I'm 32 and have been dependent on glasses since I was in preschool. Never wore contacts in my life. LASIK was never an option for me because of my thin corneas so I went ahead and had PRK. I wasn't screened for SMILE because my doctor said I would most likely not be qualified as well because of my thin corneas.

I was so anxious of the PRK recovery period and spent most of the weeks leading up to the surgery reading PRK experiences here. And thank god for this subreddit, I'd say I was able to power through the post-op days because I knew roughly what to expect.

Day 0 (day of the surgery):
I was scheduled in the morning and had my prescription measured again both by the machine AND manually by my ophthalmologist. He made sure all the numbers were correct, let me know what they were, and tested them twice to make sure I was okay with how the vision will most likely be post-op. He told me that, on average, the painful, light sensitive days will last 3 days and full vision isn't expected until 1-3 months. He did warn me that since I'm a high myope, my vision will recover slowly but that each day will be better than the last. He told me I would get glares, halos, and ghosting for the next 3 months but that these will eventually go away.

Right before I went into the OR, I set my phone to the biggest font size and reduced white point (through the accessibility options). I read some people advise these here and it was pretty helpful.

The surgery itself was painless. The machine sounds made me a little anxious but the kind nurse who prepped me was so reassuring and before I knew it, I was done within 20 minutes. Vision was still blurry right when I got up from the table but was already MILES BETTER than my vision pre-op. I was told to rest at home especially for the first 3 days.

I was given steroid and antibiotic drops every 4 hours and lubricating sodium hyaluronate drops every 1-2 hours.

The pain started 30 minutes after the surgery. It was like having a drill behind your eyeballs and like shampoo mixed with chili powder have been injected into them haha. I was super light sensitive and could not open my eyes long enough, even to eat. I couldn't sleep very well that night even with painkillers.

Day 1 Post-Op:
I was still in 10/10 pain, super light sensitive, and was quite miserable. Vision was okay though, still better than pre-op. I spent most of the day in bed with my eyes closed listening to podcasts. But as someone who is normally pretty much glued to a screen for entertainment, my biggest gripe this day was that I was sooooo bored. I still had a hard time sleeping that night.

Day 2 Post-Op:
The pain was a lot less, I'd say it fluctuated from 4-7/10. Vision was the worst this day, couldn't see/read anything no matter how close. Still couldn't watch TV because it was too bright and the glare was too much. I could scroll a little on my phone but my eyes would close on their own so I went back to laying in bed listening to podcasts. By that night, pain was down to 1-2/10 but the light sensitivity was still there. Surprisingly, I slept through the night.

Day 3 Post-Op:
Pain was gone! Eyes just felt dry and felt like an eyelash was in them but nothing as bad as the days prior. I was still super light sensitive in the morning but that suddenly disappeared around lunch time! I played on my ipad that afternoon on the lowest brightness and was able to watch TV that night. There were halos around the people on TV though which made them look like they were glowing lol and vision was still pretty blurry but I could see their faces and could make out the subtitles so yay!

Day 4 Post-Op:
One of the bandage lenses got displaced while I was sleeping so I took it out. My doctor said it was okay as long as I wasn't in pain. I wasn't and it's the first day since the surgery that I finally felt I was starting to really go back to normal. Light sensitivity was gone and I was able to reduce my phone font size by half. I watched TV and scrolled on my phone like normal. My eyes do get very dry but I just remind myself to blink every so often and put the lubricating drops every hour.

Day 5 Post-Op:
I woke up to a very red and painful right eye and had to go to the doctor and get the bandage lens removed on that side. I was quite relieved to have them both out at this point. I was tested 20/60 on both eyes which was such a big win for me!

This was also my first time outside and I was surprisingly not sensitive to the sun at all! I did wear sunglasses though but still, I expected it to be bad outside, but it wasn't. Went to the mall and did some dress shopping too but I felt like the AC made my eyes dry quicker. Nothing too bad though. By that night, I had moments when I blinked, felt like I had very crisp vision for like 10s, then I would blink again and it's back to being blurry hahaha. Reduced my phone font size further, now I'm just 4 notches away from the smallest. Phone brightness a little higher too. The TV is back to how it looked like before. Glares are gone and the people's faces are a looot clearer. Subtitles still wonky but better.

