I had PRK yesterday and I've relied so much on everyone else documenting their experiences that I thought I would share mine. Age: 36 (Stable prescription for 15 years) Pre-op prescription: - OD (Right Eye): -4.25, -1.25 Astigmatism - OS (Left Eye): -4.75, -0.25 Astigmatism Procedure: - Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA/PRK) - My epithelium was removed with a scraping tool (not alcohol or a laser) - Procedure was a Customized Wavefront PRK - I fully intended on asking about the laser but I forgot to ask on account of being nervous AF Operation: (5/12/17) I'm not going to go into too much detail about the actual procedure. There are plenty of other accounts on here. I'm sure that you are here, like I was, to weigh the pros and cons of the recovery process. Suffice it to say, it's not pleasant from a mental perspective but it is painless. I had a lattice tear in my retina fixed in anticipation of this surgery a year ago and in retrospect that procedure was far more traumatizing. It all happens so fast that it doesn't really matter. Take the Valium, lay back, and just let it happen. Oh and don't move your eyes... Day 0 (Immediately following the surgery): - My father drove me to the surgery. When I sat up from the table after the surgery I looked over at him in the pre-op room and saw him wave to me. I know I wasn't the blindest (most blind?) person in the world prior to the surgery but I have never seen anything clearly unassisted past about 3 feet in my life. That was an awesome feeling. No eye tests for me immediately following the surgery, so no numbers to report. Just checked to make sure that the bandage contacts were in properly and gave me my eye drop instructions and narco prescription. Walked out of the office and dad drove me home. I'd like to take a minute to describe what this experience was like. For all the research I did before this surgery, I felt everything was a little ambiguous for my liking. I always read/heard things like "Things are still blurry." or "I can't really see clearly yet." For those of you like me who were hoping to understand what that means, let me try to clarify. I could see 1000% better than without my glasses. I guess I can't speak for everyone, but I psyched my self out so much that I was worried I would be walking around like a blind person. My vision on the way out was improved to the point that if nothing ever got better, I would be able to function for the rest of my life happily. This is probably me setting my expectations low but I went into this expecting the worst and hoping for the best. Yes, things are not crystal clear, yet. But when I go from not being able to see 3 feet in front of my face to, 'things are a little blurry 50 feet away but I can still see them', I take that as a blessing. Interesting point: My dad went to fill my narcotic for me when I got home, and I have them. I have not felt the need to use them to this point. My eyes leaked like a sieve for about 6 hours, but no real pain. At least as of about 24 hours post surgery. (I now realize that I am going to regret typing that.) Day 0 (Evening of the day of surgery): - Didn't really sleep. Drops every 2 hours. You would think that 2 Valium would have made me tired but I couldn't sleep. Just took the surgeon's advice and kept my eyes closed as much as possible. Laid in bed and listened to the Celtics/Wizards playoff game. Sounded like a great game. Actually, I was grinning to myself because I would periodically open my eyes to check the score and it finally set in that I could actually read the score... unassisted... no contacts, no glasses. Just my own eyes. Slept great. Day 1 (Around 18 hours after surgery): (5/13/17) - Woke up around 7:00 AM. Look at alarm clock. Smile in realizing that I can read the alarm clock. No real changes otherwise. Still seeing 1000% better than with no glasses, but still things are a little out of focus at afar. Reading is actually not an issue for me although I'm sure that will change at some point soon from reading others' accounts. Day 1 (9:30 AM): - Day 1 follow up appointment with my ophthalmologist. He was running late so I spent about 10 minutes reveling in the fact that I could sit in the car and read the hours of operation on his door. Again, not crisply but I could read it. Beats not being able to tell if there was a door there at all. Notice some light sensitivity at this point but nothing unbearable. Initial test less than 24 hours after the surgery reveals: OD (Right Eye): 20/40 OS (Left Eye): 20/30 OU (Both Eyes): 20/25 Surprising to me actually since I would have said that my right eye was clearer. What is important to understand though is that my vision is fluctuating almost by the minute. There are times where I can see what seems better than what I saw when wearing contacts after a long day of work. There are others when I literally can't see anything in focus. Doctor says that I am healing very well and says