Well, after all of my talk about getting LASIK, I ended up not going through with it. Just kidding. Well…kind of.
I really didn’t end up getting LASIK. Instead, I got PRK (photorefractive keratectomy). What’s the difference?
The main difference is that PRK doesn’t involve creating a corneal flap, while LASIK does. Sounds great, right? Why doesn’t everybody get it?
The disadvantage to PRK is a slower and more painful recovery. While some people are able to go back to work the day after LASIK, it takes 3-5 days for the eye to heal from PRK. During this time, bandage contact lenses are worn until your eyes heal.
The first 3 days sucked to say the least. It felt like something scratchy was in my eyes, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I spent most of these days inside wearing sunglasses, because my eyes were really sensitive to light.
Around day 5, my eyes started feeling better again. However, another disadvantage of PRK is that your vision fluctuates between blurry and clear for the first few weeks. Needless to say, this has made life interesting. While my vision is good enough to drive, it has been a challenge to do work on the computer on the days when my vision has been blurry.
If you get PRK, you need a lot of patience, and you should make sure that you don’t have any important events in the near future that require 100% vision. From other bloggers’ PRK experiences, it seems that their vision is about 80% one month after surgery and 95%-100% three months after surgery.
I know what you’re thinking. PRK sounds horrible. Why would anybody choose that over LASIK? Well, PRK does have its benefits too.
Since there’s no corneal flap created during PRK, there’s no worrying about the flap accidentally getting dislodged while playing sports or other physical activities. Also, PRK is less likely to cause drier eyes, which is the most common complaint of LASIK. In fact, my preexisting dry eye condition is the reason my doctor recommended that I get PRK instead of LASIK.
While I might have been wondering if I made a mistake the first few days after the surgery, I feel better about my decision now. The first few days of recovery were rough, but my eyes feel much better now. Work has been challenging, but it has been manageable. Even though my vision will be fluctuating for the next few weeks, I think the long term benefits of PRK will outweigh the current drawbacks.
Now that I’ve finished discussing the pros and cons of LASIK vs. PRK, I just realized that I almost forgot to mention the most important thing. I never have to deal with contact lenses or glasses again!
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Interesting. I had PRK and Lasik on my left and right eyes, respectively due to problems with my small eye socket on the left. I found the PRK eye had much more problems with dryness initially due to improper instructions post-surgery which lasted months while it was treated (And it still could recur). As a daily driving commuter, I would have been unable to go to work if both eyes were done PRK. At the time of surgery I was lucky to be able to take the subway to work so getting back on the road wasn’t a huge concern then, but recovery time can certainly be a factor.
You should be careful saying that people will never need glasses again. That’s just not true. My eye doctor told me flat out to have eye surgery before 35 because somewhere in our 40’s we learn that our arms are just not long enough to focus reading material. Eventually our eye muscles wear out and older folks will need reading glasses. She wanted me to have the surgery before 35 to get at least 10 years of value out of the cost of surgery over glasses and after doing the math, I agreed with her.
I’m glad you liked PRK and there are definitely some benefits to it, but you fail to mention that the cells in front of the eye are being scraped away, which is why there is no flap cut and contributes to the longer healing time. All those cells have to grow back. Sure if you play a lot of contact sports where you think you’re flap is going to pop open, then PRK is probably better but there is a lot to consider here while making the decision.
I also considered Intacs as well, but I got counseled away from them by a biased person. But Intacs have worked out really well for a friend of mine that had it. (Sees well enough now to be a law enforcement officer, otherwise he would have failed the eye exam.)
Every one talks about these surgeries like they are nothing. They sound like kind of a big deal once you read about them. I would hate to lose my vision. Hope your eyes get better.
@mapgirl
Thanks for elaborating on my post. You bring up some excellent points that I didn’t mention in my post. I didn’t mean for this post to be a detailed comparison of LASIK vs. PRK, and I also didn’t intend to endorse one procedure over the other. My intention was just to share my personal experience and how I felt about the decision I made.
As you mentioned, dryness is also an issue during the healing process after PRK. However, the chances of it turning into a permanent issue are reduced compared to LASIK, because there’s no flap cut into the cornea. Studies show that the nerves of the cornea that play a vital role in tear production are severed when the flap is cut, and these nerves don’t always end up healing. You don’t have to worry about this with PRK. However, as you mentioned and as I previously mentioned, the recovery time for PRK is significantly longer compared to LASIK.
Great point about the age factor. I’m only in my mid-20s, so at the moment, it does feel like I’ll never need glasses again. As you mentioned, the truth is that some people may need glasses when they get into their 40s, but I guess I’m not looking 20+ years into the future yet.
Glad to hear about the change from LASIK to PRK, though I’ve never heard of it before. Good of your Dr. to inform you.
Hope you’re up to par soon.
I am glad you got the surgery and that your eyes are healing. I got LASIK and I am one of the lucky ones that did not have complications.
I did have a little dry eye for a short while but after 4 months I did not need the eye drops anymore. Every so often I will use some drops but this is usually when I have been out in dry air or had air blowing on my face.
I am glad about not needing glasses or contacts right now….later on I don’t mind as I get old but right now it is so freeing to be able to get up and go as I please.
I think people don’t understand unless they are dependent on glasses or contacts. My eyes were very bad and I could not do anything without my glasses or contacts.
All the best and remember that you will have some fluctuations for up to about 6 months while your eyes totally heal.
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