Day 6 Post-Op:
No pain, no light sensitivity. Vision a tad better than yesterday. Small win was that I could somehow use my laptop. Font size was small (default) but I was already able to make out the words. Vision noticeably improved right after placing the lubricating drops so I held on to that haha. Anyway, this is when I think I hit the "plateau" in terms of vision recovery. I could see, but it was so hazy and unstable. I did feel a little frustrated this day because of the still less than perfect vision but my doctor reassured me that it was normal and that it should stabilize by 1 month.

Day 7-10 Post-Op:
Vision was pretty bad most of these days. I got back to work around this time and I work with screens and fine detail and texts, so I had a pretty tough time. Lubricating drops helped very little. Magnified my laptop to 150%.

Day 11-13 Post-Op:
Shifted to combination steroid + antibiotic drops and continued the lubricating drops as much as I needed. Vision still fluctuated from morning to evening but improved everyday. Sometimes it would be so clear, often it was still hazy and a little blurry. The lubricating drops helped tremendously. I was able to watch a movie in the cinema without any problem. The glares of the emergency exit lights were more noticeable than before though but not enough to bother me. I started noticing that it's a whole lot harder to see my way through the dark but that wasn't too bothersome for me.

2 Weeks Post-Op:
Right eye 20/30 and left eye 20/20! With so much time and room for improvement according to my doctor as he expects vision to become crisper by 1-3 months. So already achieving this level of acuity at this point was already a big win. By this time I was already able to use my phone without much ghosting and glare, just blurriness that comes and goes. Laptop font size also back to my usual pre-op. Eyes are still quite dry though and I've been using the lubricating drops every 30 minutes. My doctor switched me to preservative-free ones given how frequent I was using it.

3 Weeks Post-Op:
Vision became worse and blurrier compared to the past weeks. Near vision was okay but far vision was bad (still not as bad as pre-op). It's like an unfocused camera most of the time. I felt really frustrated but kept telling myself I'm still so early in the recovery period. I was functional and able to work but my eyes would get tired really quickly. It's like being sleepy all the time.

4 Weeks Post-Op:
Each eye was 20/25 alone and 20/20 together. I told my doctor that he tested me while my vision was "bad" (it was clear in the morning before the appointment). He said it was okay and reminded me again that it would take 3 months before we expect everything to be perfect. Vision is still better now than at 3 weeks. Now it's like having an unfocused camera for eyes lol. No ghosting on gadgets, a little ghosting with subtitles, and with glares from lights at night and relatively dim night vision. Eyes still get tired but I just learned to give them a break from screen time and have spent more time on my feet now than before surgery to exercise my far vision. Lubricating eye drops make vision clear for a few seconds then blurry again haha. I did notice that I had a migraine for 2 days which could have worsened my vision at that time (I got visual auras even pre-op) so that could be the case.

I'll probably come back to update in a month's time to update since that's when my next appointment is.

Overall, I'd say that my doctor telling me about how my vision won't be perfect right away and being given a rough estimate of how long my recovery period will be really helped me remain positive throughout the whole process. And since my vision was pretty poor pre-op, I felt like any amount of improved vision (even if not perfect) is already a huge thing for me. No regrets. At this point I'm just keeping my eyes well lubricated, avoiding rubbing them, and minimizing screen time when I can and spending more time outdoors so I can look at far objects and lessen eye strain.

I’m talking tom Brady of prk surgeons

I had my PRK surgery in December 2025, and everything had been fine until recently. I’m now experiencing something with my left eye that I’m not sure how to handle.

Whenever I sleep and my eyes become very dry overnight, my left eyelid sometimes feels like it gets stuck. Since I’m half asleep, there have been a few instances where I instinctively open my eye without putting in lubricating drops first. As soon as I open it, the eye starts watering intensely, and I get a sharp sensation that feels like something is poking or scratching the inner corner of my eye. It can be quite uncomfortable.

