You can elect to get knocked out iirc, but it costs a lot more and I think you have to wait longer as they have to call someone in; however, they give you numbing eye drops so you don't feel it and you also don't see it because they use a vacuum to hold your eye in place which temporarily disables vision in the eye they're working on. You still feel the pressure though and it smells a bit like burning hair (at least with the laser they were using on me).

The least invasive option is to have a special kind of contact lens attached to your cornea after an acid treatment. The cornea then heals to the shape of the lens. This is the oldest type of treatment and you'll have to keep the contacts in for a few weeks I think. It's mostly used by emergency service workers and military people.

Second least is a newer surgery that uses a femtosecond laser that is able to cut away the inner parts of the cornea (the stroma) without damaging the surface (the epithelium). So the only cutting that has to be done is a small nick on the side through which the surgeon pulls out the extra cells that were mucking up your vision.

The last option is the most invasive where the epithelium is cut and folded out of the way (like a hobbit door) so the laser can burn away the excess cells. The epithelium is folded back into place and a special glue is used to keep it there. It took about a month for my eyes to heal and a year or so for them to stop being super dry.

If you do get corrective surgery find a practice that uses a femtosecond laser. It's the best option I think.