One 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
- My PRK Adventure (three month recovery)
- PRK Surgery and Recovery (5+ week recovery)
- My PRK Surgery and Recovery (three month recovery)
- My PRK Experience (41 day recovery)
1,434 replies on “My PRK Recovery Timeline”
I took one month off from work. I was not able to drive for 3 weeks after I had both my eyes done. When I had my enhancement I had one good eye and it was MUCH easier. If you don’t have to drive anywere for 2-3 weeks then doing both eyes is ok, but having done it both ways I would just do one eye at a time.
I wish you luck whatever you decide to do.
thank you. Did the doctor offer to do one eye, or did you have to push to get it done? I can’t figure out why they are so determined to do both at the same time, unless it’s for their own convenience. Looks like we have the same doctor, so I can’t understand why they told me today that they DO NOT DO one eye at a time. What’s that all about?
Was the recovery process more difficult doing one eye at a time, or easier? They are trying to convince me that it will be a much harder process doing one eye at a time. I’m curious how you got them to agree to one eye.
My first operation I had both eyes done at the same time and they didn’t offer to do one at a time. One eye did not heal correctly so I had an enhancement in one eye 1 year later. The other eye was perfect so the healing process was much easier. The first couple of weeks still stink but at least I could drive my 4 children to school and work because I had one good eye. When I had both eyes done at the same time I had to rely on people to do all my driving for at least 3 weeks, and still after that I was really scared to drive for a week or two. I’m not trying to scare you but that is the reality for most patients. You may be lucky and ok to drive after 1 week, but from reading most of the info out there from real patients that isn’t how it works.
There should be no issue with doing one eye. The only thing it does is stretch out the time that they have to provide aftercare to you. Believe me..it is for their convenience. You could tell them that you have kids to take care of and you need to be able to function. If they can’t do one eye at a time, then you can go somewhere else. There are other good places to go in San Diego. Don’t let them intimidate you.
In terms of having a choice between Lasik and PRK: the doctor told me that I had thin corneas, but was still (barely) eligible for Lasik. However, if I ever had to have an enhancement, I was told that my thin corneas might make that difficult if I had had Lasik. After doing some research, I decided that PRK was a better option for me, in terms of the long term risks and benefits. I understood that the recovery would be longer, but wasn’t told any specific details of what the recovery would entail. I willingly chose PRK and actually don’t regret that decision, despite the fact that I’ll probably need enhancements in both eyes. The main point I was trying to make is that I think many people, if they better understood what PRK recovery was going to be like, would opt to do one eye at a time, and I think the doctors (my doctor anyway) should have done a better job explaining what the recovery would be like. I also think it’s inappropriate to show up for what you think is going to be Lasik surgery, only to be told that you’re going to have PRK instead (as in the case of scardykat). There’s no way you could be prepared for PRK under those circumstances.
I just spoke with my doctor to inform her that I want to do one eye at a time and she told me they don’t do it that way. She basically told me that they like to get it done, rather than have two seperate procedures. Even when I explained that I was concerned about the recovery process, and that I could function without one eye at a time, she told me that it was not in her practice to do it. And she is highly accredited in San Diego. Now I’m back to having both eyes enhancement this week and I’m frustrated. P.S. She also told me to be careful what I read on blogs such as this. Yet, I’ve felt more comfortable with the information here than I’ve received from her. This is so frustrating!
I had mine done in San Diego as well. Does the name start with Clear?
How soon do you have to go back to work?
yes. Fortunately I’m a stay at home mom of five. But I’m still nervous and worried about having both done. Suggestions?
That being said, an update on my progress: I had the second eye done on Friday. Things aren’t looking good, so I’m pretty disappointed, but have to remind myself it’s early in the recovery. My first eye (surgery Jan 2) was over-corrected to +1.25 and the current vision is about 20/40. The doctor has recommended an enhancement for that eye. I had high hopes for the second eye, thinking I’d leave the first eye alone if I could achieve 20/20 in the second eye. However, this second eye seems to have been under-corrected. I couldn’t even read the chart at 20/100 at my post-op visits. The good news is that I can read, but the doctor says I shouldn’t be able to, so it’s kind of bad news. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that something miraculous will happen and the second eye will improve dramatically over the next month (which I know can happen), but at this point I’m assuming I may be looking at enhancements in both eyes.
While I feel badly knowing you have suffered a similar experience as mine, it’s also comforting to know I’m not in the boat alone. I had the same experience not being able to drive, etc. I could not believe how negligent they were. Sounds like it’s prevalent in the field. Why is that? On one of my post-op visits they told me I should not be driving myself. Would have been nice knowing that beforehand! Whenever I expressed my concern regarding the slow progress, their only suggestion was to use more drops. Seriously?
And I can’t believe they actually gave you the choice between procedures. That seems odd to me. I understood that you only could get PRK if you didn’t qualify for Lasik. I can’t imagine someone who was a candidate for Lasik choosing PRK. That’s something else that upset me. Originally I was told I qualified for Lasik, set the date, and when I showed up for the procedure they changed their story and said I actually wasn’t! They wanted to do PRK right on the spot when I had no preparation whatsoever. Thankfully I said no at that time, but even when I finally had it done I was inadequately prepared. Oh well. And yet here I am set to go back for more!!! Can you say, “Glutten”?
My surgery was almost 2 years ago and my vision was not stabilized until 8 months had passed — so I definitely know the downfalls. Additionally, I have just had two refractive lens exchange surgeries to try and continue to improve my vision — with laser surgery in the potential future. Yes, I am fortunate that I have vacation time I can use for all of these procedures, but I would have taken more time had it been possible (I couldn’t drive to work for 2 weeks following the procedure). We all have to do our research and make our own decisions on how to proceed.
I’m going to ask about having one eye done at a time, because it was not suggested to me by the doctor to do so. While I agree that we have the responsibility to learn about the procedures, etc. we are about to submit our bodies to, I also feel to say that when I go to an expert in any field, I expect them to lay out all the details, good and bad. That is why we put our trust in them in the first place. I don’t want to rely on some blog spot after the fact to find out all the dirty details others have experienced. That being said, I’m grateful for you all because I now know I’m not alone and that hopefully there is “light” at the end of the tunnel. Wish me luck on my enhancement! I’m gonna need it:)
I would personally do one eye. Having done it both ways, I know that it was SOOOO much easier having one good eye. I hope everything goes well for you. Please keep us updated.
While I agree that each patient is responsible for conducting research about any procedure they are going to have, it’s clear to me that many PRK eye surgeons do not do an adequate job preparing their patients for what to expect during recovery. I was told that I could get PRK or Lasik and that it was up to me to decide which to have. I asked the doctor to provide me with info about how to make that decision and got absolutely nothing, so I did my own research on the web. Based on that, I concluded that while I wanted to have PRK, I would only be comfortable doing one eye at a time. This is the best decision I’ve ever made, no question. I’m a single mom with 2 busy daughters, a full-time job, and a business. My life would have come to a stand-still for at least 2 months if I had done both eyes at the same time. There is nothing that the doctor told me that in any way prepared me for the reality of post-PRK recovery, i.e., there was no mention that I might not be able to drive for weeks, or see a computer for weeks, etc. I’m in the health care field myself, and I can tell you that it is necessary (indeed required) for doctors to provide this type of information. Most doctors don’t want their patients relying on health information obtained from the internet, including blogs like this one. I really appreciate the information I’ve found for myself on this site, but that in no way absolves health care providers from providing patients with the crucial information they need to make decisions about their care.
Amen to that! Thank goodness I work from home, or I would have had to take over a month off, or have a personal driver.
I agree with Nicole. I also was out of work 10 days, but had both eyes done at the same time in order to minimize time out of the office. We cannot always blame a provider for not informing us of every detail that might happen. It is up to the patient to perform their due diligence and determine if they can live with the potential side effects. Everyone who comments here managed to find this blog — I can only assume that those who complain that did not know what to expect from PRK found the blog after their surgery and not before. We as consumers need to learn to take more responsibility for our health care.
I think it’s fantastic that Fran and Nicole are sharing a different perspective. My view is that both are quite fortunate that they were functional in a couple of weeks. Many others who have posted here have experienced a great deal of frustration that early in their healing. I certainly would not have been able to function at work in 10 days had I done both eyes at the same time. In fact, it was a challenge for me with post surgery vision in one eye and a contact in the other for the first several weeks. I found the blog over a month before having the surgery, and reading other people’s experiences helped me to arrive at my own decision to proceed with PRK…and to only do one eye at a time.
You both are also quite fortunate that you had 10 days to take off of work. I certainly didn’t have this luxury (I took 2 days after a weekend for total of 4). If you’ll read through the posts, you’ll see that you are in the providential minority of being able to take this amount of time off work at one time for elective surgery. I’m sure that many would agree that 10 days is hardly minimizing time out of the office, but that’s all a matter of perspective. Thanks for sharing your opinion in response to mine.
