Lasik PRK experiance info and opinions

[evilfunnystuff]

I'm considering getting it done. I have an appointment next week for an exam.

I know a few people who had it and are very happy, but see some negative stuff out there.

My employer is required to have my vision certified yearly, so could be pretty screwed on that front if they botched the job, not to mention all the other aspects.

So whats RPF's think?

[evilfunnystuff]

bump

[Kotin]

I hear night vision suffers a lot and there is some sort of halo in your vision.. it probably depends on a lot of factors though..

[mtr1979]

I had PRK back in 2009 the main reason I chose PRK over Lasik was because of my involvement in combat sports. I had PRK because there is no corneal flap like there is with Lasik. Also with Lasik the corneal flap never heals and there is a lifelong danger of flap displacement. PRK has a longer healing time than Lasik.
When I first had PRK I noticed that my eyes were always dry. For the first year after my surgery I used eye drops multiple times a day. I haven't used eye drops for years maybe I just got used to it?
As far as my night vision goes it isn't that great, but I can drive around at night without any issues.
The biggest problem I have at night is looking at lights. I see halos or starburst.
I've also noticed since I had the surgery that my vision fluctuates some days it is very clear and other days it can be a bit fuzzy especially if I'm awake for a long time.

[TheCount]

PRK in 2012. Mostly same as mtr, but less dry eye issue... only lasted 90 days or so for me.

I went from 20/400 to 20/20. The halos are worth it.

[sam1952]

I had LASIK done in 2007. My experience has been good. In the beginning I had trouble with night driving with halos and stars. The stars have gone away but still see the halos. They are no problem. Like a previous poster noted it's funny how some days I see better than others. Also not to make it sound scary but I can have slight double vision with road sign letters at night when I'm tired.

They did what was called modified monovision. I was hesitant to get monovision but with the doctors help decided to go with that. I have to say it's been great. The big plus is I don't need reading glasses for a menu. I have a pair that I wear when I'm doing a lot of reading but it's been a blessing to not have to carry them around all the time. I was surprised how my eyes go back and forth with out thinking for distance and close up. I never even notice it. Btw, I am 62 now and maybe reading glasses are not a problem for you.

Bottom line is my eyes healed fine, there's been minimal problems and I would do it again. Good luck with what ever decision you decide on.

[XTreat]

I had PRK on September 11th, 2001 (odd huh?).

My contact lens prescription at the time was -8.5 (like 20/10,000 or something ridiculously horrible), which is pretty much blind. I literally could not see the Big E on the eye chart.

My vision was improved to 20/15 in both eyes and has remained so until today.

I do have a little bit of reduced night vision and the occasional halo, but the benefits have far outweighed the negatives.


From my personal experience I would highly recommend it.


Edit: I was told at the time due to how poor my vision was that it would highly increase the probability for my need for reading glasses, later in life. 15 years later I still don't use reading glasses, BUT I am actually considering getting my first pair to keep at my desk because I have started to notice a little difficulty with fine print.

[fisharmor]

PRK in late 2009.
I got it for a similar reason as mtr (combat sports) but I also didn't at all like the idea of being forced to watch my eye get cut open.
If I knew that the first thing they do in the PRK surgery is take a thing that looks like a giant version of a dentist's tooth cleaner and scrub your whole eyeball with an abrasive, I probably would have considered Lasik a little more.

Also, let me set the record straight as far as recovery time. The ladies at the office who did my procedure told me that some people have some discomfort for a day or two with PRK, but it's really not that bad.

FALSE.

The recovery from PRK was motherfucking horrible.
For three days it felt like I had sand in my eyes all the time, no matter what drops I put in. And I couldn't stand light at all during that time. I basically spent Thanksgiving weekend lying around the house with my eyes closed.

Once the discomfort went away, there was still a solid month of $#@!ty vision. PRK blasts the cornea away entirely, and it takes a long time to grow back, and until it does, you're not going to see right.
I had to go back to work after that weekend of recovery, and IIRC there was at least a week where driving was just out of the question.
In order to read text on my monitor I seriously had to get my face six inches away from the screen.

That went away in about a week. But for the next month I gauged how my vision was doing by how many traffic lights I could see from a distance.
When I was in a car, each lit traffic light showed up as seven dots, in this pattern:

o o
o o
o o
o

Then after a week it got down to five:
o o
o o
o

Then another week later it was three:
o o
o

And another week later it was down to one big fuzzy dot.

I did the surgery before Thanksgiving: my vision was up to specs by Christmas. I think I was driving in the second week, but I had already been driving for 18 years at that point and had a good bit of experience driving in altered states so I basically ballsed my way through it for a week until my vision got to the point where it wasn't less safe than normal.


As far as side effects, I know that my right eye is not as strong as my left at this point. I don't see halos at night: in fact I believe halos are mainly an artifact of Lasik, since - think about it, you're picking up a flap of cornea, removing material underneath, and putting the cornea back down. It's literally impossible for that cornea to seal up around the edges - you're going to have an overlap of cornea, and therefore halos.

What I do get is what I call "ghosting". I can see one speed limit sign in the distance, and another "ghost" image next to it. The effect is kind of like having a pane of glass in between which is refracting the image somewhat.

My night vision is excellent, otherwise.

One other thing: if you can afford it, definitely do the custom wavefront. I couldn't afford it, but I wish I was able to.

[TheCount]

I haven't had any of fisharmor's experiences. I got a couple dozen percoset to use for pain and used only two. After the first day, I occasionally used ibuprofen. Aside from needing to wear sunglasses everywhere like Stevie Wonder, I was fully recovered after only a few days.

[evilfunnystuff]

Thanks for the responses, I decided to give it a go.

While my acuity is actually pretty decent, I noticed that I already have pretty strong starbursts from headlights etc. Also when doing the exam focused only on the letters on a white background, I realized I already have a decent amount of ghosting, but I just don't normally notice it.

I have an appointment for Custom Wavefront PRK on Thurs. morning. Hopefully my recovery is a bit smoother than FishArmour's, and the day doesn't live in infamy like Xtreats.

Got my fingers crossed for good luck, and no whammies.




Thanks for all the responses, I'll try to remember to post updates.

[TheCount]

Make sure and wear your sunglasses religiously afterwards; supposedly that helps keep halos and ghosting to a minimum long term. I would suggest buying a quality pair of DARK UV protecting sunglasses which cover your entire field of vision. Whatever brand you get, get the absolute darkest tint that they will sell you. I primarily wear oakleys, and I got the black iridium polarized lenses. The regular grey lenses were not quite dark enough for my comfort right after the surgery.


Also, the sensitivity to light and haloing will improve, so don't think that it's going to stay the way it is at the start forever. It probably took me nearly 6 months before I could walk outside without sunglasses on a bright day without immediately wanting to curl up and die. On the plus side, it's gotten me in the habit of wearing sunglasses outside almost all the time, which is really best for your eyes to begin with.

[evilfunnystuff]

I would suggest buying a quality pair of DARK UV protecting sunglasses

On tomorrows agenda, I've already got some polorized Berkley wrap-arounds but wanna find something even darker or maybe a big pair to put over those for super bright days.

I also need to get some dark tinted safety glasses for work its pretty bright there.