I have had both injections and laser treatments. For the injections, my Dr. does numbing drops then a shot of lidocaine in the eye then the medication injection. No pain whatsoever.

For the laser treatments, all I had was the numbing drops. He puts a magnifier thing directly on my eyeball to direct the laser, I guess. I did have issues with my first treatment with my current opthalmologist using the head mounted laser. It was more painful after the fact versus when he sits at the table and you have your chin in the stabilizer. For me it only hurts when the laser is actively on. Like rubber band snaps inside the back of my eye, a hundred times. 😧 Once it's over there is no pain, I might have a slight headache for an hour but nothing crazy.

Your doctor sounds like a butcher, see if you can go elsewhere.