My Refractive Surgery

I'm sure a few of you are tired of reading about me getting my eyes corrected by means of a laser. However I've had a few requests to divulge what information I've gathered based on my experiences thus far. I only have knowledge of two forms of refractive surgery, and those are: PRK and LASIK.

Obviously PRK/LASIK are procedures that are done to your eyes, therefore an appointment with your optometrist is needed to figure out if you meet all prerequisites. To even be considered for either surgery, you need to have enough cornea for the laser to remove. The cornea, in layman's, terms is what determines how well you can see. Too much of it and you can't see far, too little of it and you can't see close. Both of these procedures focus on reshaping the cornea just right so you can see better. There is the idea out there that you cannot have an astigmatism if you want to have your eyes corrected, and that is both true and false. It's true because you cannot have too much of an elongated/misshapen cornea, but it is also false because I have an astigmatism but it wasn't severe enough to stop the surgery.


I'll start out explaining the surgery I know the least about solely because I did not go with this choice; however, I was briefed on the pro's and con's of each.

PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy -- whatever the hell that means...)
Basic procedure steps:

• Numb eyeballs
• Grind down cornea with a 3000 grit sandpaper twirly toothbrush looking thing.
• Brush debris away with a semi-soft brush.
• Slide under the laser that shoots laser pulses onto the cornea to shape it to the correct thickness.

-If I remember correctly, if you have a prescription of 5.25(points) in both of your eyes it takes 2.5 seconds under the laser per 'point' to correct it, so you'd be under the laser for ~13 seconds for each eye.

• After your eyeballs are done being cooked, bandage contacts are placed into your eye(s) to help them heal, and be less susceptible to infection.

LASIK (Laser-Assisted Stromal In-situ Keratomileusis -- who comes up with this shit?)
Basic procedure steps:

• Numb eyeballs
• Be placed under the first laser to cut a corneal flap (almost a 360 degree circle into the cornea of your eyeball) which lasts approximately 14 seconds per eye.
• Countless more numbing drops placed into the eye.
• Move to a separate room with a different type of laser.
• Lay down and have more numbing drops inserted into the eye they're currently operating on.
• The doctor takes a metal poker (looks like a giant metal toothpick) and lifts up that flap they created in the other room.
• Stare at a blinking light for a number of seconds based on prescription (remember that really shitty example I used above?) while the laser reshapes the inside of your cornea.
• The doctor places the flap back down and ensures it is laying in the proper position to reduce any discomfort or chances of ripping/tearing/infection.

Pros / Cons of each procedure:

PRK:
-Pro's

• You can tell all your buddies that a laser hit your eyeballs and you're magically better now? I dunno.
• OH! Less invasive than LASIK.

-Cons

• Super slow and terribly uncomfortable recovery. The pain was described to me as if someone kept throwing sand in your eyes and it never went away. (I had LASIK, went in the day after for the post-op appointment, and PRK people hated their lives while I felt great)
• Will not reach optimal vision for at least 2 months.
• Taking 5 different types of eye drops at least 4 times a day for 6 months.

LASIK:
-Pros

• Much quicker recovery time than PRK. I felt normal after sleeping for 5 hours.
• Vision becomes it's best less than a week after the surgery.
• Eye drops required for less than two weeks after surgery.

-Cons

• More prone for infection if eyes aren't taken care of correctly.
• Much much much more invasive than PRK.
• May result in seeing halos around lights.
• May result in dry eye.

If anyone is interested, and has more questions please feel free to ask. I'm in no way shape or form an expert on either of these subjects, but I can speak about my first and second-hand experiences.



Don't look if you're squeamish.