I had an enhancement performed on my left eye six months after the first surgery. I could see, but my vision wasn’t sharp. I dreaded the process, but I’m glad I did it, and would do it again. The second recovery was worth repeating the healing process. Having one eye that worked well made the experience more bearable. That said, I think it’s EXTRAORDINARILY poor advice to have both eyes done at the same time. I did not, and I would have been nothing short of angry had I been advised that it was acceptable to do so.
I hope it works out. I can see in HD now! :-) Good luck in your healing.
I don’t think it’s extraordinarily poor advice to have both eyes done at the same time as long as your doctor tells you what to expect and you’re able to take at least 10 days off work. I’m a nurse and managed to go back to work after 10 days off; being on the computer was a struggle and I had a lot of ghosting but I managed to get through it. Tomorrow marks 7 weeks post op for me and now I’m doing great. It’s frustrating but as time passes it gets easier.
May 6, 2013
It’s been one year since PRK and I’m reluctantly having an enhancement in a few weeks. My experience with PRK was excruciating, both physically and emotionally. I was not at all prepared for the procedure, did not study up on it, took the doctor’s word that healing time would be three-five days. I was totally duped. After several months of poor vision I resorted to contact lenses once again. Very discouraging. Now I get to go through it all again and I am dreading it. I’m not sure if I should just cut my losses, forget about the $3000ish I spent, and stick with contacts. I don’t think I can go through another long healing process just to have it turn out the same way. HAS ANYONE HAD SUCCESS WITH ENHANCEMENT WHO IS VERY FARSIGHTED????
I had an enhancement. My recovery after my first prk surgery was awful and emotionally draining. Not sure what my numbers were but my right eye was perfect but my left was never clear up close or far away. After a year it seemed to get worse. It really affected my vision overall because that eye was so bad. I REALLY didn’t want to go thru another recovery and almost decided just to live with it. I just couldn’t stand it anymore and took the chance. I can tell you that it was the best thing I ever did. The recovery was better because I had one good eye this time, plus the fact that they corrected the left eye correctly so I felt like the recovery wasn’t as grueling. I am four months right now and my vision is very good up close, and pretty darn good for distance. They gave me slight monovision in that eye since my right eye distance was so good. The first couple of months are still frustrating, but I could tell already that my vision was better so that is what got me through. I wish both of you guys luck.
I’m going in tomorrow to have my second eye done. Based on my own experience and from what I’ve read from others, I think that deciding to have one eye done at a time is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I can’t imagine the hell of trying to live my life while both eyes are recovering, and I really feel for all of you who are going through that. If doctors were clearer about the recovery process, I can’t imagine that anyone would choose to have both eyes done at once. I am 4 months out from the PRK on my left (first) eye, which has stabilized at 20/40. They’re saying it “over-corrected”, which means I went from a -5 to a +1.25. The doctor has asked when I want to do the enhancement on that eye, and I told him I’d have to really think about it. I can’t imagine going through this again (after tomorrow, that is). So, I’m going to see how it goes tomorrow on the 2nd eye (here’s hoping for no haze, no ghosting, no infections, no over-correcting, etc!). If I end up with good vision in that eye, I may just call 20/40 good in the left eye and learn to live with it. In spite of what probably comes across as a negative tone, I’m really happy I’ve had this done. 20/40 is a lot better than 20/900, which is what I was experiencing before!
I was wondering the same thing, I started out very nearsighted (-11)and now I was over corrected to about a +1.25 and not sure if an enhancement will help.
hey, so i had my surgery on april 4th and its been close to 4 weeks now and im still pretty blurry…. not much improvement since week 2. should i be worried? cause i am!
Hey! I had PRK in April 4th too and I would say I have had a little but of improvement but not a lot. I went to a follow-up yesterday and the doc said I’m about reading the 20/20 line but I don’t see how that’s possible. I’m still pretty blurry myself. Nighttime vision is horrible- doc said this should improve over the next few months. It’s frustrating with my vision still being blurry but I guess he is the expert and all.
I’m not quite at week 10 but I decided to go to the doctor to check on the hazing and find out what was causing my left eye to feel so irritated/blurry. Doctor says eye is looking great, so it’s probably irritated from dry eye and didn’t suggest anything for the hazing. She did find that my astigmatism from a few weeks back went from .25 to 1.0. This is surgery induced. We are hoping it goes away. She said astigmatisms change all the time and she’s seen this with a LASIK patient. My next appointment is in three weeks (a little over 3 months) and she’ll send that report to the surgery center. I’m disappointed. Thought it was ghosting. I’m hoping for the best. Anyone have issues with surgery induced astigmatism?
JB, I had my procedure 4 months (in three days). I am seeing really good now. Better than the first time. I’ve had a little ghosting but it changes when I blink so I know my eyes are just dry. It’s so nice to have the haze gone in that eye. It was always a little foggy looking thru it. Now it is clear. They gave me slight monovision so I can’t see as far as the other eye but I can see pretty far away with clarity. Road signs are still hard to read. I think that is because of the monovision. I hope things go well for you. I was not happy until about 3 months and one week.
PRK on Thursday, April 26th, 2013.
-1.5 both eyes
Left eye dominant
Friday and Saturday were terrible for me. Didn’t get off the couch and slept for two days. Woke up Sunday feeling 10x better.
Going in today to have bandage contacts being removed. Few people said vision regressed after this for a bit, so expecting same result for me.
Frustrated with results even though I am only at Day 5. I hear all my friends who had done LASIK talk about how perfect their eyes were at 48 hours. This blog has been great for a better understanding of the recovery process, so Thank You.
Vision not great. I walk around as if I just need to put my glasses on. Little to no vision on distance. I can make out people, and figures, but with no clarity. Blurry at best. Near sight is OK, not very crisp or clear.
I’ll keep you updated….
Sounds like my experience!!! My eyes regresses a lot when they took out the bandage contacts. I actually cried because I’m -4 in one eye and -4.5 in the other and I had to drive myself him which is an hour from the doctors office. Vision was pretty bad and there was an accident on the highway so I was tame off the highway and didn’t know where I was. Thank goodness for GPS!!! I actually have another follow-up appointment this afternoon. Going on 4 weeks this week since I had my surgery. No noticeable difference other than its better than it was before surgery with no glasses or contacts. Can’t see $hit at night still so once it gets dark, I don’t drive unless I have to. No ghosting or haze or sensitivity to light. Guess I got lucky with that. Just want to get as close as possible to 20/20. Tired of everything far away still being really blurry. I only drive in areas I know.
Week six to the day. My doctor is concerned with the hazing I have in my left eye. My right eye is 20/40 and my left eye is 20/60 after 6 weeks. She blames this on the steroids they used at the end of the initial surgery. Today when I went for a check up and they decided the needed to do surgery again on my left eye. They wanted to do it immediately.
At first I didn’t want to do it because it starts the healing process all over again. So I reluctantly went along with it and tonight I am in significant pain. I regret doing this at all. My expectations of how this would go is not this. I hate to be a whiner, but this is hard. I find some comfort in Cramer’s posts. Thank you. However at this point I actually wish I still had my glasses.
I’m so sorry to hear that you are having difficulties. Did they just do the surgery to remove the haze? or did they do some sort of correction? I am surprised that they did surgery so early after healing. Alot of times haze will go away with more steroids.
The procedure was to remove the haze. They considered a different steroid and said the problems I’m having are from the steroid they applied right after the initial surgery. I was going to leave and not have this next procedure done when a young lady (another patient) who was listening to my complaints and experiencing the same results from her surgery convinced me to have the next procedure done because she had it 2 weeks ago and it made a huge difference. Today the pain is pretty much gone and my sight in the left eye as deteriorated as expected. I’m hoping this gets better soon. Thanks for your posts, they help.
Interesting…do you remember the name of the steriod? Was it FML?
After they removed my haze I did notice that my eye seemed more clear. It was still blurry, but it was more clear.
Hang in there and keep us updated. It stinks to have to start the process again, but it is what it is. Use lots of drops from vials, fish oil, flax oil, and vitamin C to get your eyes moisturized. Dryness will cause haze and make it worse. Take care.
They didn’t say what the steroid was called. The left eye does not hurt anymore, but it’s pretty blurry. The contact bandage comes off Thursday. I already think the left eye is clearer even with the bandage still on. That’s encouraging.
How long ago did you have your procedure? And how are you seeing now?
I had prk about 2 years ago over a botched flap from LASIK and my vision was about a -11 . They over corrected me so now I m probably a +1.5 . Most days I am ok and can function with no correction at all but other days it really bothers me. The other eye is probably 20/35 . Has anyone done an enhancement on over correction which has been successfull ?
Hi All, I’m just wondering how long it takes for the haze to go away. Sometimes I think it’s getting worse, but I’m so excited that the ghosting is decreasing that I haven’t been too concerned with it. The other week I missed a step and fell on the stairs because I couldn’t see all that well – it was sunset and the hazing gets bad at that time. Will it decrease in the 3-6 month period? Any thoughts?
