Another common concern patients express when deliberating cataract or vision correction surgery is:

"How can I possbily keep my eye still during the procedure?"

Well first lets take cataract surgery, Lens replacement surgery or ICL implant surgeries.

Remember your eye is kept open by a simple clip like device , the other eye is covered by the sterile drape, so during the procedure, you will have a light in front of you - this is the microscope light and you will be asked to look towards the light. This acts as a helpful fixing device for the patient whilst providing sufficient illumination for the surgeon to compete the procedure.

Secondly - we do not expect anyone to be able to keep their eye completely still for an eye operation - experienced eye surgeons can comfortably cope with some eye movemnents - its one of the reasons why eyedrop anaesthetic is the preferred mode of anaesthesia for over 99% of patients. Whilst it is possible to have an injection of anaesthetic around the eye to help reduce eye movements for people who may struggle to fixate onto the light - we find this is very rarely required for most routine cases. 

For patients considering Laser Vision Correction - the same. dynamic as indicated above applies - except quite often there may be different coloured lights to look at and your surgeon will guide you on where to look during the different parts of the process.

In LASIK and LASEK treatments the reshaping laser (excimer laser) is computer controlled and a sophisticated eye tracking system is used to ensure treatment is delivered as if your eye was perfectly still.

In SMILE treatments, the SMILE infrared femtosecond laser is delivered whilst the eye is under direct control and thus the critical part of this procedure is also conducted whilst the eye is kept still. 

Hopefully this knowledge will help you to be a touch less anxious about the prospect of undergoing these types of eye surgery.