Vision takes a long time to sharpen up after PRK. Answers (3) Cassidy bell. My vision at computer screen distance is very unclear (blurry and double vision) 18 days after my PRK surgery. A lot will happen within the first week after PRK. I drove only during the day, never at night. Im going for a second opinion, see what other docs have to say about my results and future treatments. I have heard that some vison clinics are not good. It was so-so to good (never 20/20 but less blurry than the night before) in the morning with my eyes feeling refreshed after a good nights sleep but then would taper off by getting more blurry in the evening. So I went ahead and hiked 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago feeling like everything was a little off. In some cases, a steroid shot behind the eye might be necessary. Some of the links included in this post are affiliate links and will provide me with a commission at no additional cost to you. Ill take everyones advice and not roll the dice with PRK. My vision is better than I had with glasses or contacts, but still fluctuates a tiny bit on various days, and I dont really have dry eyeswhich is rather surprising. I couldn't read any of it. I was very angry . Surgeries are a one way journey, you cant undo any damage that was done. Here are a few facts I wish I would have read before I began my PRK journey. Im no doctor, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. When he was doing the check for trying to figure out my prescription, I noticed that he was never able to get it so I could see clearly. 3. Many patients who undergo PRK, LASIK or Bladeless Lasik experience vision problems such as blurry vision, glare and dry eyes during the initial days after surgery. Pretty upset. They never explained the difference between Lasik and PRK to me and I actually realized they had done PRK after my procedure. BUT I have severe and debilitating photosensitivity. If youre experiencing a medical issue, please contact a healthcare professional or dial 911 immediately. Are you experiencing continuous blurry vision? It's nerve-racking having blurry vision weeks and even months after surgery. This remaining prescription will make vision a little more blurry. Im not sure if that was case with me but hindsight is 20/20, pun intended. Then I was told I needed an Astromal puncture, so I had that done. I want my true vision and even now rather my natural vision over corrected. I got PRK a couple of days back. Im so sorry youre going through this as well Kristy. Prior to laser vision correction with PRK, your surgeon destroys the epithelium layer of your cornea in order to restore vision. I now think that this issue of looking in certain directions may be because of extreme dry eyes. i consulted with my doctor, he was saying it will be recover itself. This has been a huge hardship for my family. Offer cannot be combined with any other discounts or special offers, previous surgery, insurance, or vision care plan savings. I laid down and the doctor put an instrument over my head that held my eyelids open. Thats exactly what happened to me. 6 years later, still not right, but Im scared to have a second surgery because if it got any worse it wouldnt be bearable. My left eye is not 20/10 and I have glare issues with both eyes in low light. And if an eyelash gets in there, watch out because it feels like someone is gouging them. 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. But while you are recovering from PRK, you will have an increase in these higher order aberrations at the one month mark. Slight convergence problem got pencil push-ups exercises, seems it got better. I cannot think straight. It is not uncommon for patients to experience blurry vision for several months after surgery. Both LASIK and PRK have incredibly high success rates, among the highest rates for any elective surgeries. It should be an uneventful outpatient procedure that takes about 10 minutes to complete. Over 3-5 days, as you heal, your vision will gradual I do have a follow up appointment in 2 weeks, and am trying to hold out until then. Hi Alex, Thanks for reaching out. I had LASIK in 2006 and have had no problems whatsoever. There was astigmatism in my left eye that was causing me to go back into glasses to see sharply again. Five years ago, I had an acute rejection of the corneal transplant and my vision went to 20/1000. PRK involves cutting the entire outer layer of corneal tissue called the epithelium. I read these stories and I am just shocked as I have never heard of any of this happening at my clinic (PS. I had PRK in 1996. Are contact lenses a good choice for kids? So sorry you are having such trouble. There is a small amount of residual fluid remaining from the detachment that isnt absorbed automatically. I had my PRK at 15 Aug 2017. it's going to be more than 1 year , i am still seeing blurry vision around lights at night. Someone please tell me it will be alright . I have had the prk surgery and it was done by a close friend who is a Dr. Im writing this for anyone who is thinking about it. Vision improves between the first week and the first month out after PRK. I know a few people who had no issues at all but also a few like me whove had nothing but issues. All I can say is that my dry eye did get better as time went on. Please keep us posted! I would discourage EVERYONE from taking a chance on PRK. I reached out to the eye center and they would not give me any of my money back and told me if my eyes get any worse to come back in to see if I am a candidate for a second enhancement. This symptom, which occurs most often in patients with light-colored (blue or green) irises, can be managed with sunglasses or with a prescribed eye drop that reduces pupil size. Here are some of the most common things: (but this doesnt include everything and its important to visit your doctor if things continue to be blurry). And then had to wait about an hour to be taken back which is when I started feeling a little nervous. Its been 3 years now since 2nd round and my eyes still get dry I have to wear sunglasses every time I leave the house AND I barely can wear mascara as for some reason it really bothers my eyes and what girl doesnt LOVE mascara. Ive had so many people reach out to me privately and below in the comments about their own personal nightmares with PRK complications. I have to sleep with ointment in my eyes, and my eyes taped shut. This was the biggest mistake of my life! You will need to wear sunglasses all the time while outdoors even on cloudy days for three weeks to a month. By month 1, vision has sharpened up significantly but it isnt until month 3 that vision no longer becomes blurry. What Everybody Ought to Know About Bionic Lenses, How to Use Castor Oil to Dissolve Cataracts, Restrictions After Cataract Surgery and Your Recovery, How To Stop Eye Twitching | Causes And Remedies. My original appointment was about three weeks prior so I never put them back in afterward. More than 50% blurred vision for first 3 days. Oh and I still have a slight astigmatism in my left eye. I hope this helps and is a little bit of encouragement. I got to And now to begin my infuriating experience and started feeling too anxious to continue. Contact an eye doctor if you need medical attention. Mine are still so sensitive too! 