I’m on day 96 of my right eye and I still have haze in it. It hasn’t decreased at all. Some days are worse than others. It constantly feels like a dirty contact in my right eye.
How long has it been for you?
that sounds like the kind of haze I had. They treated it aggressively with steroid drops. It would get better and then as soon as I stopped the drops, it would get worse again. Worse time was in the evening or if it was cloudy out. It was really annoying. When they did the enhancement in that eye it removed most of the haze in that eye. I don’t notice it at all anymore and everything looks clear. I hope that your haze goes away, sometimes it does. I just coulnd’t live with that being permanent. It was definately worth the enhancement even though I had to go thru healing again. I could tell right away that my eye was more clear. I hope things work out for you.
It’s been 9 weeks today (63 days). This week has had lots of ups and downs. The ghosting has increased since last week and my eyes feel drier. If the haze persists, I honestly don’t think I could go through surgery again…JB, you’re in my thoughts.
kulagirl, I can say with both my operations that my eyes became more dry after the first couple of months and of course with that comes the ghosting. I’m almost 4 months now and the dryness is much better and so is the ghosting. I have my days though. For a few days I started using the drops that come in a bottle that are not preservative free and they really affected my vision. I went back to the vials and my vision and my eyes are much better. Hang in there, month three gets better. I wouldn’t make a decision on surgery about your haze quite yet. It may go away. I was not ready to go for another surgery until 1.5 years later. I didn’t want to go thru the whole thing again. Now I can say that I am so glad I did..but you have to be mentally ready.
How many others are getting that stupid question from people during recovery who are clueless, “do you still wear glasses and contacts?”. I really want to smack some intelligence into people. I told one person “I drive an hour every morning to the doctors office and he gives me new contacts everyday based on my vision that day” and she believed me. Wow….I have another friend who is constantly telling me I should put my old glasses on. Yah like that’s going to help me when my vision is different than it was….
Ugh I hate that. I’ve had a few people ask if I can wear glasses while m vision gets better. I try to explain it by comparing my vision to TV. Pre PRK with glasses was like seeing in HD, watching a blu-ray movie on a really nice TV. Now after PRK it’s like going back to the 80’s and watching one of the old TVs with poor resolution. They seem to understand that analogy.
I’m going for my one month check up tomorrow, I’m excited to see how I do on the eye chart. So far these past few days have been pretty good, though I can’t look at my phone or iPad too long as computers in general still bother me but watching TV seems to be a good past time.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one! Lol it’s really starting to get on my nerves. Let us know how your one month follow-up goes! I have mine next week. I have not noticed any change in my vision since my last follow-up appointment. It’s disappointing but hopefully in the next few months there will be a lot of improvement. I can be on the computer all day and watch tv no problem (luckily since I have a desk job) but signs are still blurry when I’m driving. I still cannot get used to the prednisolone drops. I get the nastiest taste in the back of my throat whenever I have to use these drops. I cannot wait until I can stop using these lol.
Well hello everyone! I’m so happy I can finally read about prk experiences. I had my prk done 2/21/13. Which was like forever ago! I am just now able to stand to watch tv, and get on the computers. It has been a long horrible road. I have still yet to try driving. I never would have imagined people would do this willingly. However, now being able to read these post, I can see that others have had much better luck, well and some just as unlucky.
I went into the office that day, the 21, thinking I was getting LASIK done and I came out with prk! Whoops, I should have done some research before jumping on the table. I did ask tons of questions and my doctor told me a ten day recovery time. LIE. Well I thought. . .eeeeehhh what’s ten days vs contacts and issues with that? So, I did it. I had the prk done. After seven weeks I was still in pain. Not that first three days of horrible pain but like. Bad. Headaches. Poor sleep. Anxiety. Basically I spent my days in my room in my bed or bath, eyes closed 90 percent of the time, hating life. Oye. On 4/8/13 finally decided it was time for a second opinion as my doctor was offering little to no help. My second opinion doctor was great! They were so helpful. I was diagnosed with meibomien gland disease. I don’t know how much that ment to my poor healing. But that doctor put me on new drops. He had me do durezol-2times a day, optive sensitive- every 3-4 hours, hot compresses 2-3 times a day, omega 3- 3000mg/day, doxycycline-2 times a day, and refresh pm at night. HUGE difference. Within three days I had no pain just simple discomfort. I’m hoping my recovery continues to go as well as it has been. Obviously I had went to the wrong office but in my defense my brother and two cousins had their LASIK done there with no problems. Go figure I had to get prk. But. I guess. Now I’m hoping I can forget those horrible weeks and learn from this experience and pass it out to others. Do research! Interview or visit your office before getting this done. I had a terrible experience with a nurse from my original optometrist which further added to my stress of the whole experience. They had poor patient information let alone the whole drop situation. I have learned a lot from this and I am just looking for information and help still on my recovery. So there it is. That’s the simplest way to put my experience so far. I’m just hoping there is an end to this and a happy one too! Thank you for your help and information.
Wow..you have been through alot. The first few weeks are very frustrating. Sounds like you are past the hump and things should get better. Things got alot better for me after 2 months and much better after 3. I am still seeing improvement and I am now almost 4 months.
I had haze after my first surgery and was very frustrated with the doctor. Not very helpful and told me that my haze should not be affecting my vision…but it was. I finally had to get angry before they offered another surgery. I was very scared to do it again, but my eye was so bad that I had too. I am soooo glad I did. My vision is wonderful now! Hang in there.
I can not imagine going threw that again! Good for you for being able to deal with all that. I will not be going to do any eye surgery again. . . Ever. I hope anyway. I think my vision is okay. Its still blurry but with how my recovery has been i will give it time. Just cause I only have been really using my eyes a lot for a few days.
The time frame is horrible and having pain for a month and a half no. Not right. Not to mention being blind for two months. I just can’t believe with the comments of people driving and going to work. There is no way I could have went to work till two months in! I obviously had made terrible decisions on my doctors and staying believing in them for so long. It’s terrible that my home eye doctor isn’t willing to admit they are over there heads and where I got it done was not Listening to my problems and just keeping me on the same drops and preservatives for so long. I am so happy I went to the new office. And three days later. Seriously better. And that should have been months ago! Bah, so annoying. But as I said. Lesson learned.
I guess my biggest question for everyone is that would you get it done again if you had known it was this painful and such a long recovery? Cramer, I can see why you did. But man. I would be one sad girl. Keeping a positive view has been very difficult. And that would have been a huge blow. How long between your surgerys were you?
It had been a year and a half when I did my enhancement. I was really hanging in there to see if my haze would get better. It just kept getting worse and it was affecting my vision. The second time around was not as bad because I knew what to expect and it was one eye. My vision is really good now. They made my left eye slightly monovision so I can still see far away but not as good as the right. I can see close up really good and I’m 43 so I am happy about that.
Ha that is a huge plus, I’m happy to hear it worked out for you! I do have another question. Did you hold your head down a lot? I always do. Obviously with time I’m doing better but it feels weird still. It has almost a lightheadedness to it when I lift head head up to a normal pose. And a night I always have to have my head facing down. It makes for terrible sleep. I kinda have hated life sense I got it done, but I am a happy go lucky person and it is starting to look up. Slowly. But the head thing is odd.
are you saying that if you keep your head up you feel lightheaded? No, I did not have that at all. I did have pretty bad sensitivity to light the first couple of months. Sounds like you had a rough start, but you will get through this. I think in the next month you will see alot of improvement. Try to stay positive and not think about it too much. The first couple of months are the worst, but it gets better from there.
7-8 Week Update
For those of you who are worrying at the 4, 5, and 6 week mark (that was me), I thought I’d share what’s been happening from my 7th week on. Things have been getting much better. My right eye has been doing great since 3 weeks after surgery – very crisp/clear. My left eye had serious ghosting. Both eyes still have haze. Since I stopped the steroid drops on day 50, the following two days didn’t have any significant changes. My left eye started hurting on and off and still does. There are times when it feels like something is irritating it, but I figure it’s just healing some more. On day 53, I noticed the ghosting getting better. Each day it fluctuates, but there is probably 25-75% less ghosting than before. Things are starting to get clearer! I have been avoiding make-up and when I do use it, my eyes feel gritty and get really irritated (big mistake). I’m still suffering from dry eye, mainly in my left eye. I think the Restasis is starting to work slowly – I am still using Refresh Optive every 30 min. to an hour (only in my left eye). I’m amazed at how much time has passed and now know that with time, it does get better. I was so happy this weekend – it honestly feels like I’m getting my life back. I know you guys understand what I mean. I’m so thankful for everyone’s posts and all the suggestions. I’m interested to see what the improvements are like in the next 2-4 weeks.
Hello Everyone,
I had PRK surgery for both eyes on March 15th. I was so frustrated with what was going on with my recovery two weeks later I decided to search online for anything anyone was saying about their experiences and found your comments. I have been reading your comments for a few weeks now and wish I had read these before I had the surgery because I wouldn’t have done both eyes at once and I would have had some real expectations about what I would experience post surgery. Like most of you I feel I was badly mislead as well as to what to expect following the surgery. That’s not right that we all got surprised. I was told that I would be able to drive in a day or two and would have 20/20 vision in about 3 weeks. What a load!
