How long does it take??

[Bighead]

I had Custom PRK about 2 weeks ago and my vision is still not where it is suppose to be. I can see better but things are still blurry and I know I am not seeing 20/20. How long did it take for most people to see the true out come of there surgery. I know the Doc said it takes time but it always is good to hear it from people that have gone through it. Thanks

 

[NozeMan]

I had Custom PRK about 2 weeks ago and my vision is still not where it is suppose to be. I can see better but things are still blurry and I know I am not seeing 20/20. How long did it take for most people to see the true out come of there surgery. I know the Doc said it takes time but it always is good to hear it from people that have gone through it. Thanks

Dude, I'm in the same boat as you right now! I had custom performed 2 weeks ago as well. I'm not blurry anymore, but my distance vision is not where it needs to be. I had a checkup with my eye Doc on Monday and had 20/40 and 20/50. From time to time I alos have had some problems reading. I've in constant contact with my doctor and she had the surgeon's consultant call me about the whole situation. I got the same explanation as you: it takes time and be patient :icon_rage I'll bet youre pretty frustrated about the whole situation as well!

 

[SlickAg]

I had PRK with the Aligretto laser on the 20th and on Monday, a week after, I had 20/20 in each eye and 20/15 together. They were pretty amazed at my recovery and they said it's not very typical. So I would say that yeah, the best thing to do would be to wait it out. My roommate at school was in the same boat as me, got PRK to qualify for pilot, and it took him awhile for his vision to be up to snuff.

 

[pennst8]

I had custom PRK on Monday afternoon (27 DEC) and I read the 20/20 line today on the chart with a little bit of effort... but my vision is still blurry and hit-or-miss depending on the time of day. Doc said just to be patient wtih it and expect to see some improvement over the next month.

From what I've observed it just takes a bit of time for everything to be perfect. I'm happy with the improvment I've seen so far but I wouldn't expect it to get much better for at least a month. Just be patient with it, I'm sure you'll be fine in the end.

School starts back up in a week or so (yikes)... I didn't want to see things in class anyway.

 

[NozeMan]

After having custom on 16 Dec, I finally read the 20/20 line on 3 January. I am seeing 20/20 combined, but my eyes have healed/continue to heal differently. My left eye is better than 20/20 while my right is not.

 

[Bighead]

Nozeman glad to hear your vision is getting better. I am still worried about mine. I don't think I am seeing 20/20 yet and things are still blurry and I do have double vision. I am starting to think this was a bad idea. It has been just about a month and I don't feel like anything is getting better it seems as thought it has leveled off. I don't know maybe it's just me. Can anyone that had the same problems tell me how long it took you to get 20/20?

thanks

 

[DBLang]

I had mine done on the 12-28 and my eyes are still healing. I think I see 20/20 some days, but sometimes the double vision comes back. I was super worried, but some of the guys on here said it took several months for it to go away so I've calmed down. Its getting better slowly. Good look bighead.

 

[illinijoe05]

I had it done in august and it took about 1 month for my vision to "settle in" at 20/20. Be patient with it and jsut take care of your eyes and you guys will be fine. Good Luck

 

[winger]

yeah, it takes time guys. my eyes didnt lock in for about 3 months. i know nothing you could ever read on here will make that crappy feeling in your stomach go away, but at least you know that lots people have been in your shoes and it turned out fine- see you in pensacola

 

[turtle_sc]

I had PRK in October of 04, and finally at the 3 month checkup was seeing 20/15 in both eyes. But, the month before I was still at 20/40, so be patient, and all will be fine. I was begining to think I would never see 20/20, but it did get slowly better. Just give it time and drink lots of water (that helped alot)

 

[feddoc]

I had PRK in October of 04, and finally at the 3 month checkup was seeing 20/15 in both eyes. But, the month before I was still at 20/40, so be patient, and all will be fine. I was begining to think I would never see 20/20, but it did get slowly better. Just give it time and drink lots of water (that helped alot)

Yea, what he said about the water. Visiual acuity partially depends on blood/blood pressure. Dehydrated = lowered BP; can subsequently = decreased vision.

It took me about a month before I was seeing 20/20; eventually got to 20/12---20/15 and have stayed at 20/15--20/20 in the ensuring 5 years or so.

 

[mpdonnelly]

I had mine in September 2002 and noticed a difference right away, but it took about three months for my vision to be completely normal. I had the usual complaints about dryness, irrititation, halos, etc. You won't notice an instant difference, but you'll be okay by the time you go up for your flight physical.

Good luck with the waiver process. Those guys don't do anything quickly.

 

[aero]

I just had my Flight Physical today and I was NPQ'd because my eyes were just a little worse than 20/40. That sucks pretty bad. But the surgeon said I could get PRK surgery done and everything would be fine. With a waiver, that is.

Anyway can someone tell me what the difference between Normal, Custom, or Aligretto PRK is? I have seen all three in this forum but I don't know the difference. Is one better than the other? Is one preferred over another? Are they all three acceptable? Pro's con's? I'm going Marine Corps if that makes a difference.

 

[NozeMan]

I had the Custom PRK done a month and a half ago. Today i saw 20/20 combined...the results kick @ss. Anyways, normal PRK is pretty self explanatory...its what they use for most patients who don't have any extenuating circumstances. I had custom because my pupils were 8mm, while normal people have 6mm pupils. Therefore, I needed the custom procedure to better correct my vision. Custom takes into account the natural form of the eye and only corrects the parts that are necessary. This site should help answer questions too http://www.tlcvision.com/ just take into account that where it says "LASIK", just substitute PRK in its place because its almost the same. PRK involves removing the "flap" of your eye and subsequently growing it back whereas LASIK puts the flap back on for fast healing. LASIK is not allowed for aviation. Don't know squad about Alligretto, but hope all this helps!

Noze

 

[aero]

Thanks man.
can you tell me how long the whole waiver/check up process will last? I talked with my OSO and he said it would take quite a while to get all the check ups completed and get my waiver through. Can someone give me an estimate on how long a wait I'm looking at?