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

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• PRK vs. LASIK Which Corrective Eye Surgery Is
  Right for You?
• PRK versus LASIK
• Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and
  Laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses (LASIK) are
  both laser eye surgeries, having the same intent
  to improve eyesight though they are different.
• 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), and astigmatism.
• 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 cornea
  tissue.
• 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 your eye.
• 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 procedures differ?

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PRK Recovery vs. LASIK Recovery 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 it heals Your vision will
be a little blurry until the bandage is removed
for about a week but it gradually
improves. With LASIK, youll probably see much
more clearly than you could before, even without
glasses or contacts. You may even have perfect
vision the day after your surgery. You wont 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 few days. Though it takes a bit longer to
recover from PRK than LASIK, for some patients
PRK offers advantages over LASIK.