This allows your eye doctor to reshape the underlying corneal tissue. I have not seen far away, clearly, since prior to the surgery and just ordered glasses for my farsightedness. The healing process with PRK. At almost 39 y.o, Ive decided to go and fix 1 on my right eye, the number that got back over tye years. While we do connect people with vetted, board-certified doctors, we dont provide medical consultations, diagnosis, or advice. I cant drive at night because I have no depth perception. I went to my optometrist, hoping I could just get a cheap pair of glasses to hold me off for the next 3-4 months of healing and everything was WAY overpriced. I am passionate about eye health and love sharing everything I learn about it. I was very hesitant and still cant believe I went through with it but all I kept thinking was about how I spent so much money that they should fix their wrong! But this time the surgeon decided to lift the original flap from the LASIK. Your vision may appear slightly blurry due to the healing of the top layer of the eye. Keep reading for my full PRK recovery journal, Update as of December 8, 2022: The FDA May Issue Warnings about Lasik. As a result, the eye dries out easier until this all heals up. I could smell it, too. And only the healing time and potential complications differ. I need glasses for everything, but cant really go get a prescription because things are supposedly changing still. To anyone who is thinking about getting this surgery done I would highly suggest not to. I do not mince words with them or anyone else and I let my anger show from time to time. I would ask myself am I going to have long-term light sensitivity after PRK for the rest of my life? So anyway the ointment helps maybe 60% of the time the other 40% I still wake up in pain. My prescription is low with a -0.75 in both eyes, a 20/25 visual acuity. Answers (3) Cassidy bell. Did your doctor offer a 2nd PRK procedure? After prk I had blurred vision which left me debilitated because of headaches and difficulty working on my computer. I got a second opinion from world renowned Mayo Clinic and the recommendation stated forgetaboutit. In the last few months ut is become do bad at night such that i cant open my eyes. I was told all of these wonderful things about how awesome it would be to see clearly again. It was just plain dishonest to not tell me about these effects. Im glad it all worked out. Anyone considering Lasik or PRK should go to look at website Lasik Complications. I did see the headings and photos and knew I was better off not reading in detail about your horrible experience. Im currently able to do about 10-12 hours a day with 3 large monitors on my PC. Please see pic for most recent post-op note and topo scans. After signing away, I went for another round of tests. 2. at this point, I think I need to cut ties and continue to see my regular eye doctor and not the one at the lasik center. All Rights Reserved. It is definately not true that someone can drive or go back to work in Day 5 after surgery. Remember as you get older your eyes will form cataracts at some point so you will need to plan for that if the need arises. Being ignorant of the prk procedure, I just assumed I would have great visual acuity the day after surgery, just like with IOL Not until after the procedure, however, did I learn (my fault entirely) that I should expect up to a month of blurred vision. Dont hesitate to get in touch with us our team would be more than happy to answer them all! The LASIK doctors are pretty much protected from a legal standpoint because of the consents that are signed before surgery. Posterior Capsule Opacity (PCO) is another common complication that can occur when a cloudy layer of scar tissue forms behind the lens implant. Importantly, you should only drive if you can see well enough to drive . Is this normal?? The best I can remember, things had started to get a little blurry when I was around 10. (Pardon my demeanor but Im pretty ****ing bitter since my vision seems to be getting worse). Im feeling pretty frustrated and low right now. I had PRK done August 2021 after many years toying with the idea. Before surgery Iwas -7.50 in left and 5.50 on right. Your email address will not be published. blurry vision, discomfort, and . Please speak with your NVISION Eye Center for additional details. Here are some questions to consider post eye surgery. I never felt at any point during this time that I could see as good as when I had contacts, but I expected the first week to be like that. Wish you a good day. Still on steroids to prevent hazing. My distance vision is seems to be ok. I do have a follow up appointment in 2 weeks, and am trying to hold out until then. I pushed for a reading prescription at my six week appointment even though I knew my vision was not stabilized. Unrelated I had to have a membrane removed from the retina. Wow Josh, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insight and personal experience! for about 5 days i couldnt see a thing. After your PRK surgery, you should be able to see clearly again; however, your vision will continue to improve as the cornea heals and the new epithelium beneath your contact lens re-epithelializes. Good luck with your recovery. Really, there wasnt a problem. Lasik creates a lasik flap to get past the epithelium. And its probable that I will eventually be almost blind in my left eye. It usually takes a few days to weeks for these new layers to cover and thicken your cornea, eliminating ghosting in the process. In addition, my eye doctor had to prescribe glasses to get me to 20/20. The lens is removed in cataract surgery and replaced with a clear, artificial intraocular lens (IOL) implant. Many people I spoke to before the procedure were extremely uncomfortable with the idea of someone touching and messing with my eyes. An even higher percentage of patients report 20/40 vision or better. Need drops several times a day. Started about 8-9 days after the surgery and has been unchanged since then. Oh and I still have a slight astigmatism in my left eye. In some cases, a steroid shot behind the eye might be necessary. So no not worth it unless you really have really bad vision and you have an outdoorsy lifestyle otherwise it is not worth those complications. My job choices are now extremely limited. The pain was located on the right side of my left eye (closer to the nose). Just like the question, I woke up this morning some eye pain. Vision at this stage of the recovery is better than how was before the surgery, but it is still blurry enough not to consider as perfect eyesight. My vision is spectacular. Do NOT rub your eyes in the shower or afterward