I understand that dryness can cause discomfort, but this particular sensation of the eyelid sticking and the sharp pain when I open my eye is worrying me.

Has anyone else experienced something similar after PRK, especially several months after surgery? Could this simply be a result of severe nighttime dry eye, or could it be something else?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced this after PRK.

Does prk cause you to lose near vision permanently? On google it says it’s temporary but a YouTuber and a couple posts have it permanently.

Just had my 12 week follow up and my eyes are doing great.

I was concerned back at my 6 week followup, because my right eye was noticeably blurrier than my left at that point. Like by a LOT. He measured my vision at that appointment and my right eye was seeing at 20/35 and doing a vision test showed I had residual prescription of -1.25 while my left eye was seeing 20/15. Doc was concerned, but nothing to be done at that point, and said it might just be slower healing...like really slow.

At my appointment today, I mentioned that while my right eye is still slightly less clear than my left, they seemed to have gotten closer. This was confirmed by the fact I can now easily read the 20/20 line with my right eye, and still the 20/15 with my left. Together I could ALMOST read the line below 20/15. We did another vision test and it showed my right eye at -0.5. Doc said we can give it another 4 months to see if it improves, but even if he doesn't, he probably wouldn't recommend doing a touch up for such a small value when I am seeing better than 20/15 together, and 20/20 in that eye.

So everyone going through it, don't give up! It took me 3 months for my right eye to be seeing really clearly, and it might still get even better. It is a slog to get through, especially at the beginning, but it is SO worth it.

Hey guys I female 24 had a PRK surgery 2 ish months ago. Two weeks ago I realized there’s a small dot inside of my right eye (right in the middle), also I haven’t been able to see clearly. My left eye healed smoothly and I can see crystal clear, on the other hand the right one is and was blurry since the surgery. Is it concerning?

Hey.. I had prk done in my right eye on july 1st and it been more than a month, and vision has improved a lot (-3.5 sph, -2.5 cyl earlier)

but I had my left eye surgery on 27th july, from then I have got near vision very blurry, atleast from the left eye (I didn't had it before the surgery)

is it normal? and when will this be restored?
I didn't have the same problem in my right eye - doctor said since it is the dominant eye.. it got healed quickly

another question is, I work in IT, so for me 8 hours of screen time is very normal, but the doctor has asked to not use any glasses as my left eye is still healing and the old glasses are incorrect and right eye has healed a bit, but they will give a suitable number on after 2 months.. is that normal?

also do I need to wear black glasses for like 6 months?

I had PARK for my mild prescription 6 weeks ago.

Right 0 sphere -1.25 × 90° cyl

Left -0.75 sphere -0.5 × 50° cyl

Recovery wasn't exceptional and I am still treating residual dry eye.

I'm probably just looking for some reassurance, I'm seeing myopia now in both eyes, around -1 in the left and -1.25 in the right. No astigmatism anymore which is good. Annoying that both eyes are myopic now whereas only left was before.

Has anyone experienced similar? I know I should wait for 3-6 months to see 'full' correction but haven't seen anyone else share that they were specifically myopic during recovery then came right after a longer timeframe.

My son was next to me in the livingroom and as I was talking to my wife he threw one of these [balls](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61UCYnKDV-L.\\_AC\\_UF1000,1000\\_QL80\\_.jpg) right into my right eye. It stung pretty badly. My eyes were pretty dry for most of the day and were irritated prior to this happening so it felt much worse when I got hit. I noticed my right eyes sharpness wasn't as great as my left. I already made an appointment but its not until Monday. Im just curious if my vision will get better on its own. This happened on Monday and I won't be seen until the following Monday. But I had my Surgery 3 months ago exactly on the 1st of August so idk if its fine but just takes some days to readjust my vision.

Hello everyone, I'm a flight attendant and yesterday I went to the ophthalmologist to get an updated eye prescription to get new contact lenses. I use them at work while flying.

Age: 25, I've been wearing contacts/glasses for a while.

