-Refractive Keratectomy), sometimes referred to as ASA (Advanced Surface Ablation). This procedure is very similar to LASIK, and they share the excimer laser treatment as step two. However, where LASIK uses the femtosecond to create a flap in the cornea, PRK instead removes the epithelium layer of the cornea entirely to allow the excimer laser access. This means a longer recovery time for patients as the epithelium layer regrows, but it can be necessary for some patients.

Dr. Matthew Swanic, MD was trained during his fellowship at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in refractive and cornea surgery with specialization in advanced LASIK and cataract surgery. He then established Las Vegas Eye institute in 2013. He believes in laser vision correction so much that he had photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) performed on his own eyes in 2010. He was certified on both the Carl Zeiss Visumax femtosecond laser and the advanced Visx iDesign 2.0 platform, as well as the J&J Catalys laser that is applicable for femtosecond cataract surgery. He custom fits multifocal and toric lenses to ensure the best vision solution for each patient’s eyes.

To learn more about LASIK, visit the Las Vegas Eye Institute website, or contact them through the telephone or via email.