LASIK vs PRK Differences a) Procedure b) Recovery Both LASIK (Laser assisted in situ keratomileusis) and PRK (Photo Refractive Keratectomy) are both Laser eye surgeries designed to treat Myopia, Hyperopia and Astigmatism. PRK was introduced before LASIK in the medical science field and is still used frequently just like LASIK. Both the surgeries have pretty much the same overall effect, but they have slightly different procedures and ways that the patients undergo during the surgery. Differences a) Procedure When undergoing LASIK, the surgeon makes an incision in the cornea, cutting out a small tissue flap, which is carefully lifted to make changes to inner layers of cornea and reshape them to get perfect vision using a computer controlled laser. This improves the distorted eyesight. Later, the cut-out corneal flap is placed back on its original position which heals back to normal in just a few days. While getting treated with PRK, no corneal flap is cut out, instead the upper most layer of cornea is removed to expose its inner layer to a cool beam of UV ray which is used in reshaping the cornea. The outer layer, which was removed, grows back naturally. This is a good choice for people with chronically dry eyes or for people with thin corneas. b) Recovery People undergoing PRK take more time to recover, when compared to LASIK because of the fact that in PRK, outer cornea or outer epithelium layer need to regenerate For the first few days, patients who underwent PRK are suggested to wear contact lens on their eyes and is to be worn for the first 3 to 5 days until healing of surface epithelium and use of eye-drops is prescribes.Also, it is necessary to see your surgeon a few times, within the first month of surgery. Contact lenses are removed after the healing process of outer epithelium is finished. But it still takes 3 months after having the surgery to reach your best eye-sight.

In LASIK, patients can see normally either instantly or within a few days of undergoing the surgery.The quality of vision keeps improving over months till it reaches its peak quality. But by the end of six months both the procedures have shown same level of effectiveness for people suffering with different eye-problems. c) Complications PRK surgery does not cut out a corneal flap utilizing “microkeratome”, so it is very important for protective epithelium layers of the cornea to heal post-surgery. Common side effects include:  Mild irritation  Temporary sensitivity to light  Mild glares and halos LASIK involves incision of cornea and creating a flap as a part of procedure. This is somewhat risky and could cause flap complications. These complications might lead to optical aberrations. During first few days of post-surgery side-effects and complications include:  Trouble seeing at night  Dry eyes  Seeing halos, starbursts But still, the recovery process after undergoing LASIK just takes a few days and the discomfort is very short term. Both the surgeries are considered medically safe and have a high rate of success and patient satisfaction. If you want to undergo PRK or LASIK Laser surgeries, the best advice you can get is from your eye-surgeon or eye-specialists.