PRK Eye Surgery in Scottsdale, AZ
Although LASIK may be considered the standard vision correction treatment, there are other options available that allow treatment to be more personalized. PRK laser corrective surgery has a long history and high rate of success with similar results to LASIK while offering a low chance of long-term complications and potentially serving as an alternative for patients who aren’t candidates for LASIK.
What Is PRK?
What Is the PRK Success Rate?
While PRK vision correction is effective and safe, the procedural outcome will depend on the type and degree of correction. For patients with a low prescription, the results are equal to those of LASIK.
How Long Does PRK Surgery Take?
The photorefractive keratectomy procedure typically lasts for about 10 minutes while only lasting about 10 seconds for the laser portion. During the procedure, the patient remains alert and awake. In instances of higher patient anxiety, mild sedatives are also available.
Is the PRK Vision Correction Procedure Painful?
The PRK Vision Correction procedure is painless and uses drops of anesthetic to numb nerves in the eye. During post-operative healing, there can be varying levels of discomfort, similar to an eyelash in the eye, that typically last about three days and some blurry vision. For recovery symptoms, the patient can receive medication.
Is PRK Corrective Eye Surgery Safe?
Any surgical procedure will involve risk. However, the type of corrective eye surgery PRK provides is considered the safest of all laser vision correction procedures and is also an option for patients who don’t qualify for a LASIK procedure.
An additional concern is whether PRK will potentially lead to blindness or worsened vision. The only cause for these results would be an infection, which is extremely rare.
What Is the Best Age for PRK Vision Correction?
Today’s advanced diagnostics have the potential to perceive the eye’s true situation beyond focusing-muscle-related issues, potentially opening up possibilities for PRK treatment in younger patients.
Will Corrective Eye Surgery PRK Address Astigmatism?
Although surgeries involving artificial lenses or laser vision correction were not equipped to correct astigmatism in the past, current technological advances have made PRK completely valid for treating cases of astigmatism.
PRK is also an ideal treatment for general myopia and is also completely successful in delivering clear near vision for reading. PRK, however, is not currently recommended for degenerative myopia, a type of nearsightedness that progressively worsens over time and is commonly diagnosed in people in the ranges of their 30s or 40s.
Why Choose PRK Rather Than LASIK?
Photorefractive keratectomy is a potential recommendation for patients with very thin corneas or eye conditions requiring less invasive procedures. PRK also allows for a high level of accuracy with minimal eye trauma and is a highly effective option for patients that aren’t candidates for LASIK. While healing times for PRK may be somewhat longer than those of LASIK, the results are very similar.