to keep up with my drops and keep my eyes closed as much as possible and to not do anything active today. Just relax and keep up with the drops. Taking a nap now and going to listen to some baseball and pop the windows open. Will update tomorrow with more results. EDIT: When I say no real pain, I mean to say no real PAIN. There is discomfort. I wore contacts for 20 years so maybe I'm just used to it. Day of surgery, feels like you have a contact that is put in backwards. <-- perfect description, at least for me. Day 1 (after surgery): As long as I'm not in the sun, just feels like I have had my contacts in for 36 hours. Fighting the urge to adjust your contact is literally the worst part about this so far. Day 1 (30 hours post-op): I've been taking it easy and listening to the Indians/Twins game. I have popped my eyes open to look at the score or the game on occasion and I can tell my vision is getting worse. Assuming that this is the beginning of my epithelium growing back. Still, not awful, just less crisp. Part of the healing process which I'm glad I prepared myself for. Time, water, drops... we'll get there... Still no PAIN, less discomfort than before, no narcos taken at this point. Day 2: (5/14/17) Vision is definitely worse today, as to be expected. Very difficult to read the clocks or any text at a distance, if at all. Can still get by reading a bit on the computer or phone, although I'm trying not to look at either as much as possible. Slept great last night. Virtually no discomfort today. Just feels like I've had contacts in my eyes for 48 hours, which I have. Took a walk outside this morning. Light sensitivity was not that bad with sunglasses on and it's very bright here today. I go to the ophthalmologist tomorrow afternoon. Unless something improves overnight, I fully expect that I will score much worse on the visual acuity test. Even with my vision as it is right now, I would still say that I am seeing great. It's as if I'm wearing my glasses and they are just very dirty. Can't see fine details but I can see at a distance pretty good considering. Day 2 UPDATE: I got antsy and decided to go walk up to where my friends play volleyball today. A little ticked that I couldn't play, but I was sitting out in the sun with two pairs of sunglasses on. Blue blockers they gave me after the surgery and an old pair I had that fits over glasses. Maybe overkill but light sensitivity is definitely an issue at this point. All of a sudden for about 30 minutes, the vision in my right eye became crystal clear as if I had my contacts in. Left eye, not so much. But it was amazing to see what I will hopefully eventually have. Day 3: (5/15/17) Bit of a roller coaster today. Woke up this morning, my right eye was markedly clearer, left eye was still blurry much like yesterday. On my way to my appointment, my left eye snaps into focus and was the clearest that it has been yet. Get to the ophthalmologist, vision acuity tests: OD (Right Eye): 20/40 OS (Left Eye): 20/40 OU (Both Eyes): 20/30 Doctor looks at my eyes and decides everything is healing perfectly and takes out the bandage contacts one at a time. Right contact comes out, no discomfort but vision definitely gets quite a bit worse. To be expected I remember. Left contact comes out, searing pain. Worse than anything post surgery. Doctor looks at my eye and notes that the epithelium in my left eye was disturbed when he removed the contact. To be on the safe side, bandage contacts put back in both eyes. Bit of a disappointment but I knew this would be a process and things could come up. Doctor says that my epithelium will have to grow back and smooth over before he will take them back out again. Follow up appointment a week from today. He says that this does happen unfortunately but will not effect long term results, will just delay the healing process a few days. (Doctor's equivalent of: 'my bad') I'm bummed but I don't really have a choice in the matter, so positive thoughts and continue to heal. Good news is that he measured my vision after putting the contacts back in and I am still 20/30 even with my irritated left eye. Que sera, sera. Day 5: (5/17/17) I feel like I turned a corner in my right eye today. I can see amazing. Honestly, in that eye I am seeing almost as good as I did with contacts in. Haven't had another appointment yet so I don't have numbers, but if I had to guess today I am seeing 20/20 out of my right eye. Left eye is back to Day 2 on account of the bandage contact incident. Which is frustrating as hell since I know what my vision would be like if my epithelium wasn't disrupted on Monday. A few more days and hopefully my left eye will catch up. Right now it's like I have one prescription contact in, and it is awful. Good news is that after talking with my surgeon and reading a little online, I learned that the epithelium regrows in a normal healthy adult in 7-10 days. When there is trauma (like taking a spatula and