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My PRK Recovery Timeline

prk-surgeryOne major consequence of PRK over LASIK is the longer and much more variable healing/recovery time. It’s nerve-racking having blurry vision weeks and even months after surgery.

The amount of time required to heal can be frustrating.

Since I’ve found comfort reading other people’s recovery timelines, I offer mine in hopes that it will do the same for you. On the flip side, I’ve also read quick healing timelines that made me more stressed out. Hopefully my story doesn’t do that to you. ;)

Just remember healing time is extremely variable; six months being the most common “worst-case scenario,” but I’ve also read between 9 and 12 months.

Unless anything else comes up, I will no longer update this post cause I’m back to normal! w00t w00t! But if you have any questions about my recovery, feel free to leave a comment.

Also, be sure to read the comments for some other first-hand recovery experiences. Thanks everyone for commenting and sharing!

Overview

Day 1 – September 30th, 2010

Surgery happened around noon.

We’re looking to correct:

  • Nearsightedness (-3.25 in both eyes)
  • Slight astigmatism

I will say one thing about the surgery itself. The doctor sprayed some fluid in my eye right after the laser zapped my cornea. During this split second I could see crystal clear. The laser above me was in sharp focus; no haze, no blurriness, just perfect vision.

This short glimpse into my future vision is what I hold onto when I doubt the results of PRK. I keep telling myself: “You saw clearly then. You will see clearly again.”

Right after surgery I could see somewhere between with contacts/glasses and without. So between 0 and -3.25. I didn’t have any pain, but the doctor told me to take a Lortab when I got home.

Lortab makes me nauseous, so post-op went something like this: got home, took a Lortab, slept, woke up, took another Lortab, slept and into Day 2 we go! ;)

Day 2

Eyes feel fine. No pain or discomfort. Doctor says everything looks good.

Vision is still what it was yesterday. Blurry, but better than before surgery without contacts.

While the doctor says I can’t drive yet, my vision is good enough that I feel comfortable driving to the grocery store for some lubricating drops. Not sure if my eyes are in the legal limits though. ;)

Day 3

You know the feeling you get when you’re in a dark room and walk outside into the sun? Your eyes feel overwhelmed and you have to shut them for a bit?

That’s how my eyes felt for the first part of the day.

I tried watching college football but couldn’t keep my eyes open for too long. My eyes felt overwhelmed. I couldn’t keep them open for more than a few minutes before I wanted to close them.

Luckily that cleared up halfway through the day and I felt fine afterward.

Vision hasn’t changed though. Still blurry.

Day 4-5

I was standing in my living room looking across to the kitchen when I realized I could see better than the previous days. Still not better (or equal to) when I had contacts, but definitely better than before.

That’s good news right?

Day 6

That is until the doctor messes with you!

I go in for my second post-op appointment and the doctor takes out the bandage contact lenses.

Vision regresses to what it was on Day 1-3. Bummer! *shakes fist at doctor* “You’ll rue the day!”

Day 7

I drive for the first time at night.

This is my first post-PRK venture in the dark with my new eyes. I know night vision problems is a common side effect of PRK (e.g. halos, glare, starbursts), so I’m anxious to see what night vision problems I have.

To my surprise, it doesn’t appear that I have any.

Since I’m still somewhat sensitive to light, I don’t stare at any street lights for too long, but as far as I can tell my night vision is what it was before I had PRK. Not seeing any signs of halos, starbursts, etc.

I’m praying this trend continues throughout my PRK recovery.

Week 1

The common thread the past week has been vision that is between with contacts and without. Basically my nearsightedness has been reduced, but not eliminated.

Luckily it’s good enough that I feel safe driving because I go back to work for the first time tomorrow. I’m slightly worried about going back because I spend a vast majority of my time on a computer and I don’t want to strain my eyes while they’re healing.

But *shrug*. It is what it is. I gotta work to pay the bills.

There haven’t been any significant improvements or regression in vision (just a small improvement on Day 4 and 5). Overall my vision has been fairly consistent since the surgery.

I will say I am surprised at how non-existent pain and discomfort has been. I’ve experienced no pain or discomfort this past week. Also, I don’t have any problems with dry eyes (another common PRK side effect). I use the lubricating drops as directed, but never feel like I need them.

Score one for the home team!

Day 8

First day back to work.

As I mentioned earlier, I spend most of my day on a computer. Being back wasn’t nearly as straining as I had expected. I did have to bump my screen resolution down to 1024×768 to see anything, but I feel good about resuming normal computer activity (with frequent breaks).

Day 9

Today was the first day I felt good about the strength of my eyes. My eyes have needed 10 to 15 minutes in the morning to fully wake up and not feel like they’ve just woken up from a coma. Not so much today.

Aside from the still blurry vision, they feel strong.

The eyes no longer need to be babied and I feel comfortable resuming activities I’ve avoided the past week (e.g. reading my Kindle and using a computer).

Day 10-12

Same old, same old . . .

Day 13

While my vision hasn’t had any major fluctuations since the surgery, I can tell there are slight changes up/down. Every couple days or so I’ll sense my vision is better than it has been. Usually it’ll happen randomly during the day, but it doesn’t last to the next day.

Today, unfortunately, was the noticeably worse day I’ve had since the surgery. Not horrible by any means. I could still drive and function as normal, but I could just tell my vision was worse than in the past.

Day 14

If yesterday was the worse day, today’s the best my vision has been yet. How convenient since I had another appointment today. ;)

Surprisingly, my vision is somewhere between 20/40 and 20/25. Didn’t realize it would be that good. I could make out the letters on the Snellen chart, but the sharpness/focus wasn’t there. That’s the part I miss the most from my vision. Even reading things up close (like the text on this monitor) don’t have the crispness I did with contacts.

But according to my current progress, the doctor says it’ll take another three weeks before my eyes stabilize.

So until then I won’t worry too much.

Week 2

My vision through this past week has stayed fairly consistent. Consistently not stellar. The story of my life the past two weeks. ;)

I can detect minor ups and downs in quality of vision from day to day, but nothing significant. I’ve had both my best and worst seeing days in the same week. But overall, I don’t believe my vision is any better than it was a week ago. Or, maybe the progress is happening so subtly that I can’t tell?

Also, the doctor says to wait another three weeks for the eyes to stabilize.

In all of this, you’ll hear me say my eyes are blurry a lot. I think I should define that a little more. I was nearsighted (-3.25 in both eyes). After surgery I am still nearsighted (as of right now), only less so. I can read/see fine up close, but things in the distance are blurry.

Blurry applies to distance vision (which is expected being nearsighted) but it also applies to close-up vision. In this context, blurry means the vision isn’t crisp/sharp. It’s slightly out of focus. So while I can read a book just fine, I can detect a hint of the words being out of focus.

The clarity just isn’t there yet.

Week 3

This has been the best week by far. There’s been noticeable improvement in my vision. I believe I’ve hit 20/20 at various points. It’s been neat getting up in the morning and being able to see clearly.

My vision hasn’t fully stabilized yet, but I’m finally starting to feel better about the results of my surgery. If things progress as they have I’ll be a happy camper.

I also engaged in sports for the first time without any problems. Played a couple matches of tennis and a pick-up game of Ultimate Frisbee. At no point did I feel hindered because of my eyes.

There are still minor ups and downs from day to day (and within each day), but the average quality of my vision has improved. Let’s say last week was 75%, this week it’s been 85%.

The blurriness is slowly clearing up (both distance and close-up). I can now see objects in the distance with more focus. Books are also getting clearer, however, I am still having some blurriness when viewing computer screens.

Week 4

I’m pretty confident my vision is at or near 20/20. This makes me happy, but at the same time my vision is still not at the same quality it was with contacts.

I could see 20/20 with my contacts, but things were much more crisp.

Being able to see 20/20 is only one aspect of good vision. The part I’m missing is the sharpness and clarity. So that doesn’t make me happy and reminds me there’s still more healing/waiting that needs to be done.

Also, I think I am having some night vision issues. Still no halos, starburts, etc., but I feel like I’ve lost the ability to see detail in the shadows. It’s kind of hard to describe. As I’m drive at night there are portions of what I see that appear to be completely black; where I can’t see any detail. Instead of seeing an outline or shape in the shadows it all blends together into a blob of darkness.

Let’s hope this isn’t a permanent issue. While it wouldn’t be the end of the world if it were, it’s still a little weird. What if a burglar jumps out from the shadows and I can’t see him!? ;)

Week 5

Overall, not much has changed from last week. The vision has stayed consistent (near, if not at 20/20) and I think the lack of clarity/sharpness has gotten a bit better.