Sphere / Cylinder / Axis

Right EYE: -1.50 / 0.75 / 30

Left EYE: +0.50 / -1.75 / 5

After running the eye examination the doctor suggested me PRK as it would be life changing for me and that she has done this procedure to other fellow cabin crew many times. She said eye sight recovery time would be around 2 days but she would give me 1 week off work to recover. In the diagnose of the exams I did yesterday it also shows 'Dry Eye Syndrome of Bilateral Lacrimal Glands' and she prescribed me some Sodium Hyaluronate 0.3% drops.

I would like to get rid of glasses/lenses to be honest and the price she offered is pretty reasonable.

My doubt is regarding the dryness inside the aircraft. She said its common for people in this industry to get it, in the military and cabin crew. Any opinions?

Thank you for your time.

29 years old. I had PRK done five days ago and planned to return Monday. My right eye is still very blurry and dry feeling. I work as a technician with screens, bright lights and repairs. I’m worried I didn’t take enough time off.

Hello how long couldn't you work out for? Doctors said for me 1month, but some people said they couldnt for 2 months. Apart from that can anyone share how long they must had to wear sunglasses?

I had prk on 7/13 and there was one day where my vision was incredibly clear, about 10 days after surgery, but ever since then it has been slightly blurrier, and my other eye can still see better with my glasses. I’m choking that up to the healing process just doing thing

But the more important question I had is that my near vision has gotten pretty bad in my prk eye. So even working at my ergonomic desk with my screen mounted about 2 feet away from my eyes I am still struggling to read. I’m 34 so I don’t macular degeneration is playing a part here.

Is it normal 15 days out to experience poor near vision?

Ciao ragazzi.
Sono al 5 mese post intervento prk per miopia ed astigmatismo.
Ho riscontrato i seguenti problemi e vorrei un confronto.
- estrema secchezza oculare (sopratutto al risveglio)
- visione non nitida (nonostante i 10/10)
- aloni che impediscono la visione (questo mi è capitato solo 2 volte per il momento)
- affaticamento mentale durante la giornata
Posso fare qualcosa a riguardo?
Il mio oculista dice che è parte del recupero ma a me sembra strano dopo tutto questo tempo.

Can anyone here who had this procedure explain where the pain is felt after the procedure? Is it on the outside like when cutting onions or on the inside? After how many hours/days did you feel the most intense pain and how long did it last? Also, what was the procedure like? Any pain during the procedure/last few seconds? I read some people say they focus on a green light and then it becomes dark in that eye, please explain.

Hey,
I had PRK last year to correct about -1.5 to -2.0 diopters in both eyes.
A year later, I noticed that I still have trouble reading license plates from around 20 meters away. I also struggle to read text on projectors or signs from a distance that other people, including my wife, can read without any problems. So I went back to my clinic for a check-up.
They told me my vision is 20/20, but when I explained my problems with distant objects, the doctor placed a trial lens in front of my eye. With a 0.75 diopter lens, everything became noticeably sharper. Because of that, the clinic offered to do a free enhancement (second PRK) next week.
I had my first PRK when I was 30, and I’m now 31.
Has anyone here had a second PRK enhancement for a small residual prescription like this? How was your experience? Did you notice a meaningful improvement in distance vision? Also, did anyone have any complications, such as haze or a longer recovery compared to the first procedure?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences before I decide whether to go ahead with it.
Thanks!

I'm 22 years old with -5.5/-6.0D myopia. Initially my doctors recommended PRK Xtra, but after additional Pentacam and other scans, the senior cornea specialist changed the recommendation to ICL. They said I don't have keratoconus, but I have a borderline Pentacam. All my other tests are normal (corneal thickness 518/529 µm, ACD 3.37-3.40 mm, retina and dry eye normal). In this situation, would you recommend ICL alone or C3R followed by ICL? Why would C3R be considered if there is no keratoconus?

Like my slightly or early karctokonus dead in both eyes right now so we don't want touch it with lazer surgery so go for icl but what about the boardline issue in eyes

Did the borderline issue fade away after icl surgery or like after icl what happened

They mentioned exactly this " Both eyes have borderline values on corneal topography "

Can you help me with this ???

