PRK vs. LASIK Which Corrective Eye Surgery Is Right for You

1. PRK vs. LASIK : Which Corrective Eye Surgery Is Right for You? • PRK versusLASIK • Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and Laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses (LASIK) are both laser eye surgeries, having the same intent to improve eyesight — though they aredifferent. • PRK is a type of laser refractive surgery in which the surface of the cornea is reshaped using an excimer laser. This procedure is used correct myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), andastigmatism. • PRK was the first type of laser eye surgery used for vision correction and has been around longer than LASIK, but both are still widely used today. • PRK and LASIK are both used to adjust the cornea of your eye, but use different procedures to help correct your vision by reshaping corneatissue. • With PRK, the surgeon takes away the top layer of the cornea, known as the epithelium. These lasers are further used to reshape the other layers of the cornea and fix any irregular curvature in youreye. • With LASIK, the surgeon uses a tiny blade or lasers to create a small flap in your cornea using a femtosecond laser. The surgeon then uses lasers to reshape the cornea by lifting up the flap. Once the surgery is complete, the flap is lowered back down and the cornea repairs itself within the few months. • How do these proceduresdiffer? • In PRK, anesthetic drops are given to the patient to numb the eye. This prevents pain and discomfort during the procedure. The surgeon then gently removes the surface corneal cells (epithelium) and proceeds with an excimer laser to fix any irregularities in the deeper corneal tissue layers. A special bandage- like contact lens is put on top of the cornea to help the tissues beneathheal. • In LASIK, drops are given to numb your eye tissues. A small flap is cut into the epithelium with a tool called a femtosecond laser. It allows moving this layer to the side while the other layers are reshaped with lasers. As it remains attached, the epithelium can be put back in its place to let it heal with the rest of the tissues after the surgery is done, rather than being fully removed as it is inPRK.

2. PRK Recovery vs. LASIKRecovery PRK recovery starts when a contact lens is placed on the treated eye. It needs to be worn for the first 3 to 5 days until the surface epithelium is healed. It may cause some irritation and sensitivity to light for a few days as your epithelium heals. Your doctor will prescribe some medications to help relieve pain or lubricating eye drops to keep your eye moist as itheals Your vision will be a little blurry until the bandage is removed for about a week but it gradually improves. With LASIK, you’ll probably see much more clearly than you could before, even without glasses or contacts. You may even have perfect vision the day after yoursurgery. You won’t feel much pain or discomfort as your eye heals but in some cases you may feel like burning in the eyes for a few hours after the surgery. Following the procedure, you should be fully recovered within a fewdays. Though it takes a bit longer to recover from PRK than LASIK, for some patients PRK offers advantages overLASIK.