And also, I’m positive now I am having night vision side effects. I haven’t quite put my finger on exactly what it is. But it does have to do with not being able to see shadow detail. And whether it is related or not, there seems to be certain situations with lights (i.e. stop lights/car head lights) that make me sense something is different than it was prior to surgery.

I’m going to try and experiment with my night vision this upcoming week to see if I can explain what these “symptoms” are.

Week 6-7

Wow, has it already been seven weeks since the surgery? Over the past two weeks I’ve found myself not noticing any vision problems at all (at least during the day). So the slight issues I had looking at computer screens has gone away. It was such a gradual thing that I didn’t even realize it was getting better.

I just started waking up and going about my day like nothing was wrong. Only when I had to think about writing this update did it occur to me things had gotten better.

But as I hinted at before, I still have a detectable problem seeing details in shadows at night.

Even if that doesn’t clear up, I will still be satisfied with the results of my surgery. I have a follow-up appointment this upcoming week. We’ll see what the doctor has to say then.

Week 8

Had a follow-up appointment with the doctor this week. According to the Snellen chart, I’m seeing just better than 20/20. I could read the 20/20 line without any problems and some of the 20/15 line. Good news there.

As far as the night vision problems I’ve been describing, I explained it to the doctor and he wanted me to do a little test. He wanted me to compare my night vision with someone else. His main reason being sometimes people can over-analyze too much and he wanted a comparison.

Sounds like something I would do. Pretty ingenious “experiment” if you ask me. ;)

So I did the test and my roommate could not see shadow detail any better than I could. Perhaps I am seeing normally. I’ve only been able to compare with one other person. I’ll find a few more and see if the results are the same. If they are, that bodes well for me. That means my vision is normal and as good as it was with contacts/glasses!

From here on out I will only update this blog monthly.

3 Month

90 days! 3 months!

So here’s the deal. From my last update you know I was “complaining” about some night visions issues and the comparison my doctor wanted me to do. Aside from my roommate, I didn’t compare with anyone else cause I feel like I don’t have those night vision problems anymore.

Now you’re probably thinking to yourself it must have been psychosomatic (i.e. my brain was making me think I had issues when I really didn’t), but I swear I had problems! By coincidence it cleared up after my doctor had me do the test. Seriously! ;)

I would say I felt 100% healed and fully functional at the 2.5 month mark.

Other Recovery Timelines

1,434 replies on “My PRK Recovery Timeline”

Thanks for this timeline. Really helped me not freak out. I’m on day 6 and seeing about 20/50 and 20/40 in each eye.

Thanks for sharing – I am just over two weeks past my PRK. My vision seems pretty good. Not as good as contacts but I know they are improving by the day so I am happy. Two things I noticed that you didn’t mention as much. My eyes were soooo dry for the first couple weeks – that too improved and yesterday I went the whole day without artificial tears, though I probably could have stood to use them a time or two.

My biggest frustration, though, is my nearsightedness sucks so far, You mentioned this a little bit, but I’ve had to get reading glasses to see my computer monitor or read my phone screen even. Even the glasses don’t make it perfect, just a lot better. So I am hoping I didn’t exchange one problem for another – but that’s almost what it feels like now.

Any more thoughts on that? I am 46 years old so am told my nearsightedness will start to regress at this point in life, but I didn’t think it would be a side affect of PRK like its been.

probably something to talk with your doctor about. but at least from what my doctor said, he said most people when they hit 40+ will need reading glasses (even with PRK). that’s due to some part of your eye being less flexible so the reading glasses help compensate.

i don’t know if the situation you’re describing is related to the natural need for reading glasses as we age or with your PRK recovery.

so like i said, probably worth following up with your doctor about.

Thank you. I am one week post op and was getting irritated by the blurry vision. I am hoping to see the light clearly soon.even though the Dr said that the time line is forever long for healing I never imagined this feeling.

Thanks a lot man, I just had the surgery 6 days ago and was already panicking but this article put me at ease, I appreciate it.

No prob! Glad it helped you out. What did your doctor share about the recovery process?

It really surprises me how many people go into the surgery not realizing how long the recovery will take.

He was pretty vague. I think my problem was I got it through the military and they kind of pumped us out rapidly. They did 16 of us in one day and we all had a 5 day post op. When we all met up most people were seeing fine so that’s where my panic started to set in. I also see halos at night now, really intense halos so when I saw the doctor his response was “yeah you’re healing a little more rough than most, but you’ll be fine.” I was full panic after that lol.

But again your article put me at ease so thank you

I’m on day 16 and my right eye seems well. But my left eye is still pretty blurry. Very frustrating. I’m starting to think the doc missed on the left eye

Thanks for sharing your timeline.. I’m on day 7 and am experiencing the exact same as you, so I was a little worried I was out of luck. I feel better waiting it out now, and hopefully my vision will clear up in the coming weeks :)

I am on day 15 currently. My pre-op scrip was -4.00 / 0.25 (left) and -3.75 / 1.0 (right). Currently, left eye is nearly perfect (20/15) and has been for 6 or 7 days. I am thankful that this seems to be a very very speedy recovery in this eye. Very little dryness either, can open it easily in the morning. Still, I use the artificial tears every 1-2 hours. Right eye is 20/30ish with 1D astig (along the same axis as pre-op) which leads to ghosting/double vision. This eye is somewhat dryer and needs eye drops to open in the morning. It tires out when reading the monitor as well. The surface of both eyes look “very good” with no sign of clinical dryness and a smooth epithelial layer.

I did my first week of recovery close to the beach (~70% humidity, which may have helped — currently at 55% humidity). I stepped up the eye drops before bed about a week ago, and if I woke up at night I started putting some in and shortly after my left eye really took off. I think keeping the eye lubricated / wet is really important for healing. Right eye also improved after that, but not quite as much. Right always seemed to be behind by 3-5 days so hoping the next week will improve it. Going to use a small humidifier by my bed tonight to keep them as wet as possible.

The last day before having the contact taken out, my right eye seemed to have little or no ghosting / astigmatism. I believe it is just a matter of the epithelial layer growing back to a uniform thickness to get me back to at least 0.5D, which in my experience is not noticeable (some people would be bothered by that much however).

Vitamin C, Fish Oil and avoiding the sun like the plague are the other things I have done…

Leaving on a positive note, my right does seem to be “trying” to see without ghosting, maybe it is just a small part of the epithelial layer that need to thicken up. My pinhole is 20/15 by the way, not sure the importance.

It’s easy to get discouraged early-on; it can become overwhelming. Lasik surgery offers instant results that do not come with PRK. The recovery period for PRK can be anywhere from a month to upwards of six months. Having had both operations, I will say that PRK is worth the healing period. I don’t know why they performed you surgery within a week on both eyes, especially if you need good vision for your job. What’s done is done; you can’t unring the bell. Be patient; improvement will come in time and you will look back and be happy you had the PRK surgery.

Hi,

I am discouraged! I realize that i wasn’t well informed and prepared for the PRK procedure. I’ve been told that it would take a week to get your vision back. I had my first eye done 10 days ago and the second one 2 days ago but i still can’t see from far nor from close with my first eye operated and of course the second one still has the protecting lens on. But i am starting to feel nervous, i am worried i won’t be able to go back to work in a couple of weeks. I am a MakeUP Artist, i need to see details from close. If i was told that it could take 3 months i wouldn’t have done it! :-( Emilie

Give it a few more days before getting discouraged. Mine didn’t clear up until day 16. I’m at 6.5 weeks now and the only issue I have is a little astigmatism (I think) in my right eye.

Jason

I’m so glad I found your diary, I’m on day 12 after surgery and have been panicking that it hasn’t worked. My right eye is quite clear although the sharpness isn’t there but my left eye is blurry both close up and distance. Just feel deflated after spending a lot of money to correct it and thinking I will have to go back to glasses. Speaking to most people they say it’s the best thing they ever did but I’m just regreeting It at the minute. Reading your story is giving me hope that it takes time to heal.

Leanne,

Recovering from PRK is a marathon, not a sprint. With lasik, you get instant gratification; PRK is different. I’m about en months into recovery on my right eye; it is 20/20 and has been that way since about the third or fourth month. My left eye was operated on September 4, 2014; five and a half months ago. My doctor’s visit last week had the left eye still improving slowly and at 20/25. I’m fine if it doesn’t progress any further, but I think it will eventually reach 20/20. I’m still able to read the newspaper and paperback books without reading glasses; that’s something I haven’t done in 30 years before PRK. Twelve days into the healing process is scary; you start having doubts because you want results quickly, but PRK doesn’t work that way. Have patience, follow your doctor’s instructions concerning eye drops and you should notice improvement as you heal. One thing that has helped me is my doctor’s recommendation that I take 1000mgs of vitamin C each day; it helps with clarity. I have been following his recommendation for about 3 months now and I do notice the left eye continues to improve. Good luck with your recovery; hang in there, it gets better each week.