So with the expectations I was given I continued with the surgery and was pretty surprised when I was as handicapped (blind) as I was. My employer was pretty understanding about me canceling meetings and not being able to travel the usual 500 to 600 miles in my car weekly. My surgery was on a Friday, payroll is Monday, you can imaging the challenge I faced. I couldn’t read anything on my computer, I was in trouble. I got it done, but it took me hours instead off an hour.
Like almost all of you my right eye is doing pretty well and my left eye is pretty far behind in the recovery process. The first two weeks I could only see light out of my left eye, pretty scary. My right eye although better wasn’t a heck of a lot better. I had some panicky moments. I went for a couple of walks and could not cross the street safely. I tried to drive to my first check up and had no business driving. I made it though and made it back. Fortunately it was only a couple miles away.
So now it’s a little more than 5 weeks into my recovery and I’m starting to feel encouraged. I have some days that are better than others, not sure why, but it’s getting better. I’m 54 and have worn glasses since I was six or seven years old, so I do feel some freedom. Simple things like seeing pretty good in the shower without glasses is pretty cool. My comfort level for driving has improved too. I’m looking forward to getting out of the ocean this summer and being able to see where my family is without being lost, that will be great.
Your ongoing comments have been comforting for me. Thank you. I’m a little upset with the LASIK surgery facility I went to. Seems they mislead me like your facilities mislead you. Not cool.
I’m sorry to hear that your consultation didn’t arm you with the proper expectations for your recovery. I’m on month 3 for my right eye and 3 just over 3 weeks for my left. My surgeon was the one that suggested I do one eye at a time, starting with my right eye since my left eye was my dominant, and spaced 2 months between procedures. Because of this, I had no need to adjust my fonts on my screen or miss too much work. I was a little scared to drive the first time. My surgery was on a Friday, I took the Monday off (which they took the bandage out), Tuesday my husband drove me to work. By Wednesday I was driving myself.
My right eye has haze. Not a LOT of haze, but enough to be annoying. My vision has also regressed a little but again, I was prepared for that. My left eye is healing nicely. My surgeon is also treating it a bit more aggressively than my right where he has me taking the steroid 4 times a day and my right is still at 2, never changing. The left eye, 3 weeks out has slight ghosting but is quite crisp, if that makes any sense. Together though, I can see quite well. About the same as I did with my contacts, except it feels like my right ‘contact’ is dirty.
SO, my left eye is actually the better of the 2. It is my dominant eye and I happen to be left handed. Coincidence? Perhaps.
I see my surgeon next week for the left eye’s 1 month follow up. Hopefully, we’ll talk about what we’re going to do with the left eye.
What I’ve noticed is that applying the artificial tears every 20 minutes rather than ever 30 like they wanted really helped. Also, I actually super dose the eyes a couple times a day. i’ve noticed that has improved things a bit as well. AND it took me a while to settle on comfortable drops. I’ve tried Refresh, TheraTears, Naturale Tears, Blink, and am settled on Systane Ultra. I think you have to experiment on what feels good.
My eyes are definitely not perfect and my recovery has been frustrating as I’m sure you relate. As many people on this board will say, it just takes time. I’ve had good days and bad ones. This one is a bit off, but, I know over the weekend I was not as religious about the drops as I should have been. I’m sure a few super doses and I’ll be back to usual.
Good luck all and keep us posted. These boards are so comforting knowing that it’s not only you going through this rollercoaster!
I really need to proof read!
“I see my surgeon next week for the left eye’s 1 month follow up. Hopefully, we’ll talk about what we’re going to do with the left eye.” I meant that we’ll need talk about my RIGHT eye. LOL
To finish my statement, especially my left eye. I have not attempted to wear eye makeup. I do not want to disturb the healing process. I guess I am learning to be patient.
Hey all!! I have enjoyed reading everyones comments! I had PRK done a few weeks ago on April 4th and my vision is still pretty blurry, but not so bad that I can’t work with it. I had astigmatism in both eyes, right eye was -4.0 and left was -4.5. Driving at night is just terrible. I now only drive at night when I have to after working my second job. I just can’t seem to see really anything at night. Hoping that changes as my eyes heal. I ended up getting the flu the other day and since I was unable to hold down water, I could not take any Vitamin C that day….hoping that doesn’t affect my healing. Dry eye isn’t nearly as bad as it was the first week following surgery. I still use Systane Balance as often as I can remember to use it. My second job is in retail so it’s not as easy for me to be able to use the drops every 15-30 mins as it is when i’m at my office job. That worries me sometimes that it will affect the healing process but my eyes don’t “feel” dry…I just know they are since my vision clears up for about a minute after I put in the systane drops. Plus, these little bottles are expensive!!! Luckily, if you go to the Systane website and sign up for email alerts, they will send you a $2 off coupon and I have found that Walmart is the cheapest place to get them. Any questions or comments, please feel free to email me (I don’t usually get on the computer much but check my email throughout the day on my phone) Dg9697@gmail.com.
Hi all, I am so glad I found others on the PRK recovery roller coaster. I was beginning to think I made a huge mistake and wasted a lot of money. I am 42 and had PRK done April 12 and the day after though it was the best thing, since I could see so well. I was nearsighted. Day 3 after surgery I attempted to work from home on my computer but no way. Terribly light sensitive and could not focus. Day 5 had lenses removed and was told I was legal to dive. Ha, no way I could have drove that day. I have been driving although I am still blurry. My right eye is clearer than my left. Had I read this blog sooner I think I may have reconsidered my decision to go toward. Of course the man at the laser center said improvement would be gradual after the lenses are removed. I use a lot of tears and also the GenTeal night time lubricant. I am very frustrated with blurry vision, es
Hello so I have a question this is day 8 post PkR and my 8 month old just poked my right eye. Of course my eye teared for a while and it feels scratchy like if I had an eyelash in it. Not sure what to do? Wait and see how it feels tomorrow or should I call nurse on call? Has anyone had anything similar happen to them?
Well I had a rough day today. Tomorrow marks my one month PRK anniversary and I guess I though that would be a magic number or something; I just spent the day feeling frustrated that I still have a lot of ghosting and when I watch TV everyone has four eyes :( Today I didn’t have as many beautiful moments of clarity as I’d been having in the past week or so. It was depressing and I didn’t want to leave the house. Just thought I’d come here and commiserate with my fellow PRK recovery folks. It really helps to read what other people are going through so I can remind myself to BE PATIENT!!! Lol
Hi Nicole. I was very frustrated at the one month mark as well and had alot of ghosting. Things improved at a month and a half but really improved at a little over 3 months. My ghosting was pretty bad and it is almost gone. My eye also felt like there was a film over them. I am now 3 1/2 months and my vision is really good and my eye is really clear. I hope this makes you feel better. Try not to worry or think about your eyes too much until the 3rd month. Hang in there.
Gaby, the cliche that you just mentioned sums up the PRK experience quite nicely…
PRK = Wait…and SEE!
I’m still seeing 20/15 after 2 years. Light sensitivity and dry eyes gone. Seems like both took a very long time. It’s still like magic daily to have perfect vision after wearing glasses over 25 years. It’ll work out. Wait…and see. :-)
Well I’m on day 7 post PRK and finally was able to ready most of the posts. Honestly I don’t know if i would of done the procedure if I had read them before. I guess the thought of having to wait so long to find out results is nerve racking. I’m glad that all take time to post because it has answered a lot of questions I had that the doctor didn’t explain or warn me about. On day four I was able to drive to get my bandages removed my vision was I guess foggy and was very sensitive to the light. On day 5 I was back to work and my only problem was reading up close and working on the computer. The sensitivity to light is almost gone. My right eye for the most part is clear but not sharp except for reading up close which seems like it goes in and out of focus. Now my left eye, it has been blurry since my bandage came out. So it has been hard trying to adjust, I keep covering it or closing it when i try to read. Thank you all for the info. It has been very helpful. I guess I just have to wait and see.
Hi Jonathan, funny, I am having the same experience. I had surgery on Feb. 22nd and have had clear vision in my right eye since the three week mark. My left eye has had some challenges, but I had two days of clear vision at the two week mark and ever since then it’s been blurry. I think the blurriness is ghosting – that’s what it looks like 5 ft. away and with street signs. Anything further away just looks completely smudged. It’s irritating because I get frequent headaches from this.
