Did PRK in OCT

[jean527]

had follow up today - vision is 20/15 in both eyes.

Procedure was ok - recovery tough, painfull for about 4 days............

just wanted to sneak in an FYI

[jakem1]

Hi Jean,

What were your at 1 week, 1 month and 2 month?

Originally Posted by jean527

had follow up today - vision is 20/15 in both eyes.

Procedure was ok - recovery tough, painfull for about 4 days............

just wanted to sneak in an FYI

[marion60]

Hi Jake

I had epi-lasik last summer and did not have good results in one eye and then regressed so I had an enhancement with PRK in December. I'm sorry to say I still haven't had good results and have regressed again. I know some have good vision post PRK, but I didn't. I don't know if it's my eyes, my surgeon or PRK.

Epi-lasik is slower to heal and more painful than Lasik and PRK is even more so. Plan on not really seeing functionally for a week and don't try to be a hero about the pain. If they offer you meds, take them. If they only offer you drops, ask for meds!! Seriously. The pain was manageable with drugs and if I thought I'd get good vision with PRK, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

At one week, I still had the bandage contact in. It had to be changed after 3 days because it got tight and it hurt. On the second or third day you get a big haze in your eye as the cells regrow and after the contact came out, my eyes went really blurry for a few days. After that, I was functional but not great. I think for most people it gets sharper over the next 3 - 6 months.

Your eyes get dry while you sleep and when you wake up it can be quite painful. I kept eye drops next to the bed and everytime I woke up, I put some in. That helped a lot.

Plan to take a week off due to poor vision, being drugged up and needing to go into the eye clinic if necessary. I was very light sensitive and spent most of the time lying around in a daze in a dark room listening to books on tape. I really couldn't safely drive for the first week. Most surgeons will only do one eye at a time with PRK, so plan on doing this twice.

Hope this helps.

[jakem1]

My PRK eye is not going well. I am 3 weeks post-op and I am -1.00 which is lousy, quite undercorrected. I was -4.25 prior to surgery. Right now even with -1.00 correction I can't see close to 20/20 but hopefully that will improve. Without correction I am about 20/70 and anything beyond 10' is blurry. So while I should improve, being at -1.00 will still mean needing glasses so the procedure was not worth it for me. It is so upsetting to hear about these people who get PRK and at 3 weeks they are already 20/25 or 20/30 or better when I am at 20/70 after 3 weeks. Sure, I will improve and of course the doctors will keep saying the standard "give it more time" and yes it will improve but at 20/70 after 3 weeks, the reality is I will never get close to 20/20.

[marion60]

I was also unable to be corrected at the one month mark and was VERY worried that I was pretty much screwed. After all, I couldn't get clear vision even with glasses. The good news - that part did improve and heal. I can now be corrected to 20/20. The bad news - I need glasses or contacts to see 20/20. I'm at .75 with .75 astigmatism so I can get by without glasses but it's not a great way to go around having everything fuzzy and I need to wear glasses nearly all the time at work or if I want to enjoy a movie or drive somewhere unfamiliar.

I completely understand how hard it is to log in and have someone say "Yay, my vision has cleared up at 3 weeks and now I see 20/20." And that could still be you. I read one guy last summer who got to 20/20 at the 3 month mark. And if not, most people get good results if they have an enhancement - I seem to be some kind of odd situation. But I understand that it's hard to think about going through this again.

Jake, I just read your post in another thread and I don't think an enhancement is out of the question. I had very thin corneas. That's why the epi followed by PRK enhancement. Your PRK eye has had very little tissue removed and they can do more. My doc is suggesting a third surgery on my eye and says we could keep on until we get it right. Actually, that wasn't a particularly reassuring thing for him to say!