John, looks like I am having the same problem. I am six weeks into recovery and a little better but, the vision still comes and goes. I get very nervous when I hear that other people recovered in less than a month. And when I had seen my doctor after a month, he told me that he expects people to get better in one month, so that freaked my out more. I worry everyday and this is the first thing I think about when I wake up.

Leanne,
How is your vision now? Just curious because we had PRK one day apart. My left eye is pretty clear now, but my right is still quite blurry. I keep reading these blogs, but it’s so easy to get discouraged…

Jason

Update: 3 months post surgery now and everything’s awesome. No issues at all vision is 20/10. PRK was a great decision. If anyone is having doubts or issues don’t worry stick with it, things will improve greatly over time.

Greg,

Glad to hear your recovery has been fantastic. PRK recovery is different for almost all individuals. My left eye is still not at 20/20 like my right eye; it’s probably around 20/40.. It is five months now since the left eye was done. I have an appointment later this month so the doctor can check my progress. If it continues to improve, I’ll be patient and see how it goes. If doctor recommends enhancement, I’ll go that route. I have a free enhancement within the first year if needed. As a former RK and lasik patient, my eyes take a little longer to finish healing and are not as predictable. Enjoy your new vision..

Greg,

Twelve days into the healing process is much too early to be frustrated. Hopefully, from reading this blog, you have recognized that PRK is a slow healing process. I had my left eye operated on September 4th (two and half months ago) and the healing process is long from over. My right eye was done back in early May and is doing great. The healing for the left eye has been slower, but it gets a little bit better each week. One eye at a time is definitely the way to go. I would hate to have two eyes healing at the same time. My doctor allowed four months between the operations and I thank him every day for that wisdom. I have always had an eye that wasn’t in flux that I could rely upon. I imagine my left eye is about 20×40 or 20×50 right now; the right eye is 20×20. The left eye still tires or dries out at times during the day creating blurred vision or a tired eye. I hope over the next month that this will pass as the eye heals. If not. it’s possible I will need an enhancement on the left eye, but that will have to wait till the eye no longer shows further improvement. With PRK, you’re in for the long haul when it comes to healing. Try to have patience; it is definitely worth the wait. Use your eye drops as directed and keep the eye moist with artificial tears (they help, especially when the eye gets tired). I’m a former RK patient (many years ago) as well as a lasik patient (2000); the RK regressed in the ’90s and really screwed up my vision. I’m thankful that the advancements with PRK have been able to help me see better than I have in 25 years. Hang in there; better days are ahead.

This was very helpful, thank you! No one had informed me about what happens when they take the contacts out. I get mine out in 2 days D: / :D

Its been exactly 12 days since my surgery and healing is very slow. I miss the sharpness of my vision with glasses.

Ms. Brunette,

It has been six days since my PRK surgery on my left eye; my right eye was done in April. The left eye has actually been easier than the right because the right eye is 20/20 and that allows me to function normally (drive, read, watch TV). When I had the right eye done, the left eye helped, but it was far from 20/20.

I will have the contact lens bandage removed from the left eye tomorrow; that will be nice not having a foreign object in my eye; also not having to wear the plastic shield at night while I slept. It wasn’t easy sleeping with a hard plastic mask covering my eyes; it constantly woke me up when I rolled over. Having been through this just four months ago, I can reasonably expect what will happen during the healing process. The healing and vision recovery will be slow at first; moving between clarity and blurriness during the first few weeks. Then it will steadily improve over the next few months. After about two months, vision is pretty good but not yet 20/20; I reached 20/20 sometime between month 3 and 4, As I stated in my previous post, PRK requires patience. As for my right eye (operated on in April), it is a pleasure. Night vision is better than before PRK and peripheral vision is also better. I can still read without reading glasses. Follow the eye drop regiment as prescribed by the doctor and you should heal just fine. Based on my experience, I strongly recommend that anyone contemplating PRK have one eye done at a time. I would not want both eyes going in and out of focus on a regular basis over a period of a month; one good eye can make the transition much easier.

I’m probably the poster boy for vision correction surgery, having had RK in the late 1980’s, lasik in 2000, and now PRK in 2014. RK worked well for about 5 years and then regressed fairly quickly eventually leaving double-vision and blurriness to the point that reading became uncomfortable. The lasik (fairly new at the time) helped to correct some of the damage done by RK; I could see pretty well, but still had some double vision and reading was still a pain. Fourteen years passed and I had intentions of waiting until cataracts came a calling but at age 69, my eye doctor told me that I’m still a long way from cataract surgery. I decide that in order to really enjoy my new retirement, I needed better vision and went back to the same surgeons who had performed my lasik. They informed me that they would not do lasik a second time and recommended PRK., one eye at a time. This way they could observe the healing process on my right eye and use those results to determine how best to treat the left eye.

I had PRK on my right eye on April 25th; the surgery was similar to the lasik except that they abrasively removed the layer over the cornea rather than cutting a flap. It was painless. The first few days I slept a lot and took a couple Advil now and then. The only problem that I had in the first week was the contact lens bandage; I never wore contacts and hated having something in my eye. Once that was removed at the end of week one, the recovery was slow and steady. I’m very happy that they did only one eye because the other eye allowed me to watch TV, read the paper, and use my computer. The operated eye was of little use the first few weeks; it was blurry most of the time. After about two weeks, I was at 20/50 in the right eye and driving was fine. The first few weeks driving was uncomfortable even with one decent eye to see. I have noticed improvement every week and on my re-visit last week (7 weeks after operation), I was almost 20/20 in the right eye. Now, the left eye lags behind, but I function well. I have my next appointment on August 10th and they will take the readings again on my left eye and schedule me for that operation a couple of weeks later (my choice – taking a vacation starting Aug 13th).

With PRK, patience is the key, do some research and find a doctor with whom you are comfortable, and do one eye at a time so you can still function. My surgeons actually charged me half price ($950/ eye, including tear duct plug) because I was a repeat customer from 2000 lasik operation. I no longer have any double vision; night vision has improved; and for the first time in almost 30 years, I can read without reading glasses (that may eventually disappear as the eye fully heals, but I’m enjoying it now). No regrets, but you have to be patient.

Hi,

I had my PRK done exactly six weeks ago, i have en eye exam again this week and will know exact status of my eyes. However, I am pretty happy and believe my PRK recovery times have been reasonably faster without any pains, dryness etc. I believe this is a result of taking 2 x 1000mg Omega-3 with 500mg Vitamin C in the morning and night along with following eye Vitamins
http://www.bausch.com/en/ecp/our-products/eye-vitamins/eye-vitamins-ecp/

I also was keeping my eyes wet using preservative free tears every hour even when did not need it. I used Fresh PM eye ointment every day.

I took these vitamins based on either my doctor’s advise or my person finding based on various studies published and available on internet for rapid prk recovery.

I will strongly recommend using these vitamins and share your findings.

Regards
Khan

Hello all,

It’s been a while since I last updated. I had PRK done in January for my right eye and in March for my left eye. The left eye healed up well. I believe it is at 20/20 or pretty close. The right eye developed haze right away and was treated with 3 rounds of Durezol until the doctor decided a month ago that an enhancement was the only way to go. The eye was slightly under corrected as well so they were going to fix that as well as remove the haze.

That was on Friday and I’ve been in a world of hurt ever since. The pain is definitely more intense than the original 2 and longer lasting. Yesterday, they attempted to take out the bandage contact lens but my healing is much slower than the original and it left me in such pain they had to put it back. Ever since then, I’ve been experiencing day 1 pain and was told that when they took the bandage out, it disturbed whatever was healed and will take some time to settle back down. Everything is blurry. On the TV I can’t even tell there are faces on the people. What’s really bothering me is that I’m still seeing the haze I saw prior to the surgery. The same haze I saw immediately after the original procedure. I’m hoping that things will clear up with more rest.

Anyone else experience this haze issue AFTER the enhancement and it clear up?

Hi Cadi, I had the exact same thing happen to me. One eye was perfect the other had haze and was undercorrected. Right after my enhancement I did notice my haze was better but was still there for a couple of weeks. Having the enhancement done was so frustrating in that you had to start the healing process all over. What made it easier is that I now had one good eye. My eye healed really slow too. Try not to get discouraged because you need to give it more time. It’s been almost a year now since I had my enhancement and I’m so glad I had it done. I can still see a tiny bit of haze when it is dusk out but it’s really not bothersome and I think eventually that will go away. They ended up doing monovision in that eye which I didn’t ask for but it’s worked out fine. I’m done with surgery…and it’s way better than my vision before surgery. I’d say my right eye is 20/20 and my left is about 20/30 or 20/40 for the monovision. With both eyes together I can see up close and far away.

