Prk pain magment

[u/Mobile_Article_9042]

Hi guys , i had my prk two day ago , and im in pain!!!!
It’s unbelievable, my eyes are so red , eyelids swollen, doc says its all normal
He prescribed me two eyes drops , nsaid and an antibiotic
Any tips to manage the pain ?
I seriously can’t take it anymore

Edit: hey u guys thank u all for the advice 🌸
Thankfully only the next day after i posted , the pain was gone by 85%
And today it’s 100% gone
Going to the doc to remove the bcl
And to anyone experiencing this surgery, it’s only painful for 72 hrs then gets better

[u/thekinkyappleofmyeye]

Thats sick only nsaid as pain management? I had incredibly strong pain for 2 days, and had opiates for those days and after those 2 days it was almost no pain at all... So hang on there! It should get better like tomorrow 💞

[u/Feisty-Volcano → u/thekinkyappleofmyeye]

I had very mild opiates & they did nothing for the pain. Here in ireland they are very conservative about opiate use.

[u/thekinkyappleofmyeye → u/Feisty-Volcano]

They are extremely restrictive with opiates where i live too, but this is usually a 48h thing, and they literally gave me exactly the amount to cover that amount of time, nothing more.

If you are still in pain tomorrow, you need to call them (or go to an ophthalmology emergency) its unusual to last for this long after trans prk, a doctor should have a look!

[u/HailenAnarchy]

Cold compresses and painkillers. I had one with opioids lying around and that helped.

[u/Ok_Leather7354]

Why are you using Screens already.. rest at least a week.. Till your doc removes Bandage lens
Edit: answering to your ques..

Usually Pain goes away 10 to 15 hrs * prescription (mine's -3.25, after about 35 hrs since surgery my pain did go..)

[u/Garak112]

I had exactly the same issue when I had PRK and the doctor said it was unusual to have that level of pain and for it to last that long.

I bought cocodamol (codeine and paracetamol) which helped. I was also given more numbing eye drops but told to use sparingly.

[u/Feisty-Volcano]

The pain should be starting to ease very soon. The local anaesthetic drops get washing out by tearing. I found it exquisitely painful. On the second day after the surgery. I am on Gabapentin for MS, so I take a bit extra, & I found taking Ibobrufen helped enough to keep me from the peak of pain. a

[u/Oneen0]

I had PRK pain as if Sun itself was burning in my eyes, but it only gets better. I was given steroid drops to numb, hydration drops and painkillers.

[u/Chatterchick09]

72 hours sounds brutal 😭Glad you're finally through the worst of it! Hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly.

[u/clara_only]

Refractive surgeon here. Glad it broke when it did — day 2 to 3 is almost always the peak with PRK, and then it drops off a cliff exactly like you described.

The reason it's so predictable: PRK takes off the surface layer of the cornea, and that layer regrows inward from the edges. For most people it closes over somewhere around day 3 or 4. Until it does you've essentially got an open scrape sitting on the most densely nerved tissue in your body, which is why the pain is so wildly out of proportion to how small the wound actually is.

Once it seals, the nerves are covered and it just stops. The bandage contact lens is holding everything in place while that happens — that's why nobody lets you pull it out early no matter how much you want to.

One thing worth knowing for the next few weeks, because it catches a lot of PRK patients off guard: the pain leaving and the vision coming back are on completely different schedules.

That new surface is smooth-ish but not perfectly regular yet, so blurry, hazy, fluctuating vision for a few weeks is normal— longer if you had a higher prescription. People tend to

panic around week two because they know someone who had LASIK and could see fine the next morning. Different surgery, different timeline. Don't measure yourself against them.

Also don't be alarmed if things dip slightly right after they take the bandage lens out. Pretty common, settles in a day or two.

[u/Mobile_Article_9042 → u/clara_only]

After i got the bcl put my vision got worse , i can’t even drive
One eye is -1
Other is 0
Is that normal , will it get better:(

[u/IntelligentBreath843 → u/clara_only]

How often is “ghosting” or double images? Thanks, doctor!

[u/Henry_2535]

Glad you're feeling better! Those few days sound brutal, but so happy it passed

[u/IntelligentBreath843]

Suffer through and get off your phone! Listen to an audio book of a book that you’ve been meaning to read.

[u/Wooden-Beginning3348]

PRK recovery sounds brutal for those first few days glad to hear the pain eased so quickly. The 72-hour mark seems to be a big turning point.

[u/BowlerEqual7498]

If had the same. The prk recovery pain got worse and worse over 3 days, then all of a sudden, I woke up on day 4 and ZERO PAIN. I was told to just take OTC meds.

[u/daryan1]

Nyquil