Anyone have PRK eye surgery?

zarrdoss

I went to the eye doctor yesterday and still look like I have been doing drugs for a week straight because of the crap they use to dilate your eyes, at least I can see better this morning. Anyway I used to have horrible vision and had RK about ten years ago and my left eye is still good but the astigmatism has returned in my right eye causing an imbalance in vision, They can do PRK but not regular lasic because of my previous RK surgery. PRK is where they scrape off the top film on your eye and then hit it with the laser, a soft contact is applied for seven days and then vision gets better and optimum sight is achieved in 4-6 weeks.
Has anyone here had that done? if so what were the results? I really want to have my vision back. Thanks in advance.

cfrizz

You do realize that probably in another 10 years your vision will probably be right back where you started don't you?

Time reverses everything. Something to think about before going under a laser again.

zarrdoss

Yeah I do realize, this surgery is supposed to be more effective but no grantees. the thought of wearing glasses or contacts makes me cringe though. and there really is no limit to the number of times you can do it if its done correctly.

Jim Shearer

I will stick with my glasses rather than take a risk of ending up with serious (and permanent) vision impairment. I have talked with folks who had Lasik and ended up with problems of halos around everything at night. No thanks!

cfrizz

There are always limits to anything. Is your vanity really worth the risk of finding out too late that whoops there are limits to how many times the eye can get zapped with a laser!:eek:

But they're your eyes, do as you wish. Me personally, I would just accept the fact that I'm getting older & need to wear glasses or contacts.

zarrdoss wrote: »

Yeah I do realize, this surgery is supposed to be more effective but no grantees. the thought of wearing glasses or contacts makes me cringe though. and there really is no limit to the number of times you can do it if its done correctly.

zarrdoss

My vision started to get bad in my mid teens and finally did the RK ( which is just a series of tiny incisions, no laser) in my late 20's and it was wonderful. My vision is still awesome compared to what it was, still 20/20 in my left and would be the same in my right if not for my astigmatism. I got the surgery because I could not stand plucking contacts off my eyes and could not make a pair of 15 dollar sunglasses last more than a month, so $150 glasses would add up. I could probably do one contact now, but not glasses, I am still in the deciding phase but really do like the idea of having 20/20 all around vision again. They do not do RK surgery anymore since the laser came along and I wish they did as it worked fine. I'm only 37 now and know I will need reading glasses probably in my early 40's but not really interested in wearing them all the time. I will need to ponder this for a while longer.

seeclear

The inherent problem with RK, which you know now, is that the vision may not be stable and continues (in some folks) to drift as time goes by. It is important to realize that the PRK will not stabilize that eye, and if it was going to drift further in the future, it still will.

Who are you seeing for this? I would recommend Spivack up in Denver, as he is very conscientious and experienced. There may be other guys who are good, too, but Spivack is one I could definitely recommend. If you don't mind a drive, John Wright in Colorado Springs is one of the best refractive surgeons in the country, and is very conservative, meaning he will never do a procedure that doesn't have a very good risk to benefit ratio. I used to work for him and I would trust my eyes to him any day.

Your comment above that there is no limit to the number of times it can be done is NOT correct; there is only so much corneal thickness you can remove before the cornea will become unstable, and that is a situation you DO NOT want to experience. That possibility is exacerbated in your eyes since you have a weaker cornea to begin with from the RK. If you have more questions, feel free to PM me.