Photorefractive Keratectomy

While Lasik Eye Surgery seems to be all the rage nowadays, there are still other alternative eye surgeries available.  Believe it or not, not everyone will be a Lasik candidate.  If you are considering eye surgery to correct a vision problem but have thin corneas or damaged corneas, you simply won’t be eligible for Lasik.

Therefore, we are going to discuss the Photorefractive Keratectomy surgery as an alternative to Lasik.

PRK is an eye surgery technique that is similar to Lasik. Actually, PRK was Lasik’s predecessor. During PRK, an eye surgeon will thin out our cornea’s epithelial cells in order to reshape the cornea. Additionally, during PRK, a laser is used to “burn” through the cornea to access the stoma. At this point, the surgeon uses the laser to vaporize a small portion of the stoma, which helps to reshape your eye to improve your vision.

At this point, you may be wondering, if PRK and Lasik are so related, what is the difference between them. With Lasik, a surgeon uses a metal blade to cut a flap in the cornea, in order to access the stoma. With PRK, the surgeon does not cut a flap. Instead, he or she uses the laser to burn through the cornea to access the stoma.

Now that we know what PRK is and how it works, let’s discuss a few potential side effects of PRK.  Unfortunately, when compared to Lasik, PRK has a few more side effects.

The biggest one (at least for most people) is that PRK requires a longer recovery time than Lasik.  Additionally, you may experience a little more pain and discomfort than you would with Lasik.

Next, your night time driving ability may be affected.  For some people, their night vision actually diminishes while their day time vision improves.  A person’s night vision can deteriorate because of glaring and halo effects.

Lastly, you can expect to wear a special kind of contact lenses (these act as bandages) for about a week after the procedure. 

As with any surgery, not everyone will be eligible.  Therefore, let’s quickly highlight a few criteria people should meet. 

While there are no gender restrictions, you should not consider this procedure if you are pregnant.  This is because you body is undergoing rapid changes and your vision could be affected.

Also, if you are under the age of twenty one, you should not consider this procedure.  Similar to pregnancy, you want to ensure your body is finished growing before you making adjustments to it.

Lastly, and this really applies to all surgeries, whether cosmetic or medically necessary, the PRK candidate really should have realistic expectations of what the procedure will provide them.  If we had to identify the one reason most people are disappointed with their surgery results, it is usually because of unrealistic expectations.

As you can imagine, there are numerous benefit of undergoing PRK eye surgery. 

As we mentioned above, if you have thin or damaged corneas, you can undergo PRK (but you can’t get Lasik).

Next, PRK is performed on an outpatient basis.  The actual operation can actually be completed in less than a minute in some cases.

Lastly, in over 80% of PRK patients, they no longer need to use glasses or contact lenses to help them see. 

As you can see, Photorefractive Keratectomy can be a viable alternative to Lasik in many instances. If you think PRK may be for you, we recommend you contact an eye surgeon for a consultation.