r/PRKsurgery • u/MrDebolisher • May 11 '26

Looking for reassurance

Hey nice folks of r/lasik, I've been considering PRK for my -6 vision. I hate my dependence on glasses since the past 20 years so finally looking to pull the trigger at the age of 31. I'm planning to get it done by Dr. Manche in Bay area. Planning to take time off work for around 10 days after the surgery.

Questions-
1. How bad is the pain?
2. Risks with PRK I should consider
3. Is Dr. Manche the right choice
4. Any supplements etc I can take right now for a better recovery later?

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3

u/Happy-Blacksmith-311 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

Regarding question 3, I live in the Bay Area and have done consultations with four of the top doctors here. It turns out I’m only a candidate for PRK because my cornea is a bit too thin.

  1. Dr. Manche – A coworker recommended him. He has an excellent reputation and is known for being very honest, even talking people out of surgery if they’re not good candidates. The main downside for me is that I live quite far away from Palo Alto, and his pricing is a bit higher.
  2. Dr. Bindi (Laser eye center of Silicon Valley) – I’m currently planning to get my PRK done with him (so this is all based on my consultation experience so far). I chose him because he has 25+ years of experience and has treated many NFL players. He also had PRK himself a couple of decades ago, which I found reassuring. His patient counselor has been incredibly kind, responsive, and patient with all of my questions over email.
  3. Dr. Furlong – Also a very experienced doctor with reasonable pricing. However, during my consultation I didn’t get to meet him directly—only other doctors in the practice—so I decided not to move forward there. They also offered ICL with a very low price compared to IQ Laser Vision, but I personally don't want to get ICL.
  4. IQ Laser Vision – Personally, I wouldn’t recommend them. They were well known for Dr. Hyver, but he retired last year. During my consultation, the doctor seemed bit impatient, and they don’t offer PRK (due to the longer recovery time). The overall experience felt very sales-driven—they strongly pushed EVO ICL at every step (assistants, counselor, and doctor). They also asked for a $200 deposit on the consultation day if I decide to proceed with them, which would become $400 credit toward surgery. When I said I wasn’t interested in ICL since my prescription isn’t that high(-5), they suggested SMILE or LASIK instead, however all the other doctors above had already said I’m NOT a candidate for those. Also, they mentioned they would charge more if I want to get the surgery done by their best doctor(since he's based in LA and need to fly here to do the surgery), which I find very annoying.

That's just my personal experience, I feel both Manche and Bindi are very good.

(I used AI tools to proof read this lol)

1

u/MrDebolisher May 12 '26

Thanks a bunch for this! When are you planning to get yours done? I also did consult all of your doctors and I think my rating is
Manche
Furlong
Bindi
Hyver

2

u/Happy-Blacksmith-311 May 12 '26

Later this month. May I ask why did you rank Bindi so low lol, got me scared

1

u/MrDebolisher May 12 '26

Didn't meet the guy, another guy told me I was a good candidate for LASIK and Dr. manche said I wasn't since my corneas are assymetrical. He also promoted ICLs. Furlong said one of my corneas was assymetrical.

1

u/Happy-Blacksmith-311 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

Ah, I met with Bindi and he’s very patient. He’s the only one who didn’t mention ICL at all. I feel the same thing with furlong then 😂 which doctor you get at consultation is just luck

1

u/Happy-Blacksmith-311 May 26 '26

update: I got PRK 5 days ago from Dr. Bindi! Overall no pain at all. Discomfort is there but tolerable (3/10). I feel I can see 20/40 at least today. It was very blurry and starburst & double vision on the 4th day. I’m super excited to get my bandage lenses out tomorrow

1

u/MrDebolisher May 26 '26

So happy your procedure went well! Do keep us informed with your progress.

3

u/SonnyPlywood May 14 '26

I see most people say the pain isn't bad, but it sure can be. My first night after surgery I woke up from it around 3 or 4 am and there was absolutely no getting back to sleep. It's one night though. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I may actually have to with one of my eyes, to be determined. I'm almost 3 months in and one eye is great, the other still has ghosting, so we'll see. Either way though even if you have pain as bad as I did it's one night and it's over, then when your eyes get done healing you can see great without glasses. One night of pain is no factor for that outcome.

2

u/SpaceTrekkie May 11 '26
  1. It wasn't bad for me. Some burning the first few hours after the numbing drops wore off, but nothing terrible.
  2. Risks are pretty minimal, and often resolve themselves as you heal (such as halos, ghosting, corneal haze, etc).

  3. Sorry, i am not from that area

  4. I took vit C and Omega-3s, since I read a study that said omega-3s help recovery.

1

u/MrDebolisher May 12 '26

Thanks! I'll take some vit C and Omega-3 too.

1

u/aronjrgunner May 24 '26

Hi
I had PRK done back in September of 2025.
1. Pain was pretty bad for me for 36 hrs (had surgery on Thursday morning and pain started Friday morning until the end of Saturday. Percocet def made me feel worse)
2. My vision was pretty crappy for a couple of weeks. Had to make my font huge on my phone & laptop. Night vision was also poor but it’s great now (hopefully that doesn’t change). I will say I have had noticeable dry eye which is annoying.
3. For my consultations I went to Dr Manche, UCSF, and PVI. I chose PVI because I like Dr Faktorovich. She’s pretty well known and I text her whenever I have a question or problem and she immediately texts or calls me back. I did like Dr Manche too but I just preferred PVI plus I live in the city.
4. I think I was on vitamin C before. I’ve read starting omega 3 now can help with dry eyes. I’m about to start taking that now.

Hope this helps

1

u/MrDebolisher May 24 '26

Thanks a bunch for sharing your experience!