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. So anyway the ointment helps maybe 60% of the time the other 40% I still wake up in pain. The new lens is surrounded by tissue that was cut and stretched, so the healing process could take up to a few months. I was -5.75 in both eyes. An even higher percentage of patients report 20/40 vision or better. Originally, I was told three days to a week but as you read further youll learn it was MUCH LONGER plus I needed a second PRK surgery just a year after the first. Experiencing total blindness after PRK (which is classified as having zero light perception) is extremely rare. Ok, so Im exactly 5m after second PRK procedure on my right eye, and Ill count all the problems Ihad and have till far: Thanks for sticking around to read about my personal experience. Thanks for sharing your story with us Rachel! After your PRK surgery, it is wise to use lubricating drops or a moisturizing contact lens in order to keep your eyes comfortable during the healing process. Fixed monthly payments are required until paid in full and will be calculated as follows: on 60-month promotion 2.5339% of initial promo purchase amount. And it works better for low to moderate farsightedness than high. I would tell you not to get PRK ever. Once the epithelium heals, you will move on to the next stage of healing. I used to be -9 And -8.75, after the surgery I am positive .50 and -.75 so I am nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other eye and has been causing me tons of problems. Can't avoid it. I came back within a few days to do it all over again. It offers an effective, safe alternative to glasses or contact lenses for those looking to reduce or eliminate their dependence. Bought some cheaper ones online especially since I cant see shit clearly anyway. I always wore super magnified looking glasses, which always made me fee super self conscious. My distance vision is not that great either, but better than before obviously (my power was -6 in right and -7 in left). After the. Im glad you posted your experience. They want me to come back in a year to see where my eyes are. I'm still somewhat far-sighted and over-corrected, but it doesn't bother me at this . I had PRK done 2.5 weeks ago for myopia (-7.0 both eyes). Answer: No particular reason. 9 months in Nightly ointment. (I was 34 when I had the surgery). Higher order aberrations have a more irregular and uneven shape and can't easily be corrected with lenses. Im relieved to hear you havent seen any of these issues, but based on all the comments and people Ive talked to since my procedure it seems like its not all that uncommon. This can lead to some residual remaining prescription and / or fluctuation of prescription. The number of drops was tiered over the course of 7 days with the numbing one only to be used a few times when in pain. Clive Novis Ophthalmologist, South Africa. If we look at someone treated with PRK and someone treated with lasik, objectively their vision is finally equal 3 months out. Once that surface heals over, vision steadily improves. After the first week, I knew something wasnt right. It feels like I have a sunburn on my right eye and I can not see anywhere near as good as I could have with my glasses. Really, there wasnt a problem. Worst decision I ever made was to have PRK surgery and to believe the 10 recovery crap! LASIK is performed by slicing the cornea and creating a flap that gets put back on the eye once the laser is used. The doctor told me thats normal and nothing he can do about getting older. Today my optometrist checked for vision and noticed an improvement from -2.5 to 0.25. Hello! He told me there had been studies that the change in the procedure was giving better results as far as recovery time. Theres no way I would have had the procedure if I had just known the basicsthat a month of recovery was typical, not the exception, and, as your blog demonstrated, complications should not be discounted. I did need an enhancement a few months after. Type 2 (late-onset corneal haze) occurs after three months and persists longer than three years. In April 2021 I convinced him to try PRK one more time and after seven months of healing, my vision is about 20/70. I did not feel comfortable driving and my eyes themselves felt extremely sensitive to the touch. The healing was irregular. Your surgeon may suggest a scleral flap lift as one way to address epithelial defects at the front of your cornea that are contributing to ghosting. Still having significant ghosting especially with reading road signs and traffic lights at night and on 1 drop pred forte for mild haze according to DO. These two different measurements are called lower-order aberrations and can easily be corrected with glasses and surgery because they are symmetric and regular. I hadPRK 2 months agoandhaveastigmatism/ghosting/haze? Both PRK, which stands for Photorefractive Keratectomy, and LASIK are laser vision correction procedures performed to correct eyesight. this concerns me because it sounds like i might not be able to control the pain in my eyes. Blurry image in morning. Let me know what happens. All my symptoms remained the same as month one and two. My eyes teared constantly which gave me a runny nose and I was still really sensitive to light. 3. Well, that all changed on day three! The content on this site is for informational purposes only. Its like a dentist visit one persons cavity or root canal can be totally different than another! Its a good idea to avoid screens during this time. I already feel like I am going to have to push for a prescription at my next appointment but I would rather pay for temporary glasses than live in a blur. Ugh! I only use them every once in awhile now 5 years later. I feel very fortunate not to have the follow up issues that you had. I am only 5.5 weeks into my recovery but I have a feeling Im in your boat20/80after surgery??? I feel your pain.. Its devastating to hear these stories but Im so glad you shared with us. Also I had a family member have it done with minimal recovery time. I dont know when my reading vision will be ok. Youre not so young healing of our body is worsening as we get older, and risk for complications arises! Being extremely near sighted makes me eager more and more to do the surgery but after reading this article and the replies Im really hesitant. Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc.. 2022 Foxiz News Network. 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