How Long Will It Take my Post PRK (10 Weeks) Glare and my Left Eye (20/30) to Heal?

In our practice, it is very unusual for someone not to reach their best correct vision after PRK within the first month after surgery.  This is because we treat dry eyes aggressively both before and after PRK.  In our practice, approx. 80% achieve best corrected vision within 1 week and the other 20% within one month.  The people who require up to one month typically have dry eyes or were not diligent in keeping their eyes moist with artificial tears or serum tears within the first 72 hours after PRK.  Most certainly, you should receive punctal plugs, or Restasis, or serum tears, and/or bandage lenses, or a combination of any of these if this is the result of dry eyes.  Also, there is the distinct possibility that you are slightly over or under corrected and an enhancement may be in order.  We typically wait at least 3 mos post PRK to decide whether or not an enhancement is necessary. - Thanks for the question Dr. Craig Beyer ...

 

PRK takes somewhat longer than LASIK to heal, but most of the healing is over in about a month.  There can be some minor changes that may occur up to three months.  For that reason, I suggest that PRK patients wait a minimum of three months before considering a second procedure.  The higher is the prescription, the more likely is the need for a second procedure.  Even before surgery, you should have been made aware of the potential need for an enhancement (fine-tuning procedure).  In our practice the risk of an enhancement is 2-10%.  For those very high amounts of astigmatism, the risk of enhancement may much higher. There is typically no charge for the enhancement procedure.  With PRK, the enhancement is just like the initial procedure.