Hang in there. It’s been a long journey for you but it is temporary. It was a emotional roller coaster for me for two years because my vision in my left eye was so bad it really affected me.

I hope your haze goes away. Did they use MMC on you for the haze?

Hi,

I am 3 weeks into my PRk recovery. I was -5.75 in each eye. 3 weeks later my right eye is seeing 20/25 and my left eye is seeing 20/40. My left eye seems to blurr at times and is VERY light sensitive. Driving to work in the mornings i can barely keep my eye open because it starts to tear up badly.

So is anyone having issues with one eye lagging behind the other ? and how long did it take to catch up? if ever?

Also how long should i expect the very light sensitive eye/eyes?

thanks in advance

@ Alex Tran, Cramer:
thank you for your replies. your inputs are very helpful.
my doctor said its okay for redo. we had all the pre-op tests done last week
and i had this scheduled nov. 28.
i’ll be updating you after the operation as to help others on our experiences
as they are quite traumatic.

i had prk last july 29, 2013 and as of now, my left eye is still blurry. so my doctor recommends a redo and scheduled it this month. counting, it’s still below 4 months.
i am a bit worried that maybe its too early for a redo. still, my left eye’s vision is almost the same blurry as after 2 weeks of surgery. i’ll be waiting for your reply or anybody who may have a second back-job experience. thank you and God bless

hi oliver. unfortunately i don’t have experience with a follow-up surgery. have you shared with your doctor the concern you have about it being too early for a redo?

perhaps your doctor has a valid reason. or, if you’re still uncomfortable, you could always get another opinion. i know most doctors do consults for free.

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I had my eye redone but waited over a year. I can tell you by experience that at 3 months that is pretty much what your vision is going to be. It’ will sharpen up a little but not by too much. I think 4 months is a little soon. I think they usually say to wait 6 months. sorry to hear your healing is not going so well. My left eye did not heal well so had to have it redone.

Hello Oliver,
I had my PRK done the same week as you this past summer. Although the doctor told me that my eye will pretty much be what it is at this point, I noticed a difference in the last 3 weeks. I was wearing a contact in the eye I had my surgery and glasses for reading up close (no line bifocals at 20/75). I no longer need either. I’m writing because I don’t want you to prematurely get a surgery done that you may not need. You can always do your surgery at a later time but once it’s done, there’s no turning back. I don’t mean to scare you but I would feel bad if you got something done that could have waited. Good luck! This has been an emotional roller coaster for me but I can finally say which I never thought I would that I can see!

My update: I had the original PRK on my left eye in January of this year and on my right eye in April. It was apparent within a few months that I would probably need an enhancement in both eyes, which was really depressing. I had the enhancement in my left eye in July and am still recovering. This surgery was much more difficult and painful than the first two; however, I could tell within a few days that I had 20/20 vision in that eye and was so happy! However, once they took the bandaid contact off, my vision seriously deteriorated to 20/80, which I thought would heal up within a few days. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and it’s been a very slow recovery since then. My eye pretty much stayed in the 20/60 range and I was getting worried that I would have to have yet another enhancement on that eye. However, over the last few weeks (nearly 3 months out), my eye seems to have made quite a bit of progress, so I’m feeling more hopeful. I think the enhanced eye is going to turn out to be at least 20/30, which at this point is good enough for me! I really don’t want to keep going through this, and worry that I’m pushing my luck with every surgery. I haven’t had any problems with ghosting, haloes, etc., in either eye, and I’d like to keep it that way. In terms of the right eye (which I’ve only had once), I’m not really seeing anymore progress at this point. That eye has stayed at about 20/40 for several months now. I’ve decided no more enhancements for me; I can live with my current vision, and an unexpected bonus is that I can still read without glasses (which I was told I would definitely need after the surgery). Anyway, to all those having long recoveries, hang in there – it definitely gets better over time.

I am 3 months post PRK ENHANCEMENT: as of now only my right eye is healing well. My left eye has lots of scarring and very poor vision. They just increased my steroid Rx in hopes of reducing swelling and scarring to improve vision. He actually told me today that if it doesn’t help, they would need to re-do the re-do. That means THREE surgeries on left eye. Crazy. And who’s to say whether or not scarring will occur again? This is very frustrating, to say the least!

That must be frustrating. One redo was enough for me. It’s not perfect but that eye is much better than it was. Are you getting headaches? Is it haze or scar tissue? I hope the extra steroids help, but it didn’t help me. It’s scary to have to keep having surgeries not knowing the outcome. The problem is that if your vision is bad and bothersome you HAVE to do something. You can’t go on with one bad eye. I did that for a year and a half and it was very frustrating. I hope it all works out for you.

In just a few days it will be 10 months since my prk enhancement on my left eye. For a few days my vision seemed to be getting worse and I figured out that it was because I started taking allergy medicine. It was drying my eye out and was affecting my vision. I stopped taking it and everything was good again.

I still do suffer from dry eye but it is getting much better. Vision is great..not as perfect as my right eye but very good.

I still think that things will even get a tiny bit better. They say it takes over a year to fully heal from PRK. With my right eye it did seem like things just kept improving even after a year.

I hope all of you are doing well. Please update if you can. It helps others who are get through the healing process.

Thank you Alex for this blog and everyone for sharing your experiences with PRK.

I am 53 and presbiopic now. I have been very nearsighted since I was eleven. Because I have so much trouble seeing with the near/midrange/far vision glasses I have now I considered getting separate reading glasses and far vision glasses. Someone suggested I look into lasik. My online research so far has led me to consider PRK or epi-lasek. I have not yet gone for evaluations.
I am worried about serious dry eye problems as a result of surgery although I have never had to use drops and no eye doctor has ever told me I have dry eyes. Is dry eye always part of the outcome of lasik, prk, and epi-lasek? Or is this temporary and most people are eventually completely free of dry eyes and the need for drops and/or punctual plugs? I understand nerves are cut with all the refractive surgery procedures but less with PRK and epi-lasek. If the nerves do fully grow back for most people and drops are rarely needed – even if it takes a couple of years to reach that point – I think that would be acceptable.

I had a PRK done on my right eye three weeks ago and am finding that I can see 20/20 far away but anything less than 3 feet away from me is blurry making reading impossible without bifocals. Also I’m noticing that my vision is better outside than when I’m inside. Has anyone experienced the same thing? I started panicking over the past week thinking something went wrong with my surgery! Any comments or feedback would be appreciated!

Hi, I wouldn’t worry yet. You are still really early in the healing process. Did you have both eyes done? Things should get a lot better in the next couple of weeks. I also was able to see better outside. I think it is because your pupils get bigger outside because of the light. Your inside vision will get better as you heal. That’s good that you think you have 20/20 for distance. I was still pretty blurry at 3 weeks. My close up vision got better and better and I don’t need glasses to read. I think that took about a month and a half. Just hang in there..your healing sounds pretty normal to me.

Cramer,
Thank you so much for your reply. I don’t think anyone can understand what you’re going through unless you’ve experienced this. I have to say that this is the scariest thing I’ve EVER been through. I started having panic attacks and have wished every day that I never did this surgery. I can’t imagine what state of mind I would have been in if I did both eyes. I think I need to change my web name to “freaked out!” Thanks again for your reassurance. I’ll see the doctor in one week and am anxious to hear what he has to say.

That was very smart of you to do one eye at a time. My doctor talked me into doing both and since I had issues with haze it was very traumatic. It was soooo much easier when I got my enhancement and it was one eye. I also knew what to expect. I had not idea that the recovery would be so long. They tell you a week…yeah right. I’m sure things will get better for you. Like I said at about a month and a half things got a lot better.

I have a similar experience Arlene.
I had my first (right) eye done 15 days ago. I keep reading that it will be OK but it has been a little scary and worrisome at times. I am trying to be patient. I do have 20/20 in the eye for distance, but up close it is blurry. My eye also stings and burns often and is very sensitive in the mornings when i go outside to drive to work. The doctor say’s it is healing great, however – so I suppose I just need to be patient. I am supposed to get my other eye done this coming weekend. The prospect of having 2 eyes in this state is pretty frightening and I hope I am making the right decision. I guess I will have to pick up some reading glasses for my right eye while the left one heals. Ugh..