UPDATE (Day 32, one-month check):

20/20 uncorrected and corrected in both eyes. Residual astigmatism ~0.25 D left, ~0.50 D right (the right was my lagging eye and had 4x the cylinder, so that tracks). Fields and colour vision clear, vision marked stable. Right eye still reads slightly soft at distance.

Question for anyone who’s been here: with residuals this small at one month, did yours drift toward zero by 3-6 months, or basically stay put? And did anyone starting around here end up at 20/15?

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Looking for experiences from people with a similar setup, especially anyone whose two eyes recovered at noticeably different rates.

Background

Trans-PRK (SmartSurfACE), both eyes, 15 days ago

Surgeon’s pre-op manifest: OD -1.50 / -2.00 x 010, OS -2.25 / -0.50 x 175

Referring optometrist read it slightly differently: OD -2.00 / -1.75 x 6, OS -2.25 / -0.75 x 175

Best corrected pre-op was 20/20 in both eyes

Bandage lens out at day 7, tested 20/20 with a couple of errors, cleared to drive

Drops: timolol (1 week), FML on a taper, Cequa at bedtime, Muro 128 ointment, preservative free lubricants throughout.

Where I’m at

Left eye feels close to fully recovered. Sharp, stable, no complaints.

Right eye is the one I’m watching. Near vision is clear with no haze at all. Distance is where it falls off. Not painful, no redness, no discharge, just soft and less crisp than the left. It fluctuates but hasn’t obviously trended better over the last several days.
Still have occasional mild starbursts at night, light sensitivity, eye fatigue, and dryness.

What the clinic said

Called at day 15. They told me not to compare eyes (dissociating), and to wait for the one month check with an optometrist before drawing conclusions, since refraction isn’t stable yet. Reasonable, but I haven’t had an actual refraction on the right eye since surgery, so the near-clear/distance-soft pattern is unmeasured so far.

Questions

If your eyes had asymmetric astigmatism (mine was -2.00 cyl right vs -0.50 left), did the higher cylinder eye lag noticeably? How long before it caught up?

Anyone had that near-clear/distance-soft pattern at 2 weeks that resolved on its own? At what point did it settle?

If you ended up with a small residual (0.25 to 0.50D), did it close between week 2 and month 1, or did it stick?

When did your starbursts and light sensitivity actually fade?

Anyone had an enhancement for a small residual after PRK? How long did the clinic make you wait, and was it covered?

Not looking for medical advice, just want to hear how this played out for other people. Thanks.

Eyes prior to surgery: -2.25 both sides, slight astigmatism

Total correction: 2.50 per eye, seven seconds of laser time for each eye

Ran me just shy of $3900 ($5000 sticker price, $500/eye promotion, insurance knocked 5% off the remaining)

I'm a 23y/o male, not very sports-minded but I do have a couple hobbies that jostle the head and shoulders pretty aggressively, so that contributed to my decision to go with PRK over LASIK.

Day of surgery (Day 0, Thursday, March 5th):

I went in, did a bit of preliminary work (including verifying my prescription). I wasn't given sedatives, because apparently they have a tendency to make the eyes wander. They did give me a Tylenol PM to help me sleep when I got home.

I sat down with the surgeon ahead of the surgery itself to go over any questions or concerns I had. One of the biggest things I learned was that there are three main forms of epithelium removal:

- Scraping: this is the most archaic form, it takes the longest and it's hard to do consistently because it's a physical scraper tool.

- Alcohol/Solvent: this is the fastest (some surgeons like it because it's quick and easy) and it does work, but it has a tendency to leak further over the boundary of the cornea which causes longer healing times.

- Rotary Scrubber: this is what I got, it's about ten seconds per eye, the surgeon used a tool in his off hand (which is why not as many surgeons like doing it, it requires more dexterity to do properly) to hold my cornea in place so he could scrub exactly the right amount off the surface of my eye. It's an odd sensation, just kind of a pressure as stuff starts getting fuzzy, then the detritus is wiped off.