The doctor says that I am healing normally and that sometimes it takes a little longer to heal (I was -5.5 in both eyes). She told me to wait until the 3 month mark. I had a .25 astigmatism in my left eye (which wasn’t there before surgery) at my two week checkup. I’m hoping it was caused by swelling and will/has gone away. I just stopped the steroid drops but haven’t seen significant improvements. My left eye feels “heavier” and I’m thinking it’s from dry eye. I started Restatis several weeks ago. I’m trying not to freak myself out but I can’t understand how one eye can be so perfect and the other eye so blurry. When I put in eye drops it clears up for a second or so, so I’m thinking it’s not over/undercorrection. My next doctor’s appointment is in 4 weeks. I guess we just have to be patient…
I’ve been following the comments on here for almost 2 weeks so I thought I would comment what I am going through and get some feedback. I Had PRK in both eyes on March 29th. My right seemed to heal quickly after the contact lens were removed (about 2 days after) and then went blurry about 2 days ago. Today it cleared up and there is only a small amount of ghosting, to the point where it is barley noticeable. The left eye on the other hand is a different story. After I got the contact lens out it was just a little bit blurry but I could see decently. About 3-4 days after the contact lens was removed the ghosting started. This ghosting is different then the right since the overlapping is worse. Meaning when I look at the “POST COMMENT” the letters are further away and overlapping each other then compared to the right, if that makes sense at all? I don’t think my vision is blurry, I just think the ghosting is so bad that is makes it look like it is. It makes it hard to do anything with reading. Just typing this is stressing my eyes and I can only look for a minute or two before I have to look away to relax them. I can’t even look at my phone and watching TV is difficult. I also had to start using Muro 128 about 8 days ago since I would wake up every 3 hours to my eyes burning and scratching from being so dry. I do not like using it since my eyes burn when using it and I believe it is messing with my vision. I have also noticed that when using the preservative free drops (the little vials) my vision because slightly worse. I do have an appointment this Friday so I am going to bring up all these problems and see what the doctor says. I know the ghosting will go away because it is swollen and I just have to have patience. Its more of a mental battle to get yourself through it all. It hasn’t even been 3 weeks yet so I am relatively early in he healing process and that I am not looking at a swollen body part that had surgery but through a body part that had the surgery. I do enjoy reading everyone’s comments and that I am not the only person that has been having problems since the doctors failed to mention all of this before I had the surgery.
Hope everyone else is doing good.
I had my double PRK surgery February 15th ( 8 1/2 weeks ago). I’ve had perfect vision in my right eye for nearly a month already. My left eye seems to be a bit off though. I’m not sure if it’s what you would call ghosting or if it’s just that the prescription is off.
I read a lot of people’s comments, but I was wondering if anyone has had experience with one eye being off and still getting better after this point in time (around 2 months). I’m worried that I may need to get a “touch up” or that it’ll just always be like this…
Thanks for any responses!
It’s not uncommon for one eye to heal/recovery more rapidly than the other. So I wouldn’t be too worried at this point (2 months in). Do you know how far “off” it is? One of my eyes is slightly off from the other, but combined I have 20/20 vision.
yea that’s what my doctor keeps saying… he says “your eyes looks healthy, and as for the final prescription I won’t be able to make any judgements till around the 6 month mark”. I know I should trust him, but It’s bothersome at times. Some days it’s better than others, and since I’ve had perfect vision in my right eye for some time, I notice when my left eye is off a bit. It also seems like my right eye (the good one) is a little “brighter”?
Jonathon, I wanted to chime in here. My right eye is perfect and I had my enhancement 3.5 months ago. My left eye has been slow to heal. I had days when my vision was off because I felt like my left eye was so much worse..and then the next day or so it would take a step forward. I found that my left eye was constantly changing and that is why I kept feeling the strain so it was really a good thing. On those days that my vision was off I would tell my sel to hang in there, things were getting better. Sure enough..a little after the 3 month mark, my left eye all of a sudden became “clear” like my right. I really haven’t had one of those days that my left eye feels weaker. It’s still a little bit dry but even that has gotten better. I was frustrated at the 2 month mark so just hang in there and use lots of drops.
Thanks Cramer, That really does reassure me a bit. I kept on thinking maybe something got a little messed up since I had a small amount of astigmatism in my left eye but none in my right…
I drop down to one steroid drop a day starting in May so maybe that will make a little difference also. I have my next meeting with the doctor half way through May, so I’ll update then!
Thanks for all the reassurance/help!!!
I just came across this page searching for recovery info on PRK procedure. Ive had LASIK in the past and 4 days ago just had PRK enhancement done in both eyes. And being that I’ve had LASIK before its frustrating that the results are not immediate and take so long for the eyes to completely heal. My question is if it is normal to not being able to see or read things up close? Since I am nearsighted I have never had any problems with seeing up close till now. Being that it’s only day 4 I still see a little blurry/hazed, at times clear things at a distance, but cannot focus on near things. Like typing this is killing me, I was trying to read all the comments but cannot focus the words. I was just wondering if this is normal?
Welcome to PRK versus LASIK recovery. ;)
Unfortunately, yes, not being able to focus up close is normal for anyone recovering from PRK. As your eyes recover (and you’re able to read more of the comments here), you’ll find the same advice.
Be patient!
Thanks. I really wanted to read all the posts but I even have trouble using my phone to make a call lol. So hopefully in a few days I will be able to. I was just scared hoping my near vision wasn’t messed up. Thanks again for the reply.
Cramer, I am so happy for you! Things sound great and you sounds so positive. Same for you Nicole. You sound happy even with the ghosting! I’m at 7 weeks and will be stopping the steroid drops tomorrow. My left eye still has a lot of ghosting which makes me nervous, but I’m being positive and excited to see the changes in the next few weeks. Great news everyone :)
Hey everyone,
Just got my 7 week check up . My vision is still blurry in the left eye and the doctors are saying its an over correction that can stable. Either way I have to wait 6 months. I try not letting it bother me since there is nothing I can do. I did notice since I stopped using the muro 128 a couple of days ago my vison seems better in the morning then goes back to normal in the evening. Hope everyone is doing well I will post again soon.
I wanted to give a little update. I am 3 months and one week post prk in one eye.I have seen some nice improvement in my vision in the last week. Ghosting is WAY better and things look more clear. The slight film that I had is pretty much gone. The only thing that bothers me now is that if I cover my good eye and I look at a bright object far away like a white car it appears to be glowing. I remember having that the first time and it went away eventually. Dryness is really improving too. My vision still gets a little better with drops so I expect more improvement. Last time I had it done I remember having vision improvement all the way up to a year. I’m just so glad that this time I am not having problems with haze. Now I can finally say…I’m glad I did it!
How is everyone else doing?
I’m doing really good today. I’m 23 days post PRK. Two days ago I had a really scratchy feeling in one eye that finally went away, I may have had an eyelash that scratched the surface or something. Good news is that my vision has been steadily improving. I have ghosting but otherwise my vision seems pretty clear if that makes sense. I have the hardest time when I’m at work because the air is so dry and the computer screens are awful but I feel great on my days off so I know I’ll get there eventually. I’m nervous about renewing my drivers license in two weeks because ill have to read the eye chart, I hope it’s a good vision day! I hope everyone else is having better days.
16 days post PRK today. I was so impressed with my vision all day today, it was the best it’s been since the procedure today. I felt real close to 20/20. Well I ordered some things online and some new eye makeup came in today. I just had to try it out and 30 min later immediately regretted it. My vision regressed horribly. I’m just sharing so other ladies know, even though its technically ok to wear makeup and rub your eyes a bit this may mess up your day like it did mine. Lesson learned for me if I want clear vision I have to be careful how much I mess around my eyes.
Hi Cathy, in regards to your eyelid being puffy and sensitive I’ll bet you have Blepharitis. I would google it and see if it matches your systems. You can take a washcloth with baby shampoo and warm water and clean your eyelash are. Sounds like they are clogged from all the drops..etc.
I went to my 3 month appt. My vision has definately improved from last time. She said there was tiny tiny bit of left over haze but nothing to worrry about. I told her about the ghosting and she said it sounds like it is from dryness, and that I am not showing an astigmatism in that eye which I was worried about. She said that I was 20/20 for close up? Never heard that before but this is the eye they did for monovision. I think I am about 20/40 for distance. I was able to read the eye exam at dmv with that eye and that is 20/40..I think. I can see close up really clear and far away just fine, just not super clear. I am still having problem reading street signs and license plates in front of me unless they are really close. I think that just comes with the monovision. My next appt is not for three more months. I expect things to be even better by then, with the ghosting gone. I told her that I am seeing halos at stoplights when I am tired and my eyes are dry. She said that should go away as I heal. I sure hope so! That is my update for 3 months. I will update if there is any change.
I am currently at 8 months out. I was anticipating he would want to do another enhancement last month when I went in because I was still having some hazing in my left eye. He is actually making me come back at 1 year because he says my eye will continue to heal for a while. I initially had ICL’s put in. Then LRI in both, which fixed the right but not left. And finally PRK in the left eye. Right eye is 20/15 with no astigmatism. Left eye is 20/25 with .75 or so astigmatism. Guess I should just be happy with that. My vision was initially -11 with 2.75 astigmatism in left and -10 2.0 astigmatism. But I have noticed that even since my visit last month my eye has improved some. I do find that dark rooms the clarity is definitely reduced.