Hello all,

Another update on the haze in the right eye. My doctor says it’s getting better. At least according to the corneal topography scan. I personally do NOT see any improvements. He switched me from Durezol to Prednisolone Acetate Ophthalmic Suspension USP for the next 2 months, 4 times a day. I told him that my vision even to my monitor is blurry. He’s not worried about it. If after this next round of treatment I do not see any improvements, it’ll be time for a 2nd opinion. He says I have monovision, which I didn’t want. It’s giving me headaches and I constantly feel a strain in the right eye, like there’s a dirty contact. ARGH! My left eye is perfect. Besides the dry eyes in the morning, I’m pretty happy with it. The right eye has me blinking and attempting to rotate a dirty contact that isn’t there.

Has anyone been on this particular steroid and if so, did you see results?

Flourescent lighting is no longer bothersome to me. Just so you know the gel drops made my eyes very red and irritated as well. I would experiment maybe go a few days without the gel. I would just stick with sustayne, freshkote, or refresh. My eyes felt so good just after two days of stopping all the gel. I was driving last night and definitely still have halos. Once I put a drop in they are for the most part gone so I figure it’s still dry eye. Since this is an enhancement I am a little more patient this time. My other eye is perfect so that helps.

I’ve noticed that for the most part one eye usually comes out perfect and the other eye not so much. I don’t have much to complain about, both eyes are pretty darn good. The only thing is that they gave me slight monovision and I didn’t ask for it. I think it’s going to work out fine though.

Hi Cramer,

Sorry to hear the genteal gel didn’t work out. I’ve followed your advice and tried Freshkote b4 bed. Still dry in the morning, but a few purified eye drops and I’m good. The latest news is not so good. After 8.5 months with 20/20, I’ve been experiencing headaches and pressure behind my right eye. Have no idea how this sort of thing can surface so late in the recovery process. Also gives me hot flashes. I’m trying to stay off the extra strength Tylenol, otherwise, I’ll never really get a feel for my true progress. Vision is supposedly rated at 20/20, so it’s hard to understand. Perhaps the 10 hours I spend on my PC at the office have slowed the revovery process. After my next Optometrist appt, I’m getting a 2nd opinion. It’ll be nine months, and I’m not happy.

My eye that was enhanced started changing again after about 10 months. I started getting headaches and felt very dizzy. My vision in low light got even worse. That’s when I decided that I had to get it fixed, I couldn’t deal with it anymore. It’s weird how your eyes can regress after so long. I never had the sharp pain behind my eyes. I waited as long as possible to have my enhancement because I dreaded the healing process. the enhancement was so much easier for me because I now had one good eye. I could tell right away that my vision was going to be much better the second time around.

I’m sorry to hear that you are getting the headaches. They are terrible and it’s hard to focus on your regular duties throughout the day. I think a second opinion is a very good idea. Also, you need to be persistent with your current doctor. There was a few time I felt like they were trying to make me feel like I was making a big deal out of nothing. I started getting angry and that’s when they took me serious. Good luck to you.

Glad to find a forum like this. I’m 8.5 months post PRK and while my vision is reportedly 20/20, three things depress me: (1) red, veiny eyes, (2) very dry eye in the morning (need to apply gel at night), (3) and fuzziness around stoplights and moderate starburts around headlights). Never really noticed number 3, until recently. My eyes have been very dry in the morning since right after the surgery. I’ve read that nerve endings in PRK are stil healing for a period of up to two years, but the veinyness in my eyes really has me depressed, and constantly checking mirrors. This didn’t start until about the 7 month-mark. My Doc recently prescribed FreshKote (awesome drops) and recently put in punctal plugs. Anyone else had these experiences? I’d appreciate any feedback -KR

Welcome to the board. I am 8 months post prk enhancement. My eye is still very dry in the morning when I first wake up. After I put in a drop it is fine. One thing that may be causing your red veiny eyes is the gel. I have tried the gel several times at night before I go to bed and noticed that my eyes were irritated and red the next day. They felt worse. You may want to try putting a regular drop in your eyes before bed and then when you first wake up. Also, if I start using drops that not preservative free, my eyes will get red and irritated as well. The gel was the worst of the two.

As far as stop lights go, I do see halos around stoplights. If I put a drop in they go away. I have monovision and they say that sometimes this will call halos but should eventually go away. They really aren’t too bothersome.

I do have a little of the starbursting from the headlights but this has gotten much better with time. Now, it’s so small it doesn’t bother me.

I think the worst thing is if I am driving late at night and I am tired, and my eyes are dry. That is when I see the most halos.

I definitely have more dry eye this time with the enhancement but things are getting better over time. My right eye which was done over two years ago is perfect.

Oh, and I do have punctual plugs in and that did help a lot. I also tried the restasis but that bothered my eyes and was very expensive.

Thanks, Cramer. Interesting, I too notice that the halos and starbursts are reduced after using Freshkote. I hope these get better with time. I also plan to slowly transition from the night gel to gel drops, then eventually just drops. We’ll see how it goes over the next month or so. BTW: Started working with the fluorescent lights off in my office (just using the daylight that comes through the blinds). Makes a HUGE difference. My eyes feel 100% better at the end of the day.

If u can, I’d recommend giving it a try.

I had a PRK done on my right eye three weeks ago and am finding that I can see 20/20 far away but anything less than 3 feet away from me is blurry making reading impossible without bifocals. Also I’m noticing that my vision is better outside than when I’m inside. Has anyone experienced the same thing? I started panicking over the past week thinking something went wrong with my surgery! Any comments or feedback would be appreciated!

Hello all,

I thought I’d drop by and give an update on my “progress”. It’s been 122 days since I had PRK in my left eye. Almost immediately, I was able to see pretty well. Healing has been ideal with just morning dry eyes. I sometimes have some minor ghosting but it tends to go away if I blink a few times or put rewetting drops in. It’s been 192 days since my right eye was done and unfortunately, I can’t say the recovery has been all that wonderful. I’ve had haze in that eye since the beginning. The doc has me back on the steroid drops 4 times a day. I’m supposed to keep using those for 6 weeks. I’m on day 35 and the only thing that has changed is my vision. The acuity had degraded but I understand that can be a side effect of the steroid. So, not only do I still have the hazy dirty contact feel, now what I can see through that “dirty contact” is not as crisp.

My next visit, I’m going to bring up having the enhancement done. I’d rather get that over and done with rather than drag out this process, only to have to go through the enhancement at a later date. So frustrating.

You story sounds JUST like mine. I had one perfect eye and the other had haze from the beginning. They tried to use steroids over and over again to get rid of it and it always came back. The steroids will definitely make your vision worse..

I got my enhancement 1.5 years after my surgery to remove the haze. I wish I would have done it much sooner. It’s also not good to keep putting steroid drops in your eyes. It can cause cataracts in the future.

I hope it works for you….

Sounds like your haze was pretty bad. Mine affects me mainly at night.
Take care….

Elliot

Thanks Cramer.
I’m glad your enhancement worked out well for you. What was your required correction prior to your first procedure? Since I needed in excess of 9.5 correction in my left eye, I believe that I had a thin cornea to start with. My vision now is virtually 20/20 and while I have haze in both eyes, the amount of haze in my left is beyond acceptable at night. Is this worth the risk of worsening my already minimal dry eye situation (caused by the procedure) or the possibility of serious damage?

my original prescription was -4.25. For me, the haze was very bothersome, especially on cloudy days or early evening. This time they applied MMC so the haze wouldn’t come back. LIke I said, they fixed my prescription as well with the enhancement. You could always have them just remove the haze and apply MMC.

I was very scared to do my enhancement. I was worried that things would be worse. I could tell right away after my enhancement that the haze was gone. It didn’t look like a dirty contact anymore. It was nice and clear…vision was a tad blurry the first couple months but it was clear.

As far as the dry eye, my eye is a little dry but the first time I had it done it was getting better and better. My right eye which I did two years ago is still dry in the morning. I just put a drop in and I am fine all day.

Good luck with your decision. Haze is a pain and definitely affects the quality of your vision.

I’m using reading glasses now for all computer and reading. It’s very frustrating. My left, or close up vision eye, is not healing well. The vision has deteriorated and scarring is present. I’m frustrated and worried. On the bright side, my distance vision is great and still improving. My right eye is behaving well yet I still wear a contact while it continues to heal.

Not sure what is going to happen with my left eye. I can’t believe I have to use reading glasses!

I know the feeling of being very frustrated. Before my enhancement, my bad eye was all I thought about. I had scarring too, and it didn’t get better until the enhancement. I’m glad to hear your right eye is doing ok.

Hang in there. Hope things get better very soon for you.