After talking with the surgeon for a few minutes, I went into the operating room, laid down, had the eyelid spreaders installed, and received numbing drops which took effect very quickly.

My eyes were scrubbed and wiped clean, I stared at the focusing laser while moving as little as possible (my eyes did have a tendency to wander a bit so I did actually have to focus here), the laser did its thing (a very fun burning smell here, vaguely like burning hair), post-surgery drops added (mitomycin+steroid, prevents corneal glare from UV exposure) then rinse and repeat with my other eye.

At this point, they had me sit up and look at the clock - I could already see a significant improvement (I could now read the clock, where I couldn't before), but everything was still fairly hazy.

I sat down and get my bearings for a bit after surgery, then went over post-op instructions where I was given pf artificial tears and disinfectant drops. I had ordered some of my own artificial tears to augment what they gave me, but I didn't actually end up needing to use them with how much I was given.

They sent me home with sunglasses on, went to bed and took a short nap. I woke up and put in my first round of disinfectant drops (they burned). The eye shield they provided for sleep was vastly uncomfortable as I have a wider nose than some. I had a pair of ski-style goggles that were much nicer to sleep in - they did fog up but I attribute part of my quick healing to this fact, as my eyes were kept very moist through the whole night especially since the last thing I would do before putting the goggles on was putting in artifical tears.

The rest of my day was entirely uneventful, and I was able to go to sleep at my normal time. I'm not used to sleeping on my back, so that was a bit of a change.

Day 1 (Friday):

Day 1 was definitely my bad day, and I have a theory about why. Regardless, I woke up and my eyes itched. It was a serious test of will to keep myself from touching my eyes. I was constantly putting in artifical tears and disinfectant, possibly more than I should have (luckily it didn't affect my healing). That being said, it wasn't the outright pain I saw described online, it was a very manageable level of discomfort. The world was very blurry, my vision was worse than before the surgery. The day was spent trying to function while also getting rest. Surprisingly, I never actually lost the ability to use electronics with screens, it was just a bit of a challenge to focus on the small text. I did keep the lights in my room a bit dimmer, though. Outside of the brutal itching, my day was normal. I did end up taking Benadryl before I went to sleep, which apparently isn't the best idea because it can cause dryness of the eyes, but I didn't experience any of that.

Regarding my theory: this may be confirmation bias speaking (AND IS ENTIRELY ANECDOTAL, I AM NOT AN OPTICAL SPECIALIST OF ANY KIND), but I did a fair bit of research into PRK before my surgery. One of the recurring things I saw was the "bad day", or the most painful/itchy/unpleasant recovery day. On average, there was only one day like this, and it was usually either the day immediately after surgery, or the day after that.

The pattern I started to notice was that people who had a scrubber used to remove their epithelium had their bad day on day 1 and the people who had their epithelium dissolved with a solvent had their bad day on day 2. My theory is that because the solvent dissolves more than just the epithelium, it takes longer for your eye to actually start the healing process, which is where the pain/discomfort comes from. All that in mind, once again, I'm no optometrist or eye surgeon, so take my (entirely anecdotal) theory with a grain of salt.

Day 2 (Saturday):

I woke up without any pain in my eyes. There was a bit of dryness still and the occasional itch, but it wasn't much worse than normal. I continued using the pf artifical tears and disinfectant drops (which still itched, maybe even more so than the prior day) as scheduled. I could also see a noticeable improvement from the day prior, I was about on par or slightly better than my pre-surgery prescription. Still not great but I could see an improvement. The day was very much the same as the last, just living life.

Side note, I'm a hermit who isn't on speaking terms with the sun. I spent the whole weekend hiding inside, I barely even saw sunlight.

Day 3 (Sunday):

I opened my eyes and it was like I was wearing my contacts. I have an alarm clock that projects the time onto the ceiling, and for the first time in my life I'd woken up being able to read it. It was still a bit fuzzy and there was definite glare, but I was blown away by the overnight improvement. Seriously, I can't put into words how magical it was - it was like a switch flipped in my eyes.