Hello all! I’m on day 75 of having PRK in my right eye. I still have the haze in the right eye, which is rather disappointing. This past Friday, I had PRK done in my left eye. My vision was 20/20 in the right, even with the haze but after having the PRK in the left, it deteriorated and the pain in the left was so much worse than the right! That Friday and Saturday, I felt like I had glass in my eye. Yesterday was my 3 day post op appointment and the doctor felt that I was healed enough to take the bandage out. At first, I was rather excited because with drops I could see really well, no haze in the left eye. I woke up this morning and I have about the same amount of haze in the left as I do in the right. I’m hoping that it’s just temporary since I had haze in the right from the very beginning and never had the clarity I do/did with the left. Fingers crossed on that one.
The doctor seems to be treating my left eye a bit more aggressive than he did with the right. I’ve been on Durezol twice a day since the beginning in the right eye. That treatment hasn’t changed. For the left, he has me 4 times a day. Hopefully that will prevent the haze from staying around.
I’ll keep posting any updates I have!
did you have MMC applied when they did your PRK? That is supposed to keep the haze away. They didn’t do it the first time for me but did the second time and it seems to have kept the haze away. You say you can see 20/20..but is it like there is a film over your eye that you can see from the haze? I could always tell there was haze in certain lighting..it was annoying
I’m pretty sure they did apply MMC. I remember the doctor applying something onto the eye and the nurse counting down. Then he put the bandage contact on.
I could see 20/20 but it was like having a dirty contact lens in. I can see but nothing was sharp. The colors were dull and washed out. When I look out the window, it looks like there’s a soft focus. Bugs me SO much.
Yes, I know the feeling. I don’t think mine was as severe as yours though. They tried really hard for months to make it go away with steroid drops but it kept coming back so that is why I had the enhancement. My vision had also regressed in that eye so we took care of that too. I hope that your haze goes away. My eye is pretty clear now, but still..when I put in drops it really sharpens up so I’m hoping that is just a dryness issue. I hear the MMC dries the eye out even more so that didn’t help. Do you have any ghosting in your eye? I still have some until I put drops in.
The doctor hasn’t really done anything aggressive to help with the haze or the slight regression in my right eye (day 76). I am wondering if he’s just waiting for the left eye to stabilize.
I don’t have ghosting in the right eye. It blurs a bit but goes away with the drops. Probably because it’s still extremely dry. My left eye does but it’s only day 6 for that eye. The haze is almost gone from the left eye.
I DO notice that even after all this time, I my right eye still feels sore and my eye lid is STILL puffy. I feel every blink in that eye. My left eye is already back to feeling normal. The swelling went down and I don’t feel anything at all.
Has anyone else experience sensitivity in the eye even after several months? Sometimes it feel scratchy but most of the time, I can just feel the blinking, like I have a dry contact in it.
Thank you all SO much!!
I had a consultation Friday, thinking of having Lasik but told PRK would be more appropriate. I made an appointment for surgery on a Thursday so I’d be ready to return to work on Tuesday. This weekend I’ve been reading people’s experiences and timelines with this procedure posted here and elsewhere. Not happy with tech I spoke to for not giving me accurate information when I asked her directly about being ready to go back to work on Day 5!
Everything I’ve learned has made my current vision frustrations seem much less bothersome! Am 80% decided I’m going to call and cancel my surgery. Can anyone give me a good reason to go through with it??
P.S. I’m envisioning most of you in your 20s and 30s. Anyone closer to my 50-odd years?
I’m 43 and had both eyes done. One is perfect and amazing. The second eye I had to do twice and they ended up doing it for monovision. Seems like it is healing pretty well after 12 weeks, just a little dry.
For me contacts were irritating my eyes. I hate wearing glasses because I work out alot. If the contacts were comfortable I probably would not have done the surgery.
I have to say I am pretty happy with my vision. Waking up in the morning and not dealing with contacts is so nice. I can see both distance and close up, and my eyes don’t get all red and irritated anymore.
Glad I did it but be warned…be prepared for the recovery. Having both eyes done at the same time, I could not drive for 2-3 weeks. I would suggest one eye at a time so that you can function at work and that you can drive. When that eye is fully healed you can do the second eye. They never tell you how long the healing process is because they wouldn’t get as many customers. I’d say about 2 to 2.5 months my eyes felt pretty comfortable and consistent.
Best of luck to you.
5 weeks down, 7 more to go! I figured the ghosting in my left eye would be fading by now, but not yet. It’s amazing to me that my right eye could be so crisp and clear from week 3 and my left is lagging and has quite a bit of ghosting. I have been through so many emotions and in the end keeping your spirits up and having patience is everything. I just started Restasis but it hasn’t kicked in yet, so still using re-wetting drops as needed. I’m hoping by week 7-8, when I’m off the steroids, things will get better (haze/ghosting). I can’t wait.
I wore bi-focals and had Lasik on both eyes on Friday and then RK on my right eye on Tuesday (which hurt since the drops had not numbed my eye enough). The doctor put a contct bandage on my right eye. I am happy with my close up vision; however, I am scared to death about my right eye (distance). Everything is SO BLURRY!!! I should not be driving, but you have to do what you have to do. Is this normal? When I look down the hallway at school, I have no idea who I am seeing. Please help calm my nerves….
Hi everyone! I’m 9 days post PRK, still early but doing well and very optimistic about my outcome. My doctor said I’m a fast healer but also puts his patients on some good protocols so I thought I’d share so maybe other people can benefit.
Restasis for one month preop and six months postop for tear production and there’s also a study that shows it does something with immune cells and affects healing (forget exact mechanism). Refresh PM every night for six months post. Vitamin C 1000 mg twice a day one month preop and six months post. Thera tears omega 3 oil caps once a day one month preop and six months post.
You can try all this on your own except the Restasis which requires an rx. I had my bandage lenses in for seven days and vision got worse when he took them out. I know what ghosting is now lol. I’m guessing my vision is around 20/40, at least I hope it is because I’ve been driving lol. Doc says ill I should be 20/20 by one month. Oh as an aside, I found I really like Systane Ultra so far. Happy healing folks
Welcome! Glad to hear everything is going pretty good. I like the idea of your doctor putting you on restasis before the surgery. I was on it a couple of months after my original surgery. For some reason it started irritating my eyes PLUS it was like $200. My insurance covered it for one month and that was it so that was another reason I stopped. I think taking fish oil and flax seed oil really help too. I think the first four weeks after surgery are the worst. By week 3 you are sick of not being able to see 20/20. Week 5 is usually when you start to see some good changes. It’s all different for everyone. Keep us updated.
Well here it is 12 weeks now. Everything seems pretty good. Still suffering from dry eye. When I cover my right eye I see ghosting still and it goes away when I put a drop in so I am hoping it is just from dry eye. Vision is good but still not super sharp, only when I put drops in. If I remember correctly, the first time it took about 4 1/2 months for things to get really sharp and all the ghosting to go away. When I use both eyes vision is awesome. I can read close up and see very far away. My only complaint at this point is the ghosting when I cover my eye. I know I don’t walk around with my eye covered but it still annoys me that it’s there. Patience…Patience..I know. Next week is my 3 month appt so maybe they can give me some answers like if there is still swelling etc that may be causing the ghosting. I hope all of you are doing ok.
I use Refresh Optive every 15 – 30 min. and the Celluvisc (thicker one) every hour. It just depends on how my eyes are feeling. When they feel scratchy and a little sluggish (somewhat sticking to the eyeball) i put more in. The doctor told me I could use as much as I need and to use the preservative free.
Yesterday was 11 weeks post prk for me. I wanted to give an update. The last week was strange. For a couple of days my eye seemed to get more blurry at a distance and I was frustrated. My eyes have been dry lately. I decided to try another ointment at night. I was on muro but switched to Genteal. It made a big difference. I started using it 3 days ago and my vision is doing so much better. Yesterday is the first day that the ghosting seems to be getting much better. My vision is pretty darn good at a distance, and now very good close up. So I think I am going to end up with very good distance and close up in my right eye, and good distance and close up for my enhanced eye. I still have 2 weeks until my three months so I expect my ghosting to be close to gone things to stabilize. It’s such a rollercoaster..on the days that the vision seems worse you really start to worry that your eyes are regressing. For those of you who are struggling with dry eye try the Genteal Ointment at night. It really moisturizes your eye and just makes it feel better overall. I will update again at three months.
Please let me know how you all are doing.
Thats good to hear! Its been just over 3 weeks since the surgery and i’m still having the total blurred vision in my left eye. I went to get it checked again and the doctors say its healing fine just slower then my other eye and the astigmatism is the reason of the close up vision being blurry. I just changed my drops from Refresh Tears to Systane Ultra. Still too soon to notice a difference.
Systane Ultra are my favorite. Weeks 3 and 4 were the most frustrating for me. 5+ weeks and you should be alot better.