Hi Cramer, It’s very nice of you to continually assure Scardykat.
As I reported in this forum, 3 years after PRK, I have glare in both eyes with higher level in my left. I also have some dry eye in the morning. Please explain your “enhancement”. Did you go through most of the process all over again? Does it present a significant risk doing it again?

To Scardykat: because your cornea was re-shapen to see better in the distance, you and most people going through this procedure will likely require magnifiers for reading. I’m needing +1.5 reading glasses. But that’s a price I would have been willing to pay for my now 20/20 distance vision.

Elliot, I know what it is like when your eye is not healing right. It’s very emotional so I like to be there to support the newcomers that are experiencing issues.

I had prk about 2 years ago. My left eye had haze issues and it affected my vision. My prescription was also off. They tried for a year and a half to correct it with steroids. They wanted to do an enhancement at one year but I put it off because I was scared to have it done. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore..I was getting headaches and my vision was just bad in that eye. Yes, the healing process is the same and starts all over again but I did have one good eye this time so that helped tremendously. When they did the enhancement they got rid of the haze and gave me slight monovision, so I can see close and far away. The enhancement was a very good decision and now I am happy with my prk. That first year and a half was a roller coaster because when both eyes aren’t working right you just feel off.

I have some dry eye now but am very happy with my vision at this point. I know the dry eye will get better.

Thank you so much for writing about your experience and also for keeping us all updated. It makes me so much less freaked out when I can read the experiences other people have had! Hope everything is still doing well!

Yes, the drops are steroids. I read that it can blur vision so, hopefully that is all that really is and not that my prescription is changing again.

I’m at the point where I would rather get the enhancement now and start over with the healing process if it means I will stop having headaches.

My left eye is dominant so, with the right being in the state it is, my eyes feel stressed and unfocused. I do notice if I shut my left eye, my right eye takes a few seconds to adjust and then I can see better. Not crystal clear or hazeless, but better. And the same with the left. I shut the right and the left can focus. But with both eyes open, it’s just blurry.

Hello all! I thought I’d drop by to update you on my healing process. I had PRK on my right eye 6 months ago, and my left eye 3.5 months. My left eye is doing well. 20/20 with some of that nice glow in the evenings that some of you are experiencing. I’m hoping that will go away with time. Other than that, I’m really happy with my left eye. My right, however has had some haze since the beginning. My doctor seemed to have ignore my complaints and focused on my left eye. Now that my left eye is doing well, he’s finally addressed my right. I’m back on the Durezol, this time 4x a day (originally 2x a day – weird thing is he prescribed 4x a day for the left and left is great… coincidence? Not sure). I’ve been on this for about 5 weeks now with no improvements. Actually, it seems like my eye has gotten worse. I can’t see as far as I used to and it’s really annoying me. I can liken the sensation to wearing a dirty contact all day, making my eyes feel so stressed and irritable by the time I get home from work.

I do experience really dry eyes in the morning, even in the right so I sleep with my drops right next my pillow. I’m going to bring up enhancement my next appointment. The difference in prescriptions is giving me a headache.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Are the drops he prescribed you a steroid? I had haze and they put me back on steroids. My vision always got worse while I was on the steroid..with more ghosting. We tried steroids a few times to get rid of the haze but it just didn’t work and finally had an enhancement. As much as I didn’t want to start all over again, it was totally worth it. My right eye is perfect, my left eye they adjusted it for monovision even though I told them not to. I’m ok with it now but since my right eye is so perfect it was hard to accept at first. I do see pretty darn good from my left eye, just can’t read signs far away. Overall I am very happy.

Usually, my vision would get better about 7 days after they stopped the steroids. My haze just kept coming back and I would get headaches too. You said it right, it was like a dirty contact and would be worse in the early evening or cloudy day. I don’t have any of that now..

Also, wanted to let you know that my enhanced eye is 6.5 months post op and it is really dry in the morning as well. We have ceiling fans going, and air conditioning so that probably doesn’t help. The dry eye thing usually gets better at around 8 to 9 months.

7 weeks post PRK enhancement: eyes are continuing to improve. Doctor saw a bit of scarring in left eye so he removed the contact and instructed me to go back to using the Flarex steroid drops in that eye to help offset further scarring. The right eye is healing more slowly, but still making progress. I still have a contact in that eye to help with the distance vision and I’m using a non-steroid drop in that eye. I’m functioning pretty well, can drive fine, but haven’t tackled a novel yet! I’m hopeful things will continue to improve and that the contact will come out of the right eye. I’m much more confident this time around as compared to when I had the original procedure. I only wish I had been better prepared for the healing process and the high possibility of needing an enhancement. Hindsight is always 20/20. Haha.

It seems to me , that prk is only for people who should not be having Lasik for various reasons.
I have spoken with at least 30 different people who had Lasik, from mainly different doctors, and their experience was always “perfect”. Some , I have spoken with after 3 weeks, 1 year , 5 years, etc,
I have not heard the slightest complaint.
My point: PRK seems scary and usually unnecessary.
I have read all the pros and cons on the internet, but what truly is the benefit of PRK?

Al

I had PRK on Feb. 22nd 2013, I had a -9.00 & -8.75 with astigmatisam, I still see blurry but I manage to drive and work, I believe I see 20/40 and 20/30 I am going back in the begining of August to see about an enhancement. I believe seeing blurry all the time does make you very nervous I has helped reading how everyone else is doing. I really can not wait until I can see 20/20.

Hi everyone. I thought i would post an update – 6 months after surgery. I had monovision correction on Dec 12 of last year. I have seen major improvements in comfort over last couple of weeks and vision has stabalized. I don’t have any hazing and clarity has been great since probably February, was just the dryness that was irritating. This weekend was perfect. Read Stephen King’s new book (Joyride) and saw WWZ in real 3D. In both cases entirely forgot about eyes for long periods of time. I will need slight correction for driving at night, but for 99 percent of my daily activities, am excellent. I wanted to post, because during the 1st weeks and months after the surgery, when i was haunting this board daily, i noted that most people disappear after 4 months or so. It is true what they say – you can keep seeing improvements. Good luck to all.

Scardykat, wanted to check in on you to see how you are doing. How is everyone else doing? I’m almost at 6 months and doing very well. I do notice that in some flourescent lighting my left eye doesn’t have the best vision. I was watching the church choir yesterday which was at a pretty far distance and had a hard time seeing their faces with my left eye. I know this gets better because my right eye did the same thing and I don’t have any problems with it now. Other than that…all is good.

Here is my one month post PRK enhancement update. I currently have contacts in both eyes, which the doctor says are similar to a cast on a broken bone. The lenses are to help reshape my corneas. I’m using an NSAID drop in each eye 4x a day. The contacts make my close up vision poorer than without them, but the distance is better. I meet with the doctor in two weeks to check the progress. Hopefully the lenses will come out, but who knows. I have very little discomfort or eye irritation such as dryness. I’m very good about using the tears throughout the day. I guess the important thing right now is that I am functional, I can drive, I can see to direct music (I’m a choir director) and I’m not in any pain. Those are good things!!!

Glad to hear that you can drive. That makes things a lot easier. I’m sure as you approach 1.5 months – 2months things will get a lot better. for some reason dry eyes hit me at the 3 and 4 month mark. They are better now, just need a drop in the morning. It’s been almost 6 months for me and I don’t think of my eyes much anymore. I guess that’s a pretty good sign. Keep us posted.

They have effectively given up at this point. I think it is possible to have another procedure but my cornea is probably too thin now to take a chance.

OK Folks, since most of you are relatively new to PRK, I’ll give you the 2 year long view from my experience.
Because I had 7 and 9.5 correction, my Ophthalmologist said Lasik was not the way to go. I was also under the impression that PRK had less halo and dry eye issues so I went for it. Initially, one or both eyes (can’t remember) may not have attained the the expected results so the Dr. fit me with temporary contacts to adjust the healing process. This seems to have worked as I now have 20/20 bordering on 20/15. My vision fluctuated slightly for about a year or so but I can’t complain about the end result. I do need to now wear 1.50 reading glasses but I am 52. The only negative is that my eye is at times somewhat dry especially in the morning and I see haze especially at night. I’m not sure if this simply means that the cornea didn’t heal right or perhaps the contacts I wore after the procedure helped cause the problem.
I was prescribed Restaisis because the Dr. figured that the haze was caused by the dry eyes he confirmed I had. I have now concluded 3 months of Restasis use with no improvement in the haze but my tear test did show an improvement. I think they just happened to test me when my eyes weren’t dry. I will discontinue the Restasis tomorrow.
In conclusion: I would still have had the procedure even if I knew I may have haze but it can be annoying at night. Perhaps it may dissipate somewhat as time goes on. But those who have dry eyes need to regularly treat it with a rewetting solution so that the eyelid does not scratch the cornea.

