4 Vital Solutions to Anxiety before your LASIK Eye Surgery
Before patients finally decide to go for LASIK surgery, there is often some anxiety. Whereas in other cases, tension grows as the scheduled day for the surgery approaches. However, the LASIK eye procedure is one of the safest elective medical procedures anyone can undergo. It is also one of the fastest medical procedures as it takes about 10 minutes to complete the entire process for the two eyes.
Fixing the eye cornea using laser technology takes less than 1 minute for each eye. When the patients learn about the simplicity of the surgery, they can begin to think of it as less dramatic or complicated. It may be surprising to hear the best ways to manage any anxiety you may have before the procedure to get the best results. As a safe procedure, you can further share your confidence in the expertise of our medical professionals.
It is usual for any patient to feel a little anxious or nervous before lasik eye surgery. But what is important are the tips and strategies to help overcome such anxiety or edgy nerve before the medical procedure.
- List out your fears and questions
Anxieties grow from unanswered questions. So, the first way to tackle such concerns is to find answers to the questions that cause them in the first place. Many times, without the right person to ask the questions, one may keep hiding them, and it can lead to an unwanted ending. Therefore, you may need to direct the questions to the right people to allay your fears and get satisfactory answers. Meanwhile, it would help if you were deliberate about this search for answers.
Related: Is LASIK permanent?
The first step in answering your questions is also to write them down. We cannot overemphasize the need to write things down and not hope to remember them when we have to. Moreover, when you are ready to ask the doctors those questions, it will be easy to begin to state them one after the other when you have written them down. You have to bring the list along with you to any of your consultation or pre-operative appointment.
On this note, our team of medical experts will be glad to take you through all these questions and explain each answer. Understanding the procedure details is vital to becoming more confident and comfortable. On the other hand, if you forget any required items at home before your procedure, let us know about it. In addition to the questions and method of asking, you
can send us an email or place a phone call to ask.
- Read about how best to prepare for the LASIK surgery
Generally, in life, the more prepared you are about a process, the better result you can get from it. As a result of the preparation, you can also get more control over how you feel. It is also a means of encouraging all the patients when you get as much information as you can about LASIK eye surgery. Many articles online discuss LASIK surgery, how to prepare ahead of the process, and what everyone’s roles are.
In search of information, ensure you get information from professionals, not just anywhere. We have a lot of articles on our site and other materials that can help you prepare for the LASIK eye procedure. When you need to prepare for your first appointment, you may want to review some of the relevant items on our site. You can also find out what you need to do during and after the surgery apart from your preparatory steps.
- Practice your deep breathing
Controlling your breath is another way to get confident before your LASIK surgery appointment. Deep breathing helps you to relieve any stress that may be associated with the preparatory steps and also what your heartbeat will be like. Research showed that when we are anxious or stressed =, we experience breaths that are more shallow than usual. As a result, it may affect the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide and their exchange, which can lead to
- Increased heartbeat
- Dizziness
- Panic attacks
- Muscle tension
On the other hand, deep breathing, or what we call diaphragmatic breathing, can help to enhance the control of our tension or anxiety. A better-controlled breath also helps to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. You can have a better heartbeat rate, blood flow, and other body organs. Also, you get to be more comfortable when you breathe deeper, meaning you will begin to feel better and more comfortable.
If you still feel overwhelmed by the upcoming process, you may want to do some deep breathing exercises. Breathing is a great way to relieve your stress and get the best way to prepare ahead of LASIK eye surgery.
- Distract Yourself
When you get too absorbed in your anxiety, it is time to take your mind off it as much as possible. A good and healthy distraction can be a good idea to alleviate any stress you may have. When you take your mind off LASIK surgery, you can channel your energy into other things that are more fearful or anxiety-driven. Sometimes, the patient may need to sit down and strategically plan for alternative distractions.
For example, create a comprehensive list of some activities that can naturally excite you. Engaging in any of these other activities tends to boost your mood and allow you to enjoy the moment to the fullest. When you notice such activity, try to spend more time on it towards your appointment date. Mainly, when you start to feel anxious about the LASIK eye surgery, you can pick up these activities as a distraction.
Conclusion
LASIK eye surgery is a medical procedure that should help a patient to reshape the cornea and correct their vision. At this point, you should not be stressed about the process because these solutions above can relieve you of any fear or anxiety in preparation for the procedure. If you have any more questions, you can contact us, and we will be glad to give you all the answers you may need.