with a towel. I think that was because I had to wear a contact in that eye for the two weeks between the surgeries. In other words, the farsighted contacts failed with flying colors and neither me, my ophthalmologist or my eye surgeon could make any guess as to why this was happening. I had a corneal transplant due to keratoconus 20 years ago. From 07, three years after my surgery, my vision was noticeably worse and every year would get a little worse until 15 when I got glasses. Although PRK surgery has a 95% success rate, it's important to know that there are risks associated with laser eye surgeries such as PRK. The ablation was not large enough for my pupils and was off-centre. Light sensitivity typically only lasts a few days after surgery, after which your blurry vision should diminish. My main concern is : 1 # Will the glasses compromise my healing process and 2# My vision seems worse when I remove them glasses . I had PRK in 2004. The more and more I read, I believe the potential risks are miscalculated significantly. There really is no full disclosure when it comes to listing the risks associated with elective refractive surgery such as LASIK, SMILE, PRK, etc. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20 (that expression is priceless in this scenario! Thanks for leaving a comment, appreciate it! If we look at someone treated with PRK and someone treated with lasik, objectively their vision is finally equal 3 months out. It felt like I was being tortured on a rack of sorts! The sixth-morning post-op, I could actually see the alarm clock when I woke up without glasses! I feel I may be a candidate for corrective lenses again. I am literally considering suicide as an out from the pain. It does not appear to be getting any better, either. I spent 3,850 on my procure in 2017. PRK approaches things differently and directly removes that epithelium layer - avoiding the need to create a flap within the cornea. Help please. When the eye covering is removed, your vision may be blurry. Additionally, when I dont wear glasses, there is a haze, similar to walking through a campfire smoke, permanently. I wanted to share because it kills me to still pay for eyewear after paying so much for the surgery. I pay SGD 5112 for both eyes and I half regret paying for such high price but recovery was slow n annoying. What do the numbers on your eyeglass frames mean? And then had to wait about an hour to be taken back which is when I started feeling a little nervous. As the corneal tissue heals, your vision can seem blurred. Slight dryness in the eyes and I use eye drops for it. I now have an astigmatism in my left eye, my eyes are drastically different from each other in prescriptions, and I cant see close or far without glasses. After a few eye tests, the doctor said everything looked great. Then a cornea transplant because I had damaged my cornea. Ive been put in contacts to see if they can help sand down the build up of tissue that has formed in response to the procedure. The doc looked over my results and said I was definitely viable for an enhancement. I was very angry . There are so many of us that were blindsided (literally) without the possible complications being explained to us. My long distance vision is good. Why did this happen? And another one suggesting need to use FML 10 weeks. The pain was the kind that is like waves travelling through your brain. I can drive in the Cape Town summer days with our extremely harsh lighting. The success rate of PRK continues to improve as technology advances. Thanks for sharing your story with us Rachel! At the very least, I hope all our stories will help someone make the right decision regarding their eyes. All I can say is little by little my light sensitivity and all-around sensitivity did get better (still not like before) but unfortunately, it took WAY longer than I expected. Why is this? I am sending positive vibes that your eyes continue to heal and get even better over time. Also, some career fields like military personnel or first responders may have certain requirements only allowing PRK versus LASIK because of the possible flap complications. I screamed and begged my husband to kill me. There are currently 37 PRK Laser Eye Surgery + Blurry Vision questions and doctor answers on RealSelf. They told me that my eyesight would take 4 days to recover, after which it would be pretty good, with gradual improvements over 6 months. I would discourage EVERYONE from taking a chance on PRK. PRK is also generally less expensive than LASIK. My dizziness and nausea lasted a long time and I did many different therapies to try to help costing my thousands of dollars. Worst decision I ever made was to have PRK surgery and to believe the 10 recovery crap! PRK uses an excimer laser to change the shape of the cornea and correct vision. My original appointment was about three weeks prior so I never put them back in afterward. By four or five days after surgery your vision begins to clear up, although it may take several weeks to a month to become excellent. You may be asking yourself why a travel blogger is writing a health-related experience on her travel website. I also still can not cut an onion for the reasons you say. This will help to promote a complete and fast healing process. ), and couldnt drive. The doctor told me, I was not done healing and to give it time. Ill never recommend it to anyone, and Im most likely never letting those con artists touch my eyes again! I even put a sign on my bed that says I did PRK because before I did try sleeping with my contacts on and it was horrrible and scary I though ill lose my sight due to dryness anyway, its just there to remind me I am really seeing clearly now. It is only fair in the first few days, and you should refrain from driving a car. I think my husband thinks Im exaggerating when I cut onions but it can be so bad.. They said give it 6 months. Im getting worse not better! Keep both eyes closed as much as possible the first day. Jennifer I am in your exact situation! I used the numbing drops accordingly and the prescription pain meds but nothing helped. I really hope my eyes dont continue to get worse again. I had PRK in November 2021. According to a student in Clinical Ophthalmology, only around 6.8 percent of patients pursue retreatment after PRK myopic correction. Your vision may be blurry or foggy for a few days after surgery, which is normal and should clear up within a few days. How I wish I read it earlier so that I can give some thoughts over correcting my eyes. Learn about common complications from PRK, including blurred vision, pain, discomfort, and more. 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