scraping the front of your eyeball off then shooting lasers into your eyes) it heals even faster. So I am keeping up with my drops and trying to take it easy. Back to work today for the first day. Could have actually gone yesterday, but the light sensitivity was pretty bad and I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep my eyes open. By the end of the day the last few days, my eyes are done. I wish I knew how to better describe this but they are just done. It's as if all the focusing and light sensitivity is just overwhelming and they just stop working properly. Nothing is in focus and the smallest amount of light is almost unbearable. In all I am very happy and hopeful for my end result. Trying to be patient and positive. My least favorite part of this whole process so far is the damn clam shell eye covers you have to wear at night. They don't have a comfortable orientation on my face and that stupid medical tape sticks to everything. I've been peeling the tape glue off my face all day despite taking a shower and washing my face separately. First world problems I guess. Day 7: (5/19/17) Noticing improvement in both eyes today. My left eye is getting back to the point that my right eye was on Wednesday. Still a little blurry but nowhere near as bad as it was a couple days ago. I am still frustrated that my left eye is behind the other but just staying in good spirits. I had a moment yesterday when both eyes were in perfect focus and I could see so much better than when I had my contacts in. I am hoping for that to be the end result and trying to be patient. I am actually pretty worried about getting the bandage contacts taken out on Monday. I don't want another set back, but I also remember my vision in my right eye getting quite a bit worse when they were taken out. Hopefully that won't last too long. I loathe going to sleep to put those eye guards on every night. Can't wait for that to be over. Updated on 4 Jun 2017: Day 10: (5/22/17) Got my bandage contacts out today. No searing pain this time. I will say that while there were no significant improvements I can tell that things are still changing. Many times I feel like my reading vision in my right eye has gotten worse over the last few days and my left eye was getting much better close up but worse farther away. I have to keep reminding myself that my eyes are on different healing schedules. Before getting my contacts out: OD (Right Eye): 20/40 OS (Left Eye): 20/50 OU (Both Eyes): 20/40 (I guessed a couple of the 20/30 but they weren't really legible) I held my breath while the contacts come out hoping everything sticks together this time. Vision gets noticeably worse in my right eye but nowhere near as bad as when they took it out a week ago. Left eye vision goes completely to crap, much like I noticed in my right eye last week. Doctor checks and everything is fully regrown. She says that my left eye is noticeably more irregular on the surface (likely from my incident last week) but says that everything will even out in time. After contacts out: OD (Right Eye): 20/40 (Minus one letter) OS (Left Eye): 20/60 OU (Both Eyes): 20/40 (I could read the 20/40 line but with really no help from my left eye) Honestly if it were not for my right eye being relatively better, I wouldn't have been able to drive after this appointment. Step down my drops starting on Thursday. Down to one single medicated drop after today. Doctor says that I can stop sleeping in the clam shells starting tomorrow if I feel comfortable. Day 11: (5/23/17) I wasn't going to update today but thought I would report that my left eye has made major gains in the last 24 hours. Around 24 hours after I had my bandage contacts taken out I had what I would describe as almost clear in my left eye. Things were so much less blurry and hazy but I couldn't read text. I worked out over lunch and ran a few miles (amazing after 10 days off) and there is a TV in our workout room. I couldn't read anything but I felt as if it was so close to coming into focus. Hard to describe. By the time I was home, almost no haze and text is starting to come into focus closer to my right eye. It is a huge relief for me personally but the difference in clarity between eyes was giving me a major headache. Anyone that has had one contact in for an extended period can empathize with that. Day 14: (5/26/17) Had a follow up appointment this morning. I actually am starting to hate these appointments because I think I am seeing so much better than the visual acuity tests indicate. I really think that my vision is fluctuating so much that I just have bad timing. I downloaded an app that allows you to test your vision to a degree. (Eye Chart HD for those interested) It's not exact for many reasons but it's a starting point. My main complaint is that it obviously has no idea how big your screen is, so how can it know how far it should be away from your eyes. It says 4 feet and I thought I was reading 