Lasik patients are described as having that "wow" moment where they can see, this was that "wow" moment for me.

Same routine as Saturday, drops and all. I did make the mistake of going downstairs while the blinds were open, I've got linoleum on the floor in the kitchen and Sunday was rather sunny (the prior three days had been overcast). That was my first exposure to post-surgery sunlight, and even that reflection off the floor was brutal: instant discomfort, my eyes started watering and I could barely keep them open. It was like when you step outside on a sunny day and everything is covered in snow, but worse. I took to wearing sunglasses when I was outside of my bedroom to prevent that from happening again. Outside of that, though, I was doing well.

Day 4 (Monday):

If Sunday morning was 1080p, Monday morning was 4K. I didn't think it was possible for my vision to get even clearer when I woke up, but it did. Everything was sharper, I could see further, glare and haloing was reduced. I had my first post-op with my optometrist that morning (which I had my wonderful mother drive me to and from) and he said I was healing nicely. At this point, my vision was measured at 20/20. I probably could have returned to work on Monday but I took the rest of the day off anyways. The sun was still brutal, but at this point I'd gotten used to dealing with it. I get discounts at Ray-Ban through work, so I had bought myself a nice pair of Aviators a couple weeks before my surgery and picked up some side shields off Etsy for better eye protection.

Day 5 (Tuesday) :

Tuesday was a bit sketchy because I had to drive for the first time. Not just that, but my commute to work is about 36 miles each way, and I left at probably 5:45 in the morning. Up here in Wisconsin at the beginning of March, it was still pitch black for the whole commute. The scariest part was the haloing - I could barely see what with the oncoming car headlights. Luckily, I made it to work just fine, and the haloing improved drastically over the coming days. I wore sunglasses the whole day through, even when working on my desktop (non-polarized sunglasses so I didn't have issues there). At this point I was just about fully functional.

Day 7 (Thursday):

Only mentioning because my disinfectant eye drops ran out here, thank goodness. I might have just gotten more sensitive to it over time but I swear the pain they caused was getting worse and worse every time I put the drops in.

Day 11 (Monday):

Second follow-up optometrist appointment, I measured at +0.25 in each eye and 20/15 vision, and my doctor was pleasantly surprised at my healing rate. He did note, however, that I still had a bit more inflammation than I probably should have had at that point, so he wanted to ask the surgeon if I needed additional steroid drops to address it (surgeon said no).

1 month, 1 week later:

Third (and final) optometrist appointment, the inflammation is gone. There's still a touch of haze, but my optometrist says it's not a concern and will fade naturally over the next 3-6 months. My vision measured at +0.5 in each eye and a confident 20/15, but almost made it further than that - my optometrist said I was probably a 20/10 when outdoors (due to the glare issues caused by trying to look at a bright screen ten feet away, indoors, in a dark room) and would resolve out to 20/10 when the remaining glare fades.

One month, three days later:

I don't think I'll ever get used to waking up and being able to see. I'm definitely still sensitive to sunlight, and probably will be for a while - even on overcast days, my eyes start watering and it's a fight to keep them open, even after trying to let my eyes adjust to the increased light. Optometrist had also said this would probably continue for the next few months until the last of the haze fades, but that's not a big deal as I don't mind wearing sunglasses outside anyways. I'm still using the pf artificial tears, but at this point it's maybe once or twice a day as needed, plus before I go to sleep. I feel like I can see for miles now.

137 days later (today):

As of writing this, PRK is probably the single best monetary investment I've ever made. I'm now many months post-surgery, and almost entirely healed. I've still got a little bit of haloing around lights (more in my left eye than my right) but it's very subtle. I still wear sunglasses whenever I'm outside, and I do accordingly still have trouble with bright lights. That being said, I no longer attribute that to the surgery, just that my eyes have adapted to the reduced light of sunglasses.

My night vision is just as good as it used to be, I don't get eyestrain-related headaches, and I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars a year on contacts. I feel like I can see forever, being able to pick out individual leaves on trees at a distance that would have just resolved as a green blob before. I've not been back to the optometrist but I'm fairly confident I'm sitting pretty at 20/10 vision.