Hi Elliot, I had haze in one eye as well. I really noticed it at dusk or cloudy days. They tried everything..steroid, restasis, more time.. I thought I could just live with it but after a year and a half it was just annoying. I went in for an enhancement and they applied MMC and got rid of 95% of the haze. It’s ALOT better now and am so glad I had it fixed. I still see a tiny tiny bit of haze at dusk but it is very slight. I just decided that if they could fix it then why not get it done. Sometimes it will go away on it’s own, but sometimes it doesn’t.

Hi Cramer, That sounds very interesting. What is MMC? I’d like to bring this info to my Dr. Does the procedure come with the same risk as the initial PRK procedure?

Thanks,

mitomycin C (MMC

This is what they use for patients that have a higher prescription. Usually 4.25 or worse to prevent haze from forming. They didn’t use it on me the first time, and I did get haze in my left eye.

When they did my enancement they were able to remove the haze and apply the MMC and this time I did not get any additional haze.

Healing time was same for me because they fixed my prescription a tad. From day one after my enhancement I could tell my haze was gone so I was very excited about that.

I’m not sure if healing time would be different if they just removed the haze and applied MMC but it is totally worth it. The haze was really bugging me. Not only made my vision worse on cloudy days or at dusk, but also gave me brain fog because my eyes were not working right. You should talk to your doctor to see what he thinks.

Best way to describe the haze was it looked like I had a dirty contact in my eye. Very annoying.

As it turns out, my Dr’s office reminded me that they did start me off on MMC right after the procedure. Unfortunately, it didn’t accomplish for me what it did for you.

All the best.

Hey everyone. I’m from Europe, and I had PRK done with a MEL 80 laser 10 days ago. My left eye was -2,75, my right eye was -2,50 with -0,50 cylinder. 5 days after the surgery I could stay with the eyes opened and my vision was perfect. After removing the lens my vision deteriorated for 1-2 days but the vision in my right eye became soon perfect and is still perfect while the left eye remained pretty weak. It’s frustrating because i I can see so well with the right eye.. the doctor said 1 week after the surgery that the healing goes well and that I will be happy with the results. My next check-up will be after a month. Now I see that I am not the only person to experience this frustration.. I had many moments when I regretted the surgery. I hope the left eye will become the same as the right one and I’m trying to be patient. Hope all of you will be OK.

The drops she gave me for my right eye with a contact is KETOROLAC TROMETHAMINE 0.5% SOLUTION – OPHTHALMIC (NSAID). It’s indications are for itching and swelling, which I didn’t complain about. Also, the website states it should not be used with contacts. Oh well, I’m sure she knows what she’s doing…….?

That’s strange..I guess you just have to assume she knows what she is doing. I hope things speed up for you. I know the days probably feel like weeks sometimes. Try not to think about it constantly. I was really obsessed…I printed out eye charts and put them on my patio, and in my house. ha ha

Even to this day when I put a drop into my left eye (prk 5 months ago) it still clears up a little and my vision is crisp. I think I still have a little healing to go. I’m not so obsessed anymore because my vision is pretty darn good now.

To Scardykat,

I think your doctor is trying to adjust prescription using NSAID. Your eyes might have been over-corrected like mine. So the doc uses NSAID to grow some cells in the cornea to treat over-correction.

I am at week 6 post LASEK and still having blurry vision for distance and up-close details. It is really annoying to read fine prints off of the computer screen and I am having a hard time to recognize people’s faces. I think I can see better under the sun. My vision gets poorer in dim light or indoors. I am just hoping things will clear up and get crisp over the coming months…oh please.

Hi Everyone-
I am thankful for this blog simply to know that I’m no alone in this process. Today is 18 days since PRK ENHANCEMENT on both eyes following a year of ups and downs. today the doctor put a contact into my right eye as well as prescribing another drop to be used solely in that eye. I’m to continue with the steroid drops only in the left eye. Seems strange. She says it is an attempt to “speed up” the healing process in the right eye. At first the contact was great and I could actually see while driving. Now it seems really fuzzy and I’m not sure what’s up. I’ll see how it feels tomorrow.

I’m very good about using tears all day long and using my drops. I’m honestly not getting my hopes up just yet because I’m skeptical about how it will all turn out. For now, it’s one day at a time.

Funny story-last night while in my son’s room I noticed what looked to be a glow stick of some sort on his floor. I couldn’t figure out what it was, so I asked him what that yellow glowy thing was. He looked at it, looked at me like I’m crazy and said, “that’s a pencil, mom.” That pretty much sums up my vision at this point!!

Hey everyone,

I haven’t posted in a while and glad to see everyone is doing well. I had PRK done on Feb 26 2013 and so far I am happy with the results. My left eye is still not caught up with my right but together I can see 20/15. For everyone that has had the surgery done recently just learn to be patient. It is annoying having one eye better then the other but i’ve realized the more I think about it the more it drives me nuts. My main concern now is having extreme dry eyes in the mornings. I am not sure if its a combination with allergies but when I wake up my eyes are so dry sometimes if I blink it hurts. I have to put drops in immediately. Other then the mornings I don’t need to use the drops. Well hopefully it resolves it self. Stay positive guys !

You are at 4 months and that month my eyes were the most dry. When I woke up in the morning they almost felt glued shut. After I put drops in I was fine.

My surgeon would get frustrated at me when I would complain that one eye was better than the other. I was like you and it would really bug me until I decided who cares…I see great with both. One eye will always be different.

Glad to hear your vision is good. 4 month mark was a good one for me. I’m on 5 months and looking forward to more small changes. Dry eye is better now..thank goodness.

I had to get a contact in my eye as well so that I could drive. Mine also got fuzzy. Most likey your prescription is changing again and that is why it is fuzzy. I would keep it in my eyes for a few hours just to keep my sanity. I think the steroid drop actually slows the healing down. Your only using steroid drops in one eye? I was on steroid drops for 8 weeks and that is about the average.

I know what you mean by the “glow”. Orange/yellow road signs did the same thing..or white cars on the freeway. This does get better.

Try not to get discouraged. Keep us updated.

Hey Cramer,

I haven’t posted in a while, but have been reading to see how everyone is doing and feeling. I think it’s pretty interesting that a lot of people say that their left eye is not doing as well as their right eye, as you know I have had the same experience. I had my initial PRK procedure for both eyes done on March 15th and was pretty upset that I could not see to drive for a couple of weeks and also found working with a computer or reading anything for that matter a significant struggle. On April 26th the Doctor decided to remove the cells on the left eye because it was so cloudy I couldn’t read anything on the eye chart. Since then my right eye has progressed to 20/25 and I can see great out of it. My left eye is catching up and while I can see a ton better it is still only 20/70, but improving almost on a weekly basis. Like you and many others have said who have been down this road patience is the key. I’m finally liking my decision to get the eye procedure done, I did regret it for a time. However in a couple of weeks when on vacation after playing in the ocean for an hour or so I won’t be lost when I come back out and try to find my family. That happened last year on a crowded beach and was the catalyst for doing the procedure, I was sick of being handicapped when I didn’t have glasses on my face. While my eyes are still improving I can say that it was a good decision, but not without a little pain and struggle. Lately I’ve had to laugh because all of the sudden I find myself trying to remove my glasses from my face before I get in the shower and when I go to bed when there are no glasses anymore. Must mean my eyesight good enough that my subconscious thinks I’m wearing them. Thanks for the encouragement along the way, it really helped.

I’m glad to hear that I am giving people encouragement. The reason I do this is because my first PRK surgery was such an emotional rollercoaster and a life stopper. It was so unexpected and people don’t understand unless they go throught it. When your eyesight is affected it really throws you off. My right eye had healed pretty quick but my left eye really lagged and then they saw haze in it. They tried desperately to fix it but as soon as I got off the steroid drops it would come back. At one year my vision got worse in that eye. The hardest decision I made was to go back and have an enhancement. I didn’t want to go through the healing process again. My vision was very annoying causing me headaches so I decided I had to do it. Boy…I’m sure glad I did. SO much better.

Patience is the key. You will continue to see improvements and if you need an enhancement at the end of the healing process, it’s not the end of the world..

Contacts gave me red itchy eyes and were such a pain. This was the best thing I ever did even though it was a real struggle the first few months.

I used to do the same thing when I got in the shower. Your vision must be getting better. Hang in there. You are still early in the process. 6 months is a good time frame to shoot for but you will still see little improvements up to a year. Third and 4th month your eyes may feel more dry so use lots of good drops…preservative free only. Just finished up my 5th month and my eyes are only dry right when I wake up.