20/20 in my right and 20/40 in my left. Anyway, my left eye has almost caught up to my right eye at this point, very happy about that. Things are still not clear but I know that is coming. As many others have noted, when I put in the preservative free drops, my vision is crisp and clear for like 2 minutes. I asked the doctor about this today and he confirmed that this should be an approximation of what my final vision should look like. The explanation that I got was, because my epithelium had to completely regrow, the surface is still like the surface of a golf ball. The eye drops fill in the divots and make it a complete surface. Apparently as my eye heals, it will eventually get to that point by itself. Not saying that is the truth, just reporting what my doctor told me. He likened it to when people have cataract surgery and can't see that well at first, but if you have them look through a pin hole, they can see great. I have no idea what that means, just thought I would pass it along. I asked him to explain it, but to be honest he didn't give me any more information that would be useful to this discussion. So I guess doctors think we are all stupid. I would have pushed it further but I had to be somewhere so, whatever. Visual acuity was: OD (Right Eye): 20/30 OS (Left Eye): 20/40 OU (Both Eyes): 20/20 (minus one letter) I'm down to one steroid drop, 3 times a day. Sleeping comfortably without the clam shells for 2 nights. So far, very happy. Now the long road to amazing clear, crisp vision. Day 23: (6/4/17) Meant to update on Friday when I had my appointment but had a busy weekend. Some time on Thursday, my left eye caught up and actually surpassed my right eye. It was such an amazing relief to not have one eye so much better than the other. The depth perception issues were becoming unbearable. On my appointment on Friday (3 week follow up) my left eye was so good that I actually thought my right eye had regressed. A bit of advice I read somewhere before the surgery, I can't stress enough. People generally don't take the time pre-surgery to pay attention to the differences in their vision from eye to eye. Everyone seems to scrutinize the differences between their vision in each eye after surgery and they get worried about something being wrong in one eye or the other. I took a good week before surgery to really notice the subtle differences in my vision, and this has helped me put my mind at ease throughout this recovery process. Pre-surgery, my left eye was considerably more blurry than my right, even with contacts. This is probably because I had a contact that corrected my astigmatism in my right eye but apparently the astigmatism in my left eye was so slight that they didn't have a contact for it, or so I was told. So just know that both of your eyes are not going to be exactly the same. After the recovery is over and I stop doing the whole 'camera 1, camera 2' routine, I fully expect that I will just keep both of my eyes open like a normal (read not compulsive) person and everything will be fine. Anyway, I did great on the visual acuity test, I think: OD (Right Eye): 20/25 (Plus one letter on 20/20) OS (Left Eye): 20/25 (Plus two letters on 20/20) OU (Both Eyes): 20/20 (minus one letter) Went on my first long drive over the weekend and I can still tell that my eyes get tired after being active for too long. Drove up about 2 hours away and the drive there was nice, I could read all the street signs, similar to contacts in after a long day. On the drive back after standing around in the sun for 4 hours, my eyes were very tired. I put in drops like every hour but it didn't seem to help. I could function and I felt comfortable driving on the highway, but things were not coming into focus until they were about 50 feet away. Things seem to get almost imperceptibly better everyday. It's not until a few days pass that you notice you are seeing better. Down to steroid drop 2 times a day. Next appointment set for 6/16. Side note: I woke up one day last week in the middle of the night and my right eye was redder than hell and felt irritated. I got really nervous that I somehow got an infection. Put a bunch of eye drops in an paced out of being nervous for 15 minutes or so. Went to bed and everything was better in the morning. Guess I must have accidentally rubbed it or gotten something in my eye, pet dander or something. Updated on 11 Jun 2017: Day 30: (6/11/17) Obligatory 30-day update: My vision has gotten better over the last week. Nothing day-by-day to note but looking at my last post and remembering what my vision was like, things are much more stable today. I can see pretty darn good and I am very happy with my recovery so far. I would estimate that I am at about 90% of my best vision with contacts. For instance I still can't pick out the individual leaves on the trees about 50 feet away and I could with contacts in. But it's so close! Still, when I put eye drops in things become