I’m at one month post-op. My optometrist says that I am seeing 20/20 in my right and 20/25 in my left. It’s interesting that the left is 20/25 because most lines were pretty blurry and I got 3 out of the 7 letters/numbers right. She said that there is a slight astigmatism in my left eye – which wasn’t there before. I’m a little bummed. I thought the blurriness/smudging was from ghosting. I’ve been reading the older posts and I’m hoping that by week 8 things will be better. I’ll be checking with the doctors from the surgery center this week about the astigmatism and maybe they’ll have more information. Headaches are still a problem and I’m still using eye drops frequently.
How frequently are you guys putting drops in? i’ve been putting them in once an hour. Is this too much? if so should i change back to the bion tears (non-perservatives)
For those that are around 10 weeks…do you still have ghosting? Mostly when you are trying to read a street sign? Well I do and it mostly goes away when I put my drop in. I don’t think I had this much ghosting the first time and don’t really remember when it went away. My eyes have been burning lately so I know that they are dry. The drops make everything so perfect for a small moment. I have a headache again today so I think my vision is changing again.
Hello,
Thanks for everyones input. I had PRK done 16 days and my right eye is doing well but my left is completely blurry (near/far) and has been since the 9th day. Strange thing is they were both fairly clear a week after the surgery. Kulagirl has your left eye improved?
Right eye: -2.5
Left eye: -2.5 with astigmatism
Right eye dominant
This EXACT same thing happened to me shortly after my surgery. The day after, both eyes were almost 20/20. then my right eye recovered in about a week and I was seeing perfect, while my left eye lagged behind at about 20/30. Now it’s been a month, and my left eye has caught up to my right eye. This is totally a guess, but I was kind of thinking that maybe since my right eye was dominant, my body healed that one faster.
Hi gman,
Probably 5 days after the “tissue growth” issue (on day 12), the left eye became super clear and crisp. I was amazed. I went to the doctor, could see pretty good, and didn’t ask about the bumps because she said it was healing well. On Day 15 left eye became really blurry again. This has been on and off since then but definitely better than before. I work on a computer most of the day and sometimes it seems like my eyes try to adjust but I still have to squint – I’m still about 10 inches away from the screen. The next morning eyes are blurry and will take half of the day to adjust. I’m really hoping that my situation is like Nicole’s and will catch up by the one month mark (next Friday). Does it get a little clearer when you put in eye drops?
No its stays the same. Its like ghosting effect, its got me worried.Its like have wearing the wrong glasses on one eye. It hasn’t changed for the past 6 days. Luckily my right eye is doing great i see clearly although im getting some headaches because of the blurry vision from the left.
I hear you about the headaches. It’s like wearing glasses with one lens taken out. Sometimes my left eye (blurry one) hurts (like a finger poked it), sometimes it feels like there’s something in it (like a contact), or just feels super dry. I’m trying to keep the faith and tell myself my eye is just healing. Keep us posted.
I had very bad ghosting in my left eye the first three weeks. I was VERY nervous because it seemed like by then, I should have been healed. But really everyone – just be patient. If any of you got a cut around the same time you had surgery, look at it and remember, “if this isn’t healed yet, why would my eyes be completely healed?”
P.S. There is still a little bit of ghosting in my left eye at this point, but its much less noticeable. I’m confident it will eventually go away completely eventually.
Thanks guys, your right nothing i can do but be patient. I talked to my doctor he said there might have been over-correction on the left eye and theres a 20% chance i may have to do surgery again in 6 months. I’ll keep posting in the meantime.
Not sure if anyone is reading my updates or not but what the heck, I’ll keep posting in case I am helping someone out. Tomorrow will be week ten. Last weekend my vision seemed to go backwards and I was VERY dizzy. It was awful and I was pretty worried. I woke up on Monday and it seemed like things went two steps forward with my vision. Now I can see my computer print and far away. It seems that I am starting to get my tear film back slowly which is helping tremendously. I do have issue with low light and can feel my eye straining, but I know this comes with more time. Today I’m feeling a little dizzy again so perhaps another change is coming. They say once you are off the steroids that is when the healing really begins. I just can’t wait until everyday is consistent and I don’t feel that strain in my left eye because it keeps changing. I’m looking forward to 3 months because I am hoping things are more consistent and even more clear. What a journey!
Hi – I’m following your updates, because I had one of my eyes done around the same time as your surgery (mine was on 1/2/2013) and am interested in comparing notes. I’m at week 10, but I haven’t really seen any improvements for several weeks, so I’m not sure if anything will be changing from my current vision at this point. The doctor apparently over-corrected my vision, as I went from a -5 pre-PRK to a +2 at my one month visit. At my month 2 visit, I was at a +1.5, so there does seem to have been some improvement, which gives me a bit of hope for the full recovery. The doctor said my vision should be stable by month 3, and then we’ll be able to tell if I’m going to need an enhancement (which I wouldn’t do until month 6). I’m having the other eye done at the beginning of May, but I’m pretty nervous about it, since my PRKed eye will be my primary eye during the recovery, and I still can’t read a computer screen with that eye or drive very well at night. The doctor said he could give me a contact for the +1.5 eye, to perfect my vision during the healing process of the other eye, so I guess that’s what I’ll do. It’s a depressing thought though – the whole point of the surgery is to get rid of the contacts. I’ve had a very easy recovery with no halos, shadows, fog, dry eye, etc., so I hate to press my luck and do an enhancement. I guess I’ll wait and see how the other eye does with PRK before making a decision; I might be able to live with this over-corrected eye, if the other one turns out well. FYI, I quit the steroid drops a few weeks ago; unlike others, I haven’t noticed any improvement or changes at all since stopping the drops.
Hi Julie – glad to hear you are reading my posts. I do have Halos but they get better when I put drops in. Last time I had this done, I had alot of changes up to 7 months so there is definately still some hope for you. The problem with the contact is that your eye will probably keep changing and you will feel dizzy with the contact. I guess you could go see your doctor every time this happens to get a different contact. Seriously, I really hated to have to go thru this process again. It’s getting really old not seeing perfectly. I hate this feeling of one eye feeling “groggy”. Do you get that feeling since you had one done? When I put drops in it clears right up and that feeling goes away.
I can read the computer print and close up but I have to focus and blink to wet my eye. I think I am headed the right direction, I just want this over with. I don’t know if I could go thru with this again so whatevere I end up with I will take. I am glad I did the enhancement because the haze and regression was not good.
Keep me posted but give that eye lots of time to continue healing. I even saw changes after 9 months. I’m not very good at this patience thing. :(
Hi Cramer and Julie,
I am reading your posts as well. I’m sorry to hear what you are going through. I am at Day 19 and doctor says I am healing properly. But healing properly and waiting for your eyes to stabilize are completely different things. It’s so true about patience. Some days I wake up just hoping that things will be clear…it’s unusual to have fluctuations in each eye on a DAILY, sometimes HOURLY basis. I didn’t think this would be happening. One day, one eye was crystal clear and the other blurry, the next day they were both blurry and the day after that the eyes swapped. It’s disturbing! I’ve had headaches every day because of this and am trying to get used to it – frequently using drops (every 15 min.) definitely helps. I have to say the warm compress makes a huge difference!! I just keep counting the days….Take care
The fluctuations between good and fuzzy sound familiar. I had surgery last May (been posting on and off here since)…..I know it’s a broken record, but patience is what does it. it IS very frustrating when you think things are going well, then they get worse/fuzzy for awhile….then good again, then back. One thing I am curious about is why someone above had mentioned they were off the steroid drops so quickly. the steroid drops actually help slow down healing….if the epithelium heals too fast, you’re bound to get scar tissue (bad news). I was on steroid drops for just under four months (1st month 4x a day, 2nd month 3x a day, 3rd month 2x a day, and last month 1x a day).
Hello, I am getting PRK done on Thursday. I plan on being back at work on Monday where I do a lot a driving. I am nervous that I about putting myself though a long recovery when I could have just chosen the Lasik option.
James, I had prk twice and both times I could not drive for 3 weeks. They tell you that you will have functional vision in 3-4 days, but their meaning of functional vision and mine are very different. I think the avereage is about 2 weeks before most people feel comfortable driving. I just wanted you to be aware that most doctors are not upfront with you when it comes to healing time. They want their money first. Do your research before Thursday so you know what you are getting into. USA eyes has a good message board you can browse through. Let us know what you decide. Good luck.
well, here it week 9. I can’t believe that I am just over 2 months. So since I went off of steroids the ghosting is better and things are more clear for a longer period of time. The thing I don’t understand is that my right eye which is perfect I can see close and very far away. I told them that I wanted my left eye the same. Well, the last two appts they kept talking about my monovision. That means that my left eye should be better close up than it is seeing in the distance. I told her that very very close up I can see great, but computer length and tv length it is blurry. My distance vision is pretty darn good in that eye too. She said that I was still healing and that my close up vision should get better. At this point, I cannot read the words on the tv, on CNN for instance. I know I need more time, just confused at what they actually were trying to achieve. I am happy that I can see distance in that eye, so hopefully it will stay that way. The last few days I have been so dizzy from all the changes in my eye. I didn’t notice it so much when I had both eyes done, but when one is perfect and one is off it really throws the brain off. I did call the doctor yesterday just to check on things because my appt was not for another month. There is no haze, my vision is definately better, but I do have dryness. I remember from last time that months 3 and 4 were the worst as far as dryness. I will keep doing warm compresses and drops, drops, drops. Kulagirl, hang in there. As far as the driving it is very unusual that someone can drive just a few days after PRK unless they had one eye done. There is no way I could have driven for 2-3 weeks when I had both eyes done unless it was just down the road. Everyone is different, but I wouldn’t take that chance if I had a job to do. Be patient everyone! Things do get better.