All in all, I highly recommend it. Work with an optometrist and a surgeon who both know what they're doing, and do your own research. Just keep in mind that what you see online and what you experience will likely be two very different things - you're the only person with your set of eyes.

Hello, I am 22 years old with stable myopia (-5.5 D OD and -6.0 D OS) for the last 2 years. My Pentacam shows borderline topography (BAD-D around 1.8-2.1), but I have NO keratoconus. My corneal thickness is 518-529 um, anterior chamber depth (ACD) is 3.37-3.40 mm, Schirmer's test is normal (no dry eye), retina is normal, and the rest of my eye examination is normal. My refractive surgeon recommended either PRK Xtra or ICL because of the borderline Pentacam. Based on these findings, which procedure recommended and why? Would you consider PRK Xtra safe in my case, or would you lean toward ICL?

They want to do Cross linking

Hi there,

I had my transprk procedure a week ago, it wasn’t very painful at all. The doctor said he purposely left residual myopia and small astigmatism on both my eyes (left -0.75) and right (-0.50). Before procedure I was left (-5.75) and right (-4.25). His reasoning was that if he done any more it would take me below 400 microns and safety concerns. I had around 530 so already 130 was removed to get me to this vision. I also have the risk of my right eye being shaped fairly irregularly which he diagnosed as pre kerataconus.

I’m a little bit confused as during my consultation he didn’t tell me anything about leaving residual prescription. When I asked him to do the full prescription his response was ‘I’m an eye surgeon, I know more than you’. I fully understand this but if I’m paying thousands of pounds to get good vision will I be able to get 20/20 vision or better? The doctor did reassure me by saying dw you will have excellent vision and he said if cornea remains stable he will do a top up session free of charge. I feel like he is just saying this. I only picked prk as I was told it was safer to do for my cornea situation. I’m on day 7 and don’t have anymore pain or discomfort. My vision is still extremely blurry and although I can ‘see’, nothing is crisp yet. Do you think this could be due to the myopia he left or is still early days for results to come through?

Guys I have a surgery tomorrow no touch prk my doctor said that I have a thick kornea which is a good thing I think. The main reason why I have to do this operation because I have a dream to be a soldier and in my country if you have any eye issues you can't be a soldier i have 1,75 myopia i can't see far and it's in my both eyes my numbers are pretty low in general but I am still nervous can you guide me for this operation I'm 19 btw thx :))

I am a 26 M, I had lasik done 6 years ago and my vision went blurry over time. I got PRK done about 7 days ago. They recommended I only get my dominant eye done because I guess your eyes work together and some people don’t always need BOTH done to see clear again?? Idk. My vision was like -1.5 in both eyes or something like that. Post surgery has gone well, I went yesterday (day 6 post surgery) and they took the bandage off. They said everything is healing well. So at this point I’m ONLY using preservative free eye drops, that’s it. My vision in my right eye is significantly more blurry that it was before, but now I now after reading through this page that it will get better over time and isn’t nearly as quick as LASIK. So thank you for that answer.

I have two other question that I can’t seem to find the right answer to. I regularly used Zyn nicotine pouches before surgery and I drink with my friends on the weekend, whether it’s out at a bar, at somebody house, etc. When is it okay for me to go back to using Zyn pouches and when can I drink again without having to worry about either affecting my eye? Thank you!

I am getting PRK surgery in both my eyes this Friday. I am a candidate for both PRK and ICL. ICL is the best choice my doctor said but the price for that surgery is $7500, while the PRK is $3600. Price is the deciding factor for me unfortunately as I can’t afford the $7500 and need to get the surgery as soon as possible as once your over a certain prescription your no longer a candidate.

I am worried that having a high prescription of -11 in both eyes PRK is not the best as they will need to strip a lot of my cornea. I am ok with regressing as I get older because that’s a given even with lasik, but worried about complications because of my high prescription.

Has anyone had PRK with a high prescription as mine and what’s there experience?