I wish you the best of luck and let us know how it goes!

Well, today is 12 days after PRK enhancement and I had my second follow up with the doctor. My vision deteriorated slightly from last week and I still can’t see well enough to drive. They did tons of measurements and tests today and seem to be concerned that the left eye might not be healing well. My right eye is very blurry, but when they did the “pin point” test I could see great. They said that is a good sign that my right eye should continue to heal and reach that level of vision. I would be very happy with that. One concern I have is that every time I go see the doctor, they NEVER say to me, “Oh, you’re doing great. Everything is fine and what we would expect to see at this stage.” Rather, they seem concerned and if anything, consoling. What am I to make of that? Anyway-I have very little discomfort and continue to use drops regularly. I sure hope things continue on a good path. It’s early, so I’ll be patient. But I must admit I’m a little worried…..

Scardykat
I would ask the doctors what they are seeing in that left eye. After going through the procedure myself I would not be to worried just yet. My left eye was always behind in the healing process. If in fact there is a problem with the left eye you will have to wait till the healing process reaches three months for them to go forward with an enhancement to that left eye. Here is my .2 cents. Be patient you are only 12 days in and your eyes have been through a big change. It will be up and down till your eyes heal well enough to keep your vision clear.. Good luck with your recovery. Oh almost forgot I was very worried at first as well but I now see 20/15 on the snellen charts or whatever they are called. Once the healing process is over if you are over 40 dont be alarmed or upset if you need reading glasses. I am fine on a computer but very small print i need the assistance of reading glasses. Again good luck!!

I agree with John. Try not to worry yet because it it so early in the process. My left eye was always behind. I remember getting frustrated at about the 10 day mark because my vision wasn’t good enough to drive. Things will change greatly in the next month..hang in there.

I hope everyone’s recovery is going well. Cramer, it’s so great to read your updates and about your successful recovery from your enhancement surgery. I wanted to share my updates: My last checkup and post on this blog at Week 10 showed a 1.0 astigmatism in my left eye with 20/20 eyesight. My right eye had been really clear and crisp since the third week of recovery. I was disappointed with the outcome since my left eye was blurry and not as sharp as the right. I had expected that my eyesight (for each eye) would be “perfect”. I only use that term because at the last hour, the surgeon changed my procedure from LASIK to PRK. Her final words were, “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it would come out perfect.” That has stuck with me since that day. This process has been physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging.

Last week’s checkup (Week 13): L eye: 1.0 astigmatism with 20/20 vision & R eye: .25 astigmatism with 20/15 vision. I asked my optometrist (not the surgeon – since the surgery center was off-island) if an enhancement would be worth it. She mentioned that astigmatisms fluctuate and that it wouldn’t be worth it. She said that I am seeing 20/20 and my healing looks great. Since I walked out of her office I realized that I can’t compare one eye to the other since 20/20 and 20/15 (with varying degrees of astigmatism) aren’t the same and my eyes continue to fluctuate. As I write this, I notice that my right eye has become blurry and my left is pretty sharp. I’m just a little over 3 months and after reading a lot of posts realize that I can expect changes up to a year. I’ve been using Restasis and Systane Ultra for dry eye, but that seems to be improving. I’m becoming more aware each day of what affects my eyes (exercise, coffee, alcohol, makeup). I can see 20/20 and I’ve kind of accepted that things are pretty much “perfect”. I am happy with my outcome and still look forward to improvements everyday.

You will definately see more changes coming. I saw changes up to about a year. I would always complain to my doctor that one eye was better and that it bothered me. She said I can’t compare one eye with the other. My right eye has perfect eagle vision up close and far away. My left eye see pretty well far away, just not the small details. With my left eye I can see up close very well. With both eyes together my vision is very good. I stopped comparing and I don’t worry about it anymore. Like I said at 4 months my eyes got very dry and that’s pretty normal. They are just starting to get better now at 5 months and that has helped my vision. Three months is still early. Give yourself at least 6 months of healing. Sounds like things are going pretty good though and may get better.

Today will be 5 months for me post prk. My enhanced eye is doing pretty darn good. I was noticing halos when my eyes were dry and at night around stoplights along with glare at night. This has improved in the last month and expect this to get better in the next couple of months. My eyes are getting less dry. Month 3 and 4 were the worst as far as dry eye for me this time and when i did my original surgery. Because my dry eye is better my vision has sharpened up. I’m very happy that I decided to do the enhancement. The enhanced eye was set for slight monovision and it worked out really well.

I’m very happy I did the surgery. I know when I had the original surgery done my eyes kept changing until up to about a year. Vision got better and better in my right eye so I expect that with my enhanced eye. The reason why I had an enhancement is because I had haze and it was affecting my vision. What a difference the surgery made!

5 days post op for PRK enhancement in both eyes. Had the bandage contact removed today. I noticed during the eye exam that I could focus on letters but I am seeing double.

First two days were spent resting, ice packs and barely able to open both eyes at the same time. Using eye shades really helped during those days. My close up vision is crystal clear. I mean, really close up! about a foot away is blurry. I can’t drive yet, which I hate. Also, I am a very outdoorsy person and staying inside is very frustrting to me. But the sunlight is too intense for me to tolerate yet. I listened to a book on CD over the first few days to help with boredom. I have very little discomfort, yet find it refreshing to use tears throughout the day.

I’ll check back in a few days:)

The first two weeks are the hardest and it will slowly get better after that. Part of the reason I could not drive for the first few weeks is because my eyes were very light sensitive. Make sure you use lots of drops. My favorite was Systane Ultra. They seemed to last longer. Good luck.

I could not have done both eyes at once (and I would like to point out to scardykat’s doctor that I made that decision on my own, before ever finding this blog or any others), due to my job and parenting (i.e.,driving) responsibilities. However, if you are able to not drive for several days or weeks, and don’t need to read a computer, you can probably get by with doing both at once. My second eye healed very quickly – I could see as well on Day 1 as I can see now, 3 weeks after the surgery. (Unfortunately, my vision is 20/80, so that’s not saying much). So, if your surgery is successful and you have good vision right away, it may not be a problem having both eyes done at once. But, since it’s hard to predict how your eyes will react, it’s safer to go with one at a time. Since you’re having an enhancement (correct?), I assume that you can’t change doctors, so you may just need to go with their requirements, even though they seem unreasonable and geared towards meeting their needs, not yours. My doctor had no problem with me doing one eye at a time – my eyes, my choice.

I appreciate all of your input. I’m usually a pretty agressive type person, but for some reason I feel completely outmatched by my doctor. I can’t choose to go anywhere else, so I’m going to do it their way and PRAY that it all works out. Hopefully since this will be a smaller adjustment to the eyes, the healing/vision recovery process will be better. I went to get a pedicure today to relax for the big day tomorrow! Thankfully I have teenagers to help with the driving and I’m a stay at home mom and don’t have any pressing appointments, so I’ll stay off the road! I’ll check back with you all when I can read a computer screen again:)

I would NOT do two eyes at once, it should be your choice , I am so sorry you don’t have a choice,
Hopefully it will turn out ok for you.

Scardykat, good luck with your surgery. I’m glad to hear that you have older kids that can help you out. I hope your eyes turn out perfect! I know that living without contacts has been WONDERFUL. Please keep us posted on your recovery!

4 days post op: so far so good. I’m not going to seem brave or say it wasn’t horrible, but I think the worst is behind me. Now I have to wait it out and see how the healing unfolds. I’m hoping and praying for the best and will keep you all posted along the way. Thaks for all your encouragement!

Yes, you are over the worst part. Now you just have to have alot of patience! Everyday will get a little bit better. Keep us updated!

It’s been about 4.5 months since my enhancement in my left eye. I am still fighting dry eye. When I wake up in the morning my eye is really red and feels sticky. Once I put in a drop it feels so much better. As far as my vision goes, I’m pretty happy with it. I STILL notice that when I put a drop in that my vision gets better so I know I still have some healing left. Once the dry eye gets resolved it will get better. I remember when I had the surgery the first time that month 4 I had alot of dryness issue. I think it was month 5 or 6 that this got much better.

I also notice on overcast days or at night that I see halos on street lights. If I put a drop in these go away. I’m hoping that this ends up going away because it is annoying. I hear that this is one of the last things that eventually go away.

Other than that I am really happy with my vision. I am 43 and can see up close and far away now. I’m so glad I got the enhancement. I was very scared to do it but it made a big differenct.

How is everyone else doing? I hope you are healing well.

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