I’m on Day 46 of having PRK in my right eye (my dominant is my left). I had a checkup last Friday and tested 20/20 vision, though I have +1 haze still. It’s not terrible or detracts from me seeing. But since I still have yet to do my other eye, I can see the difference. I had the surgery on a Friday (1/18) and drove myself to work the following Tuesday and have been doing so ever since. I have good days and bad days, like everyone else. I think driving would be easier than, say, looking at a computer screen all day (which is what I do.)
Is it possible for you to just do one eye at a time? My doctor recommended this for me since my vacation time is limited. Perhaps you’d feel more comfortable going that route?
Hi James, are you getting both eyes done or one at a time? I agree with Cramer: “They tell you that you will have functional vision in 3-4 days, but their meaning of functional vision and mine are very different.” They also said that I could probably drive in a few days. I found that to be misleading. I’m not sure what the average time is to be driving again but on day 9 I figured I’d “test” out my driving abilities – It wasn’t a great idea. Although it was only a few miles, my eyes were sensitive to the bright light and burning from the dryness. I couldn’t pull off to the side of the road to keep putting in eye drops, so I started squinting and trying to yawn. I couldn’t read signs clearly and it was difficult to see darker cars – a problem if they are stopping in front of you (at least I saw the brake lights and stopped before I rear-ended them) or if you are pulling out in front of them. Tomorrow will be day 13 and I am catching a ride. I’m more nervous about the glare and severe brightness and since each day has been different I’ll be waiting a few more. Be safe.
Thank you everyone for posting, it’s amazing to read everyone’s experiences. I had PRK done 8 days ago, bandages came off 4 days later (painful because eyes were so dry). My right eye could see somewhat and the left could not even make out the large E. Yesterday at my one week post-op, the left eye had worsened and my optometrist said that the corneal abrasions had healed but that there was tissue growth on my left eye which looked like little bumps. She called the surgery center and spoke to doctor who said she has seen it before and recommended same routine with drops and that it should go away in a month. So, I have complete blurrinrss in my left eye with some irritation. Just curious if anyone has had similar symptoms of “tissue growth” or is this the normal healing process? I am disappointed with this and am trying to stay positive. Any thoughts?
Hi, I didn’t have the tissue grownth but I had haze so my one eye was very blurry. I had to have it rezapped. It sounds like they are able to fix your issue so try not to worry. The hardest part is not knowing, and also the different vision in the eyes. Right now that is what I am dealing with. My right eye is perfect and my left eye is still healing so it makes me feel out of it and feel dizzy. Try not to worry and think about it too much. If you do that time will go very slowly. A good target is 3 months. By then you can pretty much tell how things are going to be. :)
Hi Cramer, thank you so much for the reassuring words. You are so right about trying not to think and worry about it too much. I did both eyes and it’s amazing to see the changes in each eye on a daily basis (honestly every so many minutes I can’t help but do left eye/right eye comparisons). Just wondering if you were given any other drops for the dryness in your eyes? I am having a lot of dryness and am sticking to the steroid drops and then Refresh Optive and Celluvisc (doctor told to use) every 15 minutes or so. I think my vision would be so much better if this wasn’t so much of an issue. Good luck to you.
My favorite drop is systane. They just seem the most soothing and last the longest. The refresh drops started irritating my eyes. Make sure you stick with your steroid drops, this is really important. Sounds like you are really having issues with dryness. Couple of things to try. At night before you go to bed use the thick refresh lubricant in your eye. It’s the same consistency as vaseline. Also, start doing warm compresses. Take an old sock and put some rice in it. Nuke it for 30 seconds and lay it on your eye. This will help the oil glands in your lids to release the oil into your eye. Your right, dry eye will really affect your vision. I am still having the issue at 8.5 weeks but it is getting better. I am doing the warm compresses twice a day. Hang in there, things will get better. When I had both eyes done 1.5 years ago, my life was all centered around my eyes for like 5 months. I had no idea how the surgery would affect me so much. I had complications, but it was still frustrating. Hang in there and keep us updated.
Cramer, thank you, thank you, thank you. My right eye, which I never had problems with, seems to be regressing. Sometimes it feels like an eyelash is scratching the corner of my eye but I think it’s just the eye healing. Still tender. I was thinking that maybe the steroids were causing some problems (and am anxious to see what my vision looks like without steroid use) until you mentioned to stick with it :) Thank you for the warm compress idea too. I keep reading other posts and realize it’s a long, long, road…I hope you are doing better.
I had my surgery a week and 3 days ago. Thank you all for sharing your story. I was a little nervous that I am experiencing ghosting/blurriness and that my vision is not clear. After reading your stories, I know that it will take time and eventually my sight will get better. I guess I wanted instant 20/20. Thanks everyone!
Wow – at 3 days, I was barely able to watch TV. How are you typing at your computer! You’re probably going to have an easy recovery :)
ok, so it’s been 8 weeks. Yesterday was the last day on steroid drops. It’s been very very dry here in San Diego and is causing my eye to be a little blurry. Today is better but my eye is still not 100%. Still..when I put drops in it is very crisp so I think I am just dealing with dryness. I am looking forward to the next week since I am now off steroids. There should be big changes. I will update next week. In the past, 5-6 days after steroids are done, things really sharpen up. Hopefully, that will be the same this time. Hope everyone is doing well. Welcome aboard Marie.
Hi Wendy: i had monovision PRK also (2 months ago) and am healing well. Eye doctor on Friday said no staining at all on cornea; left eye has stabalized perfectly (this is reading eye) and right eye is slightly worse than 20/20. The right eye definately still needs to improve before i would say it is crystal clear. I am tapering off of steroid drops (flm) over the next month. Am wondering what would prompt you to have been put back one steroids and antibiotics so long after the surgery?
I had a short time of good vision about two months after surgery, but then things in my distance eye got blurry and would not clear up. They prescribed the steroid drops for two weeks, Doxycycline (as an anti-inflammatory) for 90 days and Vizasite for 3 months. Things have cleared up nicely. I now have the results I had hoped for at the beginning. The only factor I still deal with is dry eyes at night. I understand from those who have gone before me that it can, and often does, take more than a year for the moisture to regulate in your eyes. I usualy put drops in my eyes once or twice during the night to keep my eyes from “sticking” to my eyelids.
Thank you for the explanation Wendy.
So for those of you in this for the long haul. I had my PRK in April of 2012 and in the past two weeks my vision has become awesome. I have mono-vision so I see up close our of my left eye and distance out of my right eye. I was discouraged a month ago and wondering if my vision would ever really get clear. After a second round of steroid drops, Vizasite and 3 months anti-inflammatory/antibiotic my vision is wonderful. I would have been happy to have so much better vision anyway, but I am extremely happy that I can see both up close and long distances with no problem. I do wear a pair of glasses at night to correct my left eye to see distance – just because I feel safer driving at night with both eyes seeing distance, but that is ONLY time i wear glasses after 42 years of glasses and contacts. Everything is finally crystal clear. So worth it!
I had PRK in July of 2011, both eyes at the same time and was very near-sighted. Also had worn contacts (gas permeable) for 40 years and had to be out of them for 4 months prior to surgery, no easy feat. I took one week off work and then returned, which was difficult as I interact with the computer all day. Driving was a challenge and I needed help for about 3 weeks. Healing was a very long process (over 8 months) and difficult, but one adjusts. I was able to wear eye make-up on my first day back to work. Everyone is different so my advice is to go by what your doctor advises and realize that your situation will not match anyone else’s. BE PATIENT.
Hi Fran, I had my original surgery on 7/1/2011 as well. I agree with you that it is a long process and can be frustrating. Doing two eyes at once was very difficult. I just had an enhancement in one eye and that was so much easier but still the waiting is frustrating.
How did your vision turn out? I hope good. I don’t regret doing it at all. My right is perfect, but my left eye developed haze and then regressed. I’m 6 weeks out and I think that this time around things are going much better.
Well today is 7 weeks for me. Today I drop down to one steroid drop for one week. This is what I have been waiting for. The steroid drops really mess with my vision so expecting big changes in the next couple of weeks. My eye is definately more clear, but still have some ghosting. It’s been feeling more dry lately which messes with the vision. My vision still becomes perfect with a lubricating drop. I have been feeling dizzy the last few days so I know my vision is changing again. Things are going well but looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I hope everyone else is doing ok.