Wednesday, January 14, 2009

PRK vs LASIK - How different are they?

By Tom Peters

Many of my friends has used LASIK and have raved how it can help us achieve 20/20 eyesight. The interesting is, very few of us have heard of the term Photorefractive Keratectomy, also known as PRK. PRK is also a pretty well-practiced laser eye sugery that has been achieve the same success as LASIK for more than 20 years.

With that mind, we will compare PRK vs LASIK. We will look at the various similiarities and the differences. After reading this, you will need to find out which procedure is suitable for you. This article should be able to equip you with the good enlightenment so that you can converse with the eye doctor more intelligently.

Here are some similarities between PRK and LASIK:

1) Pain is not evident over the whole surgery

2) Both must apply eye medication for a few days after the surgery

3) Both require some months to recover from the surgery

4) Both are effective to treat myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism

In fact, two of them have nearly the same outcome in getting the perfect vision. Many people have experience success with both procedures.

However, The interesting thing is that both have unique procedures, but the same results.

Here are some differences:

1) Patients with certain corneal conditions or corneal scars have to go for PRK, not LASIK

2) PRK patients would usually have to wear a lens "bandage"

3) LASIK has one more step which involves the creation of a flap

4) PRK does not create a flap, but accesses the cornea's inner layers by taking out the thin outer layer of the cornea

5) PRK tends to have longer healing process than LASIK

In short, both procedures are safe, despite the differences. To determine which is better for yourself, it is best to consult a reputable eye surgeon who will examine your eyes to determine what is suitable for you. This article should equip you with some knowledge so that you are able to converse with an eye surgeon better. - 16004

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