Very often, an eye surgeon will feel that Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) is more suited for your situation.  Therefore, we will discuss some aspects of this procedure.

PRK is very similar to Lasik; in fact, the main difference is that in Lasik, the eye surgeon cuts a flap in the patient’s cornea to access the stoma.  In PRK, the eye surgeon uses the laser to vaporize both the surface cells (called epithelial cells) and the stoma.

At this point, you may be wondering why an eye surgeon would recommend PRK over Lasik.  Most PRK patients have either very thin corneas or they have a damaged cornea.  If either of these conditions describes you, you may be ineligible for Lasik.

While you may have your heart set on Lasik, you can feel better knowing that PRK has around the same success rate as Lasik; both of these eye surgeries will resolve the vision issue 80% of the time.

Additionally, PRK is performed on an outpatient procedure.  Whereas with Lasik, the surgery may take around ten minutes, with PRK, the procedure can often be completed in one minute.

Unfortunately, PRK does have some negative aspects to it as well.  A PRK patient may experience more pain and discomfort than when compared to a Lasik patient.

In conclusion, we recommend that you do not become fixated on a particular eye surgery before your eye surgery consultation.  The simple fact is that while you may have your mind set on getting Lasik, that procedure may not be optimal for you situation.

If you would like further information, feel free to visit the Lasik Surgery Dallas Guide.