What If I Sneeze or Blink During LASIK?

Sneezing or Blinking During Laser Eye Surgery 
We get a lot of commonly asked questions from patients regarding their LASIK surgery. Among the most frequently asked questions: What happens if I sneeze or blink during my LASIK surgery? 

The short answer: Blinking or sneezing will not affect the outcome of your surgery. Let’s explore this a little more. Why isn’t blinking or sneezing a concern? 

First things first: You will not be able to blink during the actual surgery. 
Patients are often worried that they will not be able to keep their eyes open during LASIK surgery. Well, the good news is that you do not have to—we do it for you! Before your procedure, we put numbing drops in your eyes. These drops help prevent any discomfort during your surgery, as well as eliminate your urge to blink. Along with the numbing drops, we also use a special medical device called a lid speculum to gently hold your eyes open. So if you’re thinking, how do you not blink during LASIK?, you don’t need to worry. The combination of using both the drops and the device means that you will not be able to blink.  

Remember that the surgery takes less than one minute per eye.  
Our patients are usually in the surgery suite for about 10-15 minutes, but the majority of that time is in discussion with their surgeon about the procedure. The time span that the laser is used is typically around 60 seconds for each eye. The odds of sneezing during that very brief time the laser is fixed on your eyes is low. 

Advanced eye-tracking technology accounts for any movement. 
Contoura™ Vision maps up to 22,000 points on your cornea and feeds that information into the Allegretto WaveLight Laser used for your surgery. The laser is very sophisticated and designed to measure and follow the position of your eye, meaning it will always be perfectly centered before it performs your treatment. If you should sneeze or cough, the laser will wait or adjust its position to compensate. This advanced LASIK technology means that sneezing—as well as coughing or any other involuntary movement—will not affect the result of your surgery. 

Now that you know that blinking and sneezing will not affect your LASIK surgery outcome, we hope you will feel more confident about your surgery. Remember, we are always here if you have any other questions or concerns. Reach out to our team at any time. 
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