Reviews you can trust, from real people like you.
How it works
- Our highly-trained Review Moderation team evaluates all reviews before they're published to ensure they're written by people like you and not a member of a doctor's office.
- This multi-step process takes up to 24 hours from review submission to publication.
- Doctors can't pay to have reviews removed or hidden.
- Reviews are only removed at the reviewer's request or if they violate our Terms of Service.
If you have questions or believe we should re-evaluate a published review, let us know.
Sort by:
*Treatment results may vary
I am 46 and have been wearing glasses since I was...
I am 46 and have been wearing glasses since I was 3. If you can any kind of math it has been a long time. I started wearing Contacts when I was 14 and it has been over 32 years. My last few annual appointments my doc said I was showing signs of damage from being such a long time contact lens user. The other factor was I had reached the age of needing readers with my contacts. I had been trying various contacts to help with reading along with my severe nearsightedness. I finally decided to get laser correction.
Surgery 5/23
Well I made it through the surgery! It is now day 5 after PRK, vision is still blurry I can function around the house but not willing to drive still pretty blurry for that. The day of the surgery I was nervous, I started to really think about it too much. We got there to the eye center and after a short delay I finally got to see the surgeon who was extremely nice, went over again what he was going to do and it was time for the Valium. My husband and I went to another room to wait, the one waiting room already had several patients waiting to be next to see surgeon, apparently I was the first case. I decided I better use the restroom and as soon as I stood up I felt the Valium, wow!! I finished and a short time later it was time.
They took me back to the laser suite, and was cold (they were not kidding on that one) as they guided me to the chair took my glasses for the last time, Yeah! and I laid down. The next minutes went very quickly, numbing drops then they covered my left eye, and started with my right eye. It was exactly as I seen in the video, the clamps to keep my eye open, more numbing drops, the metal ring with fluid to loosen the top layer, the laser, the nice cool irrigating drops, more medicated drops then the contact bandage. It was off to the next eye, covered the right eye and repeated the same procedure again. It was less than 10min total and I was done. He said 45sec under the laser for each eye unbelievable it was quick. Other than a brief wiff of the smell from the laser it was really not bad at all, My nerves made it worse than it actually was.
I was taken into another exam room another doc took one quick look, went over instructions again with my husband and I. Sunglasses on and out the door. They were moving through the line up of patients waiting to go, it was like an assembly line. We got home and I was beginning to feel the scratchiness and they were tearing a bit, a quick irrigation with the chilled ( Truely chill those things feels amazing) irrigation drops and went to bed. I slept for 4 hours used my drops and back to sleep, woke again for more drops a quick bite to eat and back to bed. Which they said is the key, keeping they eyes closed, I just kept listening to music on my phone and once in while change it up to an audio book but kept falling asleep during the book. ( I discovered I am really not an audio book type of person haha) Listening to music really helped to keep my eyes shut and relax.
The next morning I saw the eye doctor and he said I was doing really well, my left eye was already 40% healed and my right eye was 30-35% healed. My vision was blurry but I was 20/50-20/60 in both eyes which is normal, but to prepared for it to get worse before it improves. I went home and just rested, laid on the couch with my eyes shut and covered (I was really feeling the light sensitivity now! ) and just listened to music with my earbuds in. The more I kept my eyes shut they better they felt. That night the pain hit, it felt like sharp knives in my eyes, horrible pain so I started using the narcotics I was prescribed. I had hard time sleeping kept waking up when the pain medicine wore off and took more. When I did get up my vision was horrible everything was so blurry could hardly function around the house, Ended up just laying around with my eyes closed and covered and listened to music and listened to a few movies on my ipad. By sunday night it was not too bad the pain was tolerable but the vision still sucked.
The next day Monday (Memorial Day, I have the most awesome eye doctor!) I say my eye doctor again he said my eyes were healing very well, about 90% int the left eye and 95% in the right eye. He removed the right eye bandage contact and looked again. It felt a bit scratchy and he was worried because it was not totally healed I would have a lot of pain again so he replaced it with another one. Actually my vision was not too bad still blurry but after changing that contact I was almost 20/40 in the right eye but the left eye was still pretty blurry and he did not want to remove that one wanted to keep it undisturbed. I was scheduled to come back the next day to have them removed.