near perfect for about 2 or 3 minutes. I have noticed that my vision is directly linked to hydration. Water is your friend during this recovery for sure. Went fishing over the weekend and was out in the sun for 5 or 6 hours, had a couple of 'pops'. The next morning I could tell that my eyes were dry. Point of interest for me was that I finally understand now what people mean by dry eyes. When reading others' posts I always heard people describe dry eye problems. I always took this as your eyes were itchy or just felt dry. I now understand that dry eye after PRK actually means that your visual acuity is severely affected (effected? I always get that one wrong) by dehydration. I don't think I ever had this issue pre-surgery, but to be honest I never paid any attention to it. Maybe something else to check out before you have the surgery. Anyway, simple fix. Stay hydrated and use your eye drops! Very excited for my next appointment on Friday. Updated on 16 Jun 2017: Day 36: (6/17/17) Had my appointment today, nothing really new to report. My vision is getting better.... slowly. It's not until 2 or 3 days go by until I recognize the differences. No more steroid drops as of yesterday, and I am very happy about that. Those drops sting and it's like pouring milk into your eyes. It's awful. Doctor says that things should improve from here since I am not on the steroid anymore. Slight haze in my left eye, should improve with time. Right eye was +.50 with a .25 astigmatism. Left eye was -.25, no astigmatism. Should clear up when my corneas fully heal. I'm not even sure those numbers are correct since everything looked basically the same, just a little more defined. Results were: - OD (Right Eye): 20/30 - OS (Left Eye): 20/30 - OU (Both Eyes): 20/25 (Got 2 letters on the 20/20 line) Next appointment in 3 weeks. Won't update unless something changes significantly. Updated on 21 Jul 2017: I can't believe it has already been 70 days. Thought I would update for posterity. My vision is amazing at the moment. I am so happy with the results and I would do this a thousand times again. I'll go as far as saying that my vision is at least as good as when I was wearing contacts. My right eye has almost completely caught up and I have no more ghosting issues. The only time I have any degradation is when I have a very active day and don't use the re-wetting eye drops. If I stare at a computer screen all day, by the end of the day, my vision is not as sharp. But I feel as though this is probably the case surgery or not. Went to my 2-month followup last week and I was seeing quite well: - OD (Right Eye): 20/25 ++ (Two letters on the 20/20 line) - OS (Left Eye): 20/25 +++ (Three letters on the 20/20 line) - OU (Both Eyes): 20/20 ++ (Got 2 letters on the 20/10 line) The doctor also took a new topographical map of my eye and it was really cool to see the before and after. The before was a kind of bumpy green/yellow map, the after was a flat blue map. The way it was described was that they basically flattened out the cornea to correct the vision. Apparently, since there are no abnormalities in the new topo map, it is unlikely that I will need a touch-up. No scar tissue, no haze. I have no issues with halos or starbursts at night. In fact, I would say I had more halos before the surgery, likely because of my astigmatism. I understand that my surgeon over corrected both of my eyes by about .25 on purpose to battle age related vision loss. As it turns out after my examination, both of my eyes are exactly +.25 with no astigmatism. I have my 3-month follow up in 10 days and I fully expect to be 20/20 or better. Life changing experience for me and it gets better every week. Only wish I had gotten it sooner. Updated on 18 Nov 2017: I had my 6-month follow up appointment last week. To be honest I almost forgot I even had the appointment scheduled because I have just gotten back into the routine of life, but without contacts or glasses! Everything went swimmingly, no haze at all, no scarring. I tested both eyes at no prescription, no astigmatism. I read the 20/20 line with ease with each eye individually and got a couple of letters on the 20/15 line. With both eyes I read the 20/15 line with ease. I didn't get the chance to go smaller than that at my appointment but I'm satisfied with the results. I can honestly say that I can see better than I could when I was wearing contacts, which is very exciting to me! I actually have less halos at night now than I did before. My doctor attributes that to correcting my astigmatism. I'll have to take his word for that. I recommend PRK based on my experience. The recovery is really not that bad and after 2 months, I forgot I had the surgery many times but would notice after a month or so went by that I was seeing even sharper. They say that your eyes could take up to a year to get to the final result. I can't imagine them getting too much better but if that happens, that's amazing.
13 has always been my lucky number. My family was in the hotel business growing up, and despite hoteliers normally succumbing to good old-fashioned superstition the number 13 was our favorite. One of the first companies I freelanced for out of college was named "One Three," and my husband and I went out on our first date on Friday the 13th. The list goes on. During a coffee meeting a couple weeks ago on April 13th I was introduced to someone who works for Clear Choice Custom Lasik in Brecksville, Ohio. As casually as you might say, can I get you a water, he said “you should get Lasik.” I didn’t bother to ask him if he saw me squinting at my computer. The truth is, I considered Lasik many times over the years. Out of college in my twenties I wanted it, but I put the money I saved towards veneers. Then again in 2011 after I had my first baby I went to a consult, but I was breastfeeding, which meant I wasn't a candidate at the time for surgery. So, when he suggested I go in for a consult, he didn't have to say it twice. What he didn't know was my 2017 New Year's Resolution was to get Lasik. Sounds like a weird resolution, but a few years ago I resolved to get my hearing tested so this was really a step up from previous self-help resolutions. I've worn glasses since I was in 6th grade..ahem for 30 years. I'm not going to go on about how inconvenient they are because there have been many times that I liked my spectacles, but the single biggest reason I've wanted Lasik was parenthood. After having children, I found myself irrationally afraid of waking in the middle of the night to a fire and not being able to see to save my children. Therefore, I sleep in glasses. I always have two pairs of glasses. A nicer pair I wear on days I don't want to wear contact lenses and another pair that I don't mind bending and sleeping in nightly. After my April 13th encounter, I was in for a consultation the very next day. I’m done having babies, and nothing is holding me back from Lasik now! Every year I complain when I have to order yearly supplies of contacts and when I have to buy new glasses. I know I’m not off the hook on annual eye exams, but it feels like Lasik pays for itself quickly when you’re used to spending $500+ a year in glasses and contacts. It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t research the details ad nauseum. Admitteldy, I went to more than one consultation to make sure I felt confident with who would perform the surgery and that the facility was at the top of its field. Even though I’ve chosen Clear Choice Custom Lasik in Brecksville the verdict was the same everywhere I went. I’m an ideal candidate. My corneas are thick enough, I don’t have excessively dry eyes and even though my prescription is high it’s within range for corrective surgery. My friends rave about the results and more than once I’ve been told I will consider it one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Clear Choice suggested SMILE. It’s less invasive and the newest method for laser eye surgery. I chose Clear Choice and Dr. William Wiley because the facility felt state of the art and they bent over backwards to make sure I was both comfortable and fully educated on the procedure. My surgery is scheduled for May 10th and my pre-op appointment is May 6th. It sounds crazy, but I can’t wait to go back. It’s no stretch when I say I’m looking forward to this as much as I look forward to a spa day! There’s something about Lasik and going to Clear Choice that feels luxurious and like it’s just for me. As a busy Mom, I’m thrilled to be carving out a little time for myself and doing something I’ve always wanted to do! Updated on 9 May 2017: My procedure is scheduled for Wednesday, May 10th at 7pm. I'm thrilled to have an evening procedure so our youngest can be in bed before I leave, and I can go straight to bed for the night when I get home. On Saturday, I went to ClearChoice for my pre-op appointment, and was there for about an hour and a half. I had vision tests, a glaucoma test, my eyes were dilated, I watched a thorough video
Because PRK necessitates the regrowth of tissue on the top of the cornea, it can be frustrating for patients. Nothing that I am reading about your description would make me nervous as a surgeon who performs PRK on a weekly basis. Keep using your tears, and keep your appointments with your doctor.
Some of the side effects that you have can be caused by a little bit of uncorrected refractive error. So you might have a little nearsightedness or astigmatism. If that is the case, you can typically correct that with a laser vision correction procedure, or a pair of glasses with a light prescription. (I realize that when patients have an ICL procedure they do so in order to become independent of glasses, but sometimes a large reduction in your need for glasses is also a great outcome. Of course, only you can be the judge.). Additionally, in some cases a corneal tattoo may help patients who have some haloes or starbursts as a result of the yag PI procedure. A corneal tattoo is not a cosmetic procedure, but I have used with a couple of ICL patients who were getting aberrations from the PIs.
I am sorry that you are experiencing migraines. That must be awful. My concern for you is that removing the ICL may not fix the issue. And, unfortunately, I'm going to answer your question with a question. Have you seen a doctor who specializes in headaches? Or, a neuro ophthalmologist? I'm thinking you probably have. I would potentially try to come at the problem from an angle that is different that ophthalmology- or removing the ICL.
Believe it or not, this is not uncommon. And, I would say that in 9 cases out of 10 (or more), patients experience this sensation due to dryness. Try some good quality drops- perhaps a refresh Optive, or Systane maybe every couple of hours for a week or so. Keep in mind the environment and your screen time, and many other factors can increase the dryness of your eyes.
Excellent questions. The cornea heals beneath the flap. The flap edges can still be seen via a microscope for years after LASIK- I think probably indefinitely. Flap edges can be lifted for year after LASIK using a specific instrument, and perhaps by trauma as well. Most doctors will leave a minimum of 250 microns of tissue in the corneal bed after the procedure. Some doctors may be more conservative, and some may be less. I shoot for at least 250.
