Nope. You may need glasses later on in life.
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Those with PRK experience.
- Thread starter Royal Gramma
- Start date
Nope. You may need glasses later on in life.
I had PRK done end of February this year. I was -2.0 diopters in my right eye, and -1.25 with -.75 of astigmatism in my left. Give or take ~20/150 uncorrected, corrected to 20/15 or better. Now I test 20/15 on both eyes, and combined I can almost make out the 20/10 line, but my left eye is noticeably stronger than my right. The testing has been stable and consistent from 60 days post-op til now. As far as higher-order aberations, I can't say much about it. They put me in the machine to scan me for them, and the doc said my eye surface was almost completely free of any aberations, and I'd be throwing away a grand if I opted for customized.
While the Bouch & Lomb site is probably a pretty decent reference, its just one source of information, and its the internet. Alot of things listed on fact sheets are misleading (example, 0.1% experience "vision loss", which scares people, even though their definition of "vision loss" is a change by 1 line on the eye chart). Talk to a surgeon, preferably a good one. If you ask around, you might even be able to find one that participated in those clinical trials (University of Rochester/Strong Hospital in Rochester, NY, has a few such surgeons).
So other than higher order aberations, PRK is a pretty stable route. Of course, the standard "the more f***ed up you are when you walk in, the more likely you'll still be a little f***ed up when you walk out" disclaimer applies. Keep in mind, while the docs are saying contacts are ok to fly, last I heard (if wink or someone else in the know can double check me on this) CNRC is not accepting people with contacts as SNA, so if you wanna fly, either try your luck with PRK or ask your recruiter for a copy of that NFO brochure
Oh yea, almost missed the "contrast test" thing. I'm not sure if this is the same thing, but the doc put up a "low contrast" eye chart for me before and after the op. I was able to identify almost all of the characters that I could pick out on the normal high contrast chart, with no change post-op (well, obviously the first 2 weeks or so were a bit shady, but once stabilized, its the same results). According to the doc, I had better contrast vision pre-op than most people ever would. Night vision is fine, no distortion, halos, or whatnot. I also took the "roommate" test, in which we drove down a suburban street at night and tried to find some godforsaken side road. My housemate, with natural born uncorrected "20/20" vision was unable to read any of the street signs until we were at least 20 feet closer to them than when I read the names to him. Street signs were read from both sides of the road, and covered in various levels of spraypaint
While the Bouch & Lomb site is probably a pretty decent reference, its just one source of information, and its the internet. Alot of things listed on fact sheets are misleading (example, 0.1% experience "vision loss", which scares people, even though their definition of "vision loss" is a change by 1 line on the eye chart). Talk to a surgeon, preferably a good one. If you ask around, you might even be able to find one that participated in those clinical trials (University of Rochester/Strong Hospital in Rochester, NY, has a few such surgeons).
So other than higher order aberations, PRK is a pretty stable route. Of course, the standard "the more f***ed up you are when you walk in, the more likely you'll still be a little f***ed up when you walk out" disclaimer applies. Keep in mind, while the docs are saying contacts are ok to fly, last I heard (if wink or someone else in the know can double check me on this) CNRC is not accepting people with contacts as SNA, so if you wanna fly, either try your luck with PRK or ask your recruiter for a copy of that NFO brochure
Oh yea, almost missed the "contrast test" thing. I'm not sure if this is the same thing, but the doc put up a "low contrast" eye chart for me before and after the op. I was able to identify almost all of the characters that I could pick out on the normal high contrast chart, with no change post-op (well, obviously the first 2 weeks or so were a bit shady, but once stabilized, its the same results). According to the doc, I had better contrast vision pre-op than most people ever would. Night vision is fine, no distortion, halos, or whatnot. I also took the "roommate" test, in which we drove down a suburban street at night and tried to find some godforsaken side road. My housemate, with natural born uncorrected "20/20" vision was unable to read any of the street signs until we were at least 20 feet closer to them than when I read the names to him. Street signs were read from both sides of the road, and covered in various levels of spraypaint
Almost three years since my PRK and I still have 20/12 each eye. My right eye hurt like a muther****er after the surgery. I had to use those numbing eye drops every hour for two days. The only issue I've had is sensitivity to sunlight and dry eyes in the morning. My vision is still very clear and crisp. I can actually read 20/10 with my right eye in good light and can see 20/10 with both eyes. My night vision is great as well. Without a doubt a great surgery. I never had better than 20/20 growing up.
My husband had PRK in January 2002. He's described the pain to me as rubbing your eyes with steel wool and then pouring alcohol into them. Nearly 4 years later, he's still 20/15 or better in both eyes. He does still occassionally use the drops for dry eyes but even that is getting less and less.
ghost119 said:
Nope... not at all. It just makes your eye cold and painful as opposed to just painful.
Percoset (or whatever narcotic painkiller you are given) and the numbing eye drops are the only relief you get...
Caviot(s):
1. Numbing drops slow down the healing process.
2. Percoset doesn't so much kill the pain.. just makes you not care about it .
The pain over the first 3 days was definately the worst pain I've ever felt. Especially in the mornings when your first wake up, you have 20 minutes of agony until the next dose of painkillers kicks in and the drops actually start to re-lubricate your dry eyes. They say plan on being out of commission for a week, which is about right. I couldn't do anything (including watch tv) for the first 2 1/2 days. Sleep is your best friend.
They gave me two drugs, one of them was vicodin, which did WONDERS for the pain. I'd pop two of them at a time (I'm a big enough guy that two was an appropriate dose) and within a half hour the pain would be gone. It'd give me a headache if I tried to focus on anything though, so it just made it easier to sleep. However, you can't sleep for 3 days straight, which is why they gave me the second one. It was technically an anti-nauseant, because apparently some people get sick from the disorientation. I didn't ave that problem, but this drug had a "side effect" of being a major sleep aide. I napped during the day, and took one of those every evening, it worked out nicely. I crashed at a friends apartment during the 3 days, so even though I was sitting there with my eyes closed all day, I at least had people to chat with during the few hours I was awake.
After the first 3 days, you'll have dry eyes for a few months. With PRK just after day 3 or 4, your vision will cloud up big time as the outer cornea heals up and forms a seam, which smooths out over about 10 days. Even with that, I was cleared for driving (test 20/40 in both eyes) on day 10, and had been able to do most normal daily activity by day 4 or 5.
One occational thing that I'm really glad my doc warned me about. Your outer cornea is very delicate for the first few weeks. The new tissue occationally "sticks" to your inner eyelid, and a few cells will get torn off. The actual damage is negligible, and it doesn't affect your vision, but it hurts worse than anything else you'll have felt up to that point. It usually happens in the morning when you are jolted awake suddenly (alarm goes off, eyes shoot open), and goes away in ten minutes. But yea, all in all, the pain is part of the process. As the saying goes, "you don't have to get used to it, you just have to deal with it."
They gave me two drugs, one of them was vicodin, which did WONDERS for the pain. I'd pop two of them at a time (I'm a big enough guy that two was an appropriate dose) and within a half hour the pain would be gone. It'd give me a headache if I tried to focus on anything though, so it just made it easier to sleep. However, you can't sleep for 3 days straight, which is why they gave me the second one. It was technically an anti-nauseant, because apparently some people get sick from the disorientation. I didn't ave that problem, but this drug had a "side effect" of being a major sleep aide. I napped during the day, and took one of those every evening, it worked out nicely. I crashed at a friends apartment during the 3 days, so even though I was sitting there with my eyes closed all day, I at least had people to chat with during the few hours I was awake.
After the first 3 days, you'll have dry eyes for a few months. With PRK just after day 3 or 4, your vision will cloud up big time as the outer cornea heals up and forms a seam, which smooths out over about 10 days. Even with that, I was cleared for driving (test 20/40 in both eyes) on day 10, and had been able to do most normal daily activity by day 4 or 5.
One occational thing that I'm really glad my doc warned me about. Your outer cornea is very delicate for the first few weeks. The new tissue occationally "sticks" to your inner eyelid, and a few cells will get torn off. The actual damage is negligible, and it doesn't affect your vision, but it hurts worse than anything else you'll have felt up to that point. It usually happens in the morning when you are jolted awake suddenly (alarm goes off, eyes shoot open), and goes away in ten minutes. But yea, all in all, the pain is part of the process. As the saying goes, "you don't have to get used to it, you just have to deal with it."
ItsTurboTime
Registered User
My recovery plan is books on tape.
Scotty-O
Due to the government,I feel over-stimulated.
My PRK 2c
Hey Royal,
I had PRK and am now blind...
:icon_cool
NO, just kidding. I had PRK done in April 2002 and went from 20/400 to 20/15. PRK was a better choice for me because I had (and still have) aspirations for the military AND since the correction is on the outside of the cornea the Doc can correct a larger area reducing chances of halo. He said I have large pupils and they might go outside the corrected area of the cornea at nighttime if I had LASIK- hence halo.
Dry eyes - yes, and still every once in awhile, and more sensitive to smoke/dust than before. Night vision and contrast are both great!
The other thing for me is my vision is WAY better than it was with contacts because after sooo many years of wearing them, my eyelids had become irritated and, even though I had daily disposables, they were rapidly depositing film on the lenses to protect themselves, and smearing my vision. I doubt you have the same problem, but it was a factor.
IF you do decide, the next most important thing to eval is your choice of doctor. DO NOT go to the one you heard about on the radio, just because; or the one your friend went to, just because. Any hack eye Doc can get a used laser and offer to do surgery. Study their approach (slow and attentive or "hurry, we got another one!!") and ask for patient results history. If you get a bad feeling at all, than get out!
See you soon. (or soonER, now that I'm 20/17) :icon_tong
Hey Royal,
I had PRK and am now blind...
:icon_cool
NO, just kidding. I had PRK done in April 2002 and went from 20/400 to 20/15. PRK was a better choice for me because I had (and still have) aspirations for the military AND since the correction is on the outside of the cornea the Doc can correct a larger area reducing chances of halo. He said I have large pupils and they might go outside the corrected area of the cornea at nighttime if I had LASIK- hence halo.
Dry eyes - yes, and still every once in awhile, and more sensitive to smoke/dust than before. Night vision and contrast are both great!
The other thing for me is my vision is WAY better than it was with contacts because after sooo many years of wearing them, my eyelids had become irritated and, even though I had daily disposables, they were rapidly depositing film on the lenses to protect themselves, and smearing my vision. I doubt you have the same problem, but it was a factor.
IF you do decide, the next most important thing to eval is your choice of doctor. DO NOT go to the one you heard about on the radio, just because; or the one your friend went to, just because. Any hack eye Doc can get a used laser and offer to do surgery. Study their approach (slow and attentive or "hurry, we got another one!!") and ask for patient results history. If you get a bad feeling at all, than get out!
See you soon. (or soonER, now that I'm 20/17) :icon_tong
Scotty-O
Due to the government,I feel over-stimulated.
astigmatism
ghost119
Yes PRK will correct astigmatism. I had 20/400 and some astigmatism and they were both corrected. And this is almost 4 years ago - laser tech is better now.
If any of you thinking about getting the surgery done are near the NYC area/NJ - send me a PM/email and I can point you to the doctor I went to - you should check him out. I looked at him after he worked on a coworker of mine who was 45 y/o, 20/900, and astigmatism - and he worked him to a clear 20/30 in one procedure.
NOTE: If a doctor says that part of why you should use him is that he does the touch-ups for free, that means he's not good enough to get it done right the first time!
ghost119
Yes PRK will correct astigmatism. I had 20/400 and some astigmatism and they were both corrected. And this is almost 4 years ago - laser tech is better now.
If any of you thinking about getting the surgery done are near the NYC area/NJ - send me a PM/email and I can point you to the doctor I went to - you should check him out. I looked at him after he worked on a coworker of mine who was 45 y/o, 20/900, and astigmatism - and he worked him to a clear 20/30 in one procedure.
NOTE: If a doctor says that part of why you should use him is that he does the touch-ups for free, that means he's not good enough to get it done right the first time!
If you are eligible for the sugery at USNA, you'll be put on the list at the beginning of your 2/c (junior) year, and will get it sometime before school's done for that academic year. Some people get it at the beginning of senior year. It's done at NNMC Bethesda at no cost to you. All you gotta do is make all of your post-op follow up appointments.
The reason they give it to you junior year is to allow for recovery time and the waiver procedure.
I got PRK'ed Oct of my junior year.
[edit] Touch ups are more dangerous than the original procedure... more chance of error/complications. That and why would you need a touch up if the procedure were done correctly the first time around? [/edit]
The reason they give it to you junior year is to allow for recovery time and the waiver procedure.
I got PRK'ed Oct of my junior year.
[edit] Touch ups are more dangerous than the original procedure... more chance of error/complications. That and why would you need a touch up if the procedure were done correctly the first time around? [/edit]
One (and a half) caviot on "free" PRK at the Academy.
1. There are much more strict guidelines for who can get the surgery on the Navy's dime, at least at the Academy. I've read the posts above about people and their friends getting in done with vision in the 20/900 range. I don't remember the exact diopter limits, but they do exist and they are much lower than what you can get commercially. something like no more than -5.5 per eye total correction (myopia plus astigmisim)
1a. I wouldn't suggest trying to get around this by having the surgery before you go to the academy, unless something big has changed in the past few years, they are pretty leary about the surgery (even with the great results) and you'll be NPQ before you even begin the application process, not a good way to start.
1. There are much more strict guidelines for who can get the surgery on the Navy's dime, at least at the Academy. I've read the posts above about people and their friends getting in done with vision in the 20/900 range. I don't remember the exact diopter limits, but they do exist and they are much lower than what you can get commercially. something like no more than -5.5 per eye total correction (myopia plus astigmisim)
1a. I wouldn't suggest trying to get around this by having the surgery before you go to the academy, unless something big has changed in the past few years, they are pretty leary about the surgery (even with the great results) and you'll be NPQ before you even begin the application process, not a good way to start.
PRK is awesome
Nearsighted since the 3rd grade....20/400. I got PRK last year and now I have 20/11 in both eyes!!!
Highly recommended! No problems after a whole year.
As far as the 5 days post-op went; I didn't use the numbing eye drops. Percoset yes...that was nice and put me to sleep, but no tetracaine or whatever. That stuff will completely numb anything you put it on. That kind of bothered me...I'd rather feel a little pain than not to feel my eye at all!
Nearsighted since the 3rd grade....20/400. I got PRK last year and now I have 20/11 in both eyes!!!
Highly recommended! No problems after a whole year.
As far as the 5 days post-op went; I didn't use the numbing eye drops. Percoset yes...that was nice and put me to sleep, but no tetracaine or whatever. That stuff will completely numb anything you put it on. That kind of bothered me...I'd rather feel a little pain than not to feel my eye at all!