Eye surgery on Saturday, any tips?

harvest

On Saturday the 22nd I'm going in for a PRK treatment at my local Lasik place. This is the one where they dissolve the outer part of the cornea, then fry it with the laser. The doctor said it's going to hurt like a bitch the next day.

I'm curious if anyone else has had PRK and what their experience was, and any tips to get through recovery with as little discomfort as possible.

Slider

Doesn't the doctor have any tips? I'd assume he'd send you home with some type of pain medication.

Conroy Bumpas

umm not to sound negative but the best tip would be to NOT have PRK

if you have it done i wouldnt plan on doing anything for a good few weeks and teh pain is longer than a day
because they use an alchol solution to "disolve" the front layer of your cornea

also you will have light haloing.

if you are having PRK just coz its cheeper..... id think again save some more money and go for newer type of surgery

Demerdar

Don't spend much time on the computer for a day or so. You should really just ask your doc.

Wulf

Don't rub your eyes.
Don't rub your face.
Heck, just don't even raise your hands above chest level until you're healed.*


*Might be slight overkill, but the first two are right on

mts

think of the smell as your eyes changing for the better

CycloneRanger

I'm planning to have PRK done before long as well, so I'd also be interested in hearing any advice.

And to anyone saying "don't get PRK", odds are you don't know what you're talking about. PRK is as effective as LASIK in the long-term and it works in some cases where LASIK isn't advisable. I have a larger-than-average pupil diameter, and consequently the depth of ablation needed to make LASIK work is inadvisