A Week After PRK Surgery, I Had a Corneal Abrasion when Removing the Bandage Contacts. How Will I Recover and in What Time?

Question

A week after PRK surgery, I had a corneal abrasion when removing the bandage contacts in my non-dominant eye. It was not in the line of sight, has healed, is recovering, but is still nowhere near as sharp as the non-injured eye. It has been approximately 3-4 weeks total since the surgery. Regarding the eye in question,(which is improving but still blurry) how long before the blurriness leaves and will it recover well/clear? Anything I may do to help it's progress?

Emil William Chynn, MD, FACS, MBA · Answer

the skin of your eye is still not that firmly attached for about a month postop so you have to be careful

	you have to do the following to recover more quickly after your abrasion (and in general after PRK):

	
		get more sleep than 8 hours per night
	
		keep your eyes closed for 5 minutes on the half-hour every hour
	
		put in a drop of preservative-free artificial tears every hour on the hour
	
		use a gel at night at bedtime
	
		drink more water, get a cool-mist humidifier for both home and work
	
		avoid alcohol and caffeine
	
		don't rub your eyes


	doing all of these things, you will recover twice as quickly as you are now, by not doing them

	once you are seeing 20/20, then you can back off gradually and decrease the frequency of tears, and increase the caffeine and alcohol, but in moderation

	good luck and it sounds like you will do fine!:)

Andrew Caster, MD · Answer

The corneal abrasion has probably set you back by a few weeks, but will not affect your long term results. There is nothing you can do to speed things along, except to use drops as advised by your doctor.

Farzad Yaghouti, MD · Answer

The new skin growing on the cornea (epithelium) following a PRK is initially thin and prone to injury even with a minor trauma. But the good news is that in most patients Epithelium will eventually fully regenerate and grow to a full thickness within 6-8 weeks of the initial injury with appropriate care.

Christopher Coad, MD · Answer

Fortunately, I would expect the eye to fully heal and recover. Lubricating drops may help tremendously. Occasionally, anti-inflammatory drops including topical steroid eye drops, may be used to prevent haze or scarring.

Anthony J. Kameen, MD (retired) · Answer

Since PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy) is performed on the surface of the eye, it is not unusual to see transient side effects of surface healing, especially in the drier winter months. These will always clear up, but can occasionally drag on for a month or two. We have numerous eyedrops(lots of lubricants) and other "tricks" to speed up the healing and to keep you comfortable in the process. Ulitimately, when the healing is complete, your eyes will even out.....so, keep the faith.

A Week After PRK Surgery, I Had a Corneal Abrasion when Removing the Bandage Contacts. How Will I Recover and in What Time?

Answers (5)