My vision was still very blurry tuesday, but able to function around the house. Though as I tried to do more the blurriness made me a bit nauseated. I just rested till it was time to go and have the contacts removed. My son came and drove me to the eye doctors. The doctor removed both the contacts and my vision got really blurry could barely read the top line on the eye chart. I was a bit frustrated but my doctor was great at reassuring me and even had me look through some low power lenses to show me that it was not a power thing but a clarity issue. That the cornea was fine but the epithelial layer had healed completely but rough and the cells were bunched up on top of one another and would take take a few more days to calm down. Once that occurs my vision would improve dramatically, though to be aware I will have some fluctuations for several weeks but I would be able to drive in probably a few more days. I have one more week before I return to work so I am really hoping...I headed home with my son and continue to use the steroid drops, finish up antibiotic drop and keep using the the irrigation drops. The blurred vision is frustrating but I keep telling my self it is just a clarity issue.
Day 5, as I write this my vision is still blurry but when I irrigate my eyes I have a brief moment of clear vision and I get the moment of excitement that it is going to improve and I am anxiously awaiting. I just needed to get through these next few days of blurry vision. I am scheduled to see the eye doctor next week 2 days before going back to work, so my fingers are crossed for improved vision. I will update after that appointment.
They took me back to the laser suite, and was cold (they were not kidding on that one) as they guided me to the chair took my glasses for the last time, Yeah! and I laid down. The next minutes went very quickly, numbing drops then they covered my left eye, and started with my right eye. It was exactly as I seen in the video, the clamps to keep my eye open, more numbing drops, the metal ring with fluid to loosen the top layer, the laser, the nice cool irrigating drops, more medicated drops then the contact bandage. It was off to the next eye, covered the right eye and repeated the same procedure again. It was less than 10min total and I was done. He said 45sec under the laser for each eye unbelievable it was quick. Other than a brief wiff of the smell from the laser it was really not bad at all, My nerves made it worse than it actually was.
I was taken into another exam room another doc took one quick look, went over instructions again with my husband and I. Sunglasses on and out the door. They were moving through the line up of patients waiting to go, it was like an assembly line. We got home and I was beginning to feel the scratchiness and they were tearing a bit, a quick irrigation with the chilled ( Truely chill those things feels amazing) irrigation drops and went to bed. I slept for 4 hours used my drops and back to sleep, woke again for more drops a quick bite to eat and back to bed. Which they said is the key, keeping they eyes closed, I just kept listening to music on my phone and once in while change it up to an audio book but kept falling asleep during the book. ( I discovered I am really not an audio book type of person haha) Listening to music really helped to keep my eyes shut and relax.
The next morning I saw the eye doctor and he said I was doing really well, my left eye was already 40% healed and my right eye was 30-35% healed. My vision was blurry but I was 20/50-20/60 in both eyes which is normal, but to prepared for it to get worse before it improves. I went home and just rested, laid on the couch with my eyes shut and covered (I was really feeling the light sensitivity now! ) and just listened to music with my earbuds in. The more I kept my eyes shut they better they felt. That night the pain hit, it felt like sharp knives in my eyes, horrible pain so I started using the narcotics I was prescribed. I had hard time sleeping kept waking up when the pain medicine wore off and took more. When I did get up my vision was horrible everything was so blurry could hardly function around the house, Ended up just laying around with my eyes closed and covered and listened to music and listened to a few movies on my ipad. By sunday night it was not too bad the pain was tolerable but the vision still sucked.
The next day Monday (Memorial Day, I have the most awesome eye doctor!) I say my eye doctor again he said my eyes were healing very well, about 90% int the left eye and 95% in the right eye. He removed the right eye bandage contact and looked again. It felt a bit scratchy and he was worried because it was not totally healed I would have a lot of pain again so he replaced it with another one. Actually my vision was not too bad still blurry but after changing that contact I was almost 20/40 in the right eye but the left eye was still pretty blurry and he did not want to remove that one wanted to keep it undisturbed. I was scheduled to come back the next day to have them removed.
My vision was still very blurry tuesday, but able to function around the house. Though as I tried to do more the blurriness made me a bit nauseated. I just rested till it was time to go and have the contacts removed. My son came and drove me to the eye doctors. The doctor removed both the contacts and my vision got really blurry could barely read the top line on the eye chart. I was a bit frustrated but my doctor was great at reassuring me and even had me look through some low power lenses to show me that it was not a power thing but a clarity issue. That the cornea was fine but the epithelial layer had healed completely but rough and the cells were bunched up on top of one another and would take take a few more days to calm down. Once that occurs my vision would improve dramatically, though to be aware I will have some fluctuations for several weeks but I would be able to drive in probably a few more days. I have one more week before I return to work so I am really hoping...I headed home with my son and continue to use the steroid drops, finish up antibiotic drop and keep using the the irrigation drops. The blurred vision is frustrating but I keep telling my self it is just a clarity issue.
Day 5, as I write this my vision is still blurry but when I irrigate my eyes I have a brief moment of clear vision and I get the moment of excitement that it is going to improve and I am anxiously awaiting. I just needed to get through these next few days of blurry vision. I am scheduled to see the eye doctor next week 2 days before going back to work, so my fingers are crossed for improved vision. I will update after that appointment.
8 weeks later.......
It has been a frustrating recovery to say the least but it is wonderful now and well worth it. I was able to return to work 10 days after the procedure. Things were blurry but functional I did keep sunglasses with me all the time and used them faithfully every time I went outside. My vision fluctuated between 20/40 and 20/60 for the next several weeks. I continued with the irrigation drops and would get those moments of crystal clear vision so I knew things were improving.
With every check up small improvements but kept getting frustrated, my doctor was wonderful at reassuring me. He had the similar procedure done and said it does take time which is the big difference between Lasix and PRK. At 4 weeks he said my nearsightness was completely gone but my astigmatism was still there. I had such a high prescription that I was on the cusp of not being a candidate and to remember with that large of correction it will take time. I was closer to 20/40 but since the astigmatism was still there and caused difficulty with reading signs at night when I was driving and seeing things it the distance he made me a pair of glasses for driving. They had the correction for the astigmatism in them. He told me I would not need them forever but they were helping especially for seeing the scoreboard at a major league baseball game.
At 6 weeks things were getting better, my vision had dramatically improved. The blur was gone but I did notice I needed readers now but that is fine. At. My last checkup at 6 weeks I was finally 20/25!!! Woohoo, happy dance!!! He said my eyes healed beautifully, with not scar tissue and the corneas were clear. My astigmatism was still there but improving and he said should continue as the weeks go by .
As I sit her at the 8 week mark I am completely thrilled with the outcome. My vision is better than it has ever been. As someone had stated on another site the vision now it is like seeing everything in HD. My doctor said it will continue to improve and fluctuate over the next 4 months. I am so thrilled how it has changed my need for corrective lenses.
With every check up small improvements but kept getting frustrated, my doctor was wonderful at reassuring me. He had the similar procedure done and said it does take time which is the big difference between Lasix and PRK. At 4 weeks he said my nearsightness was completely gone but my astigmatism was still there. I had such a high prescription that I was on the cusp of not being a candidate and to remember with that large of correction it will take time. I was closer to 20/40 but since the astigmatism was still there and caused difficulty with reading signs at night when I was driving and seeing things it the distance he made me a pair of glasses for driving. They had the correction for the astigmatism in them. He told me I would not need them forever but they were helping especially for seeing the scoreboard at a major league baseball game.
At 6 weeks things were getting better, my vision had dramatically improved. The blur was gone but I did notice I needed readers now but that is fine. At. My last checkup at 6 weeks I was finally 20/25!!! Woohoo, happy dance!!! He said my eyes healed beautifully, with not scar tissue and the corneas were clear. My astigmatism was still there but improving and he said should continue as the weeks go by .
As I sit her at the 8 week mark I am completely thrilled with the outcome. My vision is better than it has ever been. As someone had stated on another site the vision now it is like seeing everything in HD. My doctor said it will continue to improve and fluctuate over the next 4 months. I am so thrilled how it has changed my need for corrective lenses.
Provider Review
Dr. Robert C. Arffa
The doctor was extremely professional and was wonderful to deal with. The staff at the clinic we wonderful and put me at ease