Anyone had PRK (laser eye correction) instead of LASIK?

[Rookie]

I've known quite a few people that have had great success with LASIK... but I know no one that has had the PRK procedure...

I was scheduled for my surgery yesterday - but that was when I thought it was LASIK... lol

Anyone care to share? Thanks!

 

[TallBill]

Yes, I had free PRK courtesy of the taxpayers. Recovery times sucks compared to lasik. You really cant well at all for a week. I slept like 20 hours a day for the first 4 days. It took a month to really get decent vision. And like 3-4 months after the surgery my vision was 20/20.

I also had extreme sensitivity to sunlight for well over a year, and dry eyes for well over a year, but both were known side effects and have slowly faded away.

Now my vision 2 years later is amazingly sharp and have no issues whatsoever.

 

[allisolm]

Several people here: I just got PRK (like lasik) on Saturday

 

[Rookie]

Anyone else with PRK stories - good or bad? I still have time to save my eyes!

 

[Modeps]

Yep. http://modeps.org/weblog/?p=1

 

[Rookie]

Thanks Modeps... I've heard the first 4-5 days are a bit rough... and congrats on your eyes... what is your vision now? still 20/30?

My contact lens prescription is only 1.25 in one eye and .75 in the other... so it's slight but I need contacts to see distances and to compute. Both of which I do frequently...

 

[Modeps]

I believe now its between 20/40 and 20/30, I'm not positive because my doc has never flat out given me a number It was a rough first couple days for sure, but honestly in the end it was worth it.

 

[LordSnailz]

sorry, can someone give me a quick 1-2 sentence on what's the difference between PRK and LASIK? Is one safer than the other?

 

[Modeps]

LASIK == Flap of cornea, pulled aside while laser does its thing. Put back in place to heal quick.
PRK == Scrape off the cells, laser does its thing. Cells grow back on their own.

Safer? Not sure which is safer really. PRK is the "original"

 

[gotsmack]

Anyone have LASEK done?

 

[Rookie]

PRK is 6/29 - friday!

Wish me luck... any advice?

 

[TallBill]

Bring someone else to drive?

 

[Rookie]

Got it covered! And someone for my follow-up!

 

[torpid]

I'm -1.5 and -0.5 after lasik and a few years in front of the computer. I was originally 20/20 (after the surgery. -12 / -8 before). If I had -1.25 and -0.75 I wouldn't even do it. Doesn't seem worth it to me. I don't legally need glasses to drive and I often don't even wear them all day.

Are you not a candidate for lasik because your vision is not "bad" enough?

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Modeps
LASIK == Flap of cornea, pulled aside while laser does its thing. Put back in place to heal quick.
PRK == Scrape off the cells, laser does its thing. Cells grow back on their own.

Safer? Not sure which is safer really. PRK is the "original"

PRK is much safer in the end. I am glad to hear that you are going with PRK. The reason why it is safer is because the flap of the cornea can break open after your surgery. You are vulnerable to this happening for a very long time if not forever. One of my close friends got the PRK done and about 3 months later he went to a concert with me where he got elbowed in the eye really hard. If he had LASIK done, then most likely the flap would have torn open and we would have had to rush him to the hospital in the middle of the night. If it breaks open then there is no guarantee that the eye will be the same ever again.

The down side is the recovery with PRK. I won't sugar coat it. My friend said he was really uncomfortable especially for the first week. Forget looking at a computer screen for any length of time and get as many days off work as possible. Still, once it is over it is over and the result is usually better than LASIK.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: Xavier434
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Modeps
LASIK == Flap of cornea, pulled aside while laser does its thing. Put back in place to heal quick.
PRK == Scrape off the cells, laser does its thing. Cells grow back on their own.

Safer? Not sure which is safer really. PRK is the "original"</end quote></div>

PRK is much safer in the end. I am glad to hear that you are going with PRK. The reason why it is safer is because the flap of the cornea can break open after your surgery. You are vulnerable to this happening for a very long time if not forever. One of my close friends got the PRK done and about 3 months later he went to a concert with me where he got elbowed in the eye really hard. If he had LASIK done, then most likely the flap would have torn open and we would have had to rush him to the hospital in the middle of the night. If it breaks open then there is no guarantee that the eye will be the same ever again.

The down side is the recovery with PRK. I won't sugar coat it. My friend said he was really uncomfortable especially for the first week. Forget looking at a computer screen for any length of time and get as many days off work as possible. Still, once it is over it is over and the result is usually better than LASIK.

Guess I'll never get LASIK; I always rub my eyes, pretty hard too. I can see it now, the day after surgery, someone feels itchy, rub away my vision... Anyways, if my vision isn't an issue with any of my 'dream' jobs, I'd never even consider any form of eye surgery given the high probability of messed up night vision and problems in high/low pressure areas.

 

[Rookie]

Originally posted by: torpid
I'm -1.5 and -0.5 after lasik and a few years in front of the computer. I was originally 20/20 (after the surgery. -12 / -8 before). If I had -1.25 and -0.75 I wouldn't even do it. Doesn't seem worth it to me. I don't legally need glasses to drive and I often don't even wear them all day.

Are you not a candidate for lasik because your vision is not "bad" enough?

I'm not a candidate for LASIK because my cornea are too thin.

For me it's worth it because I wear glasses/contacts whenever I'm awake.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: Modeps
LASIK == Flap of cornea, pulled aside while laser does its thing. Put back in place to heal quick.
PRK == Scrape off the cells, laser does its thing. Cells grow back on their own.

Safer? Not sure which is safer really. PRK is the "original"

PRK is much safer in the end. I am glad to hear that you are going with PRK. The reason why it is safer is because the flap of the cornea can break open after your surgery. You are vulnerable to this happening for a very long time if not forever. One of my close friends got the PRK done and about 3 months later he went to a concert with me where he got elbowed in the eye really hard. If he had LASIK done, then most likely the flap would have torn open and we would have had to rush him to the hospital in the middle of the night. If it breaks open then there is no guarantee that the eye will be the same ever again.

The down side is the recovery with PRK. I won't sugar coat it. My friend said he was really uncomfortable especially for the first week. Forget looking at a computer screen for any length of time and get as many days off work as possible. Still, once it is over it is over and the result is usually better than LASIK.

I want to know how safe PRK is tho. I really want to get one of these done and I think with something so important as eyesight the longer recovery is worth the safety and better results. I mean in the long run it isn't that expensive considering all the costs you will save on contacts and glasses.

 

[magomago]

I would say avoid it in general... medical thin film (ie: contacts) technology is progressing very fast that its not worth actually cutting your eye anymore. Better to just take things on and off ~ my friend has contacts that he replaces once a month, and does not have to maintain them at all. Of course he can't have the waterhead in the shower spray his eye directly...but that is a miniimal thing.

 

[dquan97]

I'm on day 6 from having PRK last friday. Reason for PRK instead of Lasik: thin cornea. The first three days are utter misery for me...had to keep eyes closed to minimize scratchy feeling so I was idle for the whole time w/o being able to do anything. On monday, I could feel a lot better after having the contacts taken off (installed right after surgery). Day by day, it has been a slow progress, but I can look at the monitor now and watch tv. Reading is still a challenge though.

 

[TXHokie]

I had lasik done and was able to see fine the next day. That was 7 years ago and vision is still perfect. I guess I got lucky and never had any of the issues I read about. My co-worker had PRK and paid three times what I paid and he suffered for over two weeks (red eyes and was in pain first several days, couldn't work on the computer and had to go back for follow up correction). Just luck of the draw I guess.

 

[dquan97]

Originally posted by: TXHokie
I had lasik done and was able to see fine the next day. That was 7 years ago and vision is still perfect. I guess I got lucky and never had any of the issues I read about. My co-worker had PRK and paid three times what I paid and he suffered for over two weeks (red eyes and was in pain first several days, couldn't work on the computer and had to go back for follow up correction). Just luck of the draw I guess.

From what the Dr said, Lasik ppl heals quicker than PRK ppl...24hrs vs 1 week. Only difference is that there's no flap to cut for those w/ PRK.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: dquan97

Originally posted by: TXHokie
I had lasik done and was able to see fine the next day. That was 7 years ago and vision is still perfect. I guess I got lucky and never had any of the issues I read about. My co-worker had PRK and paid three times what I paid and he suffered for over two weeks (red eyes and was in pain first several days, couldn't work on the computer and had to go back for follow up correction). Just luck of the draw I guess.

From what the Dr said, Lasik ppl heals quicker than PRK ppl...24hrs vs 1 week. Only difference is that there's no flap to cut for those w/ PRK.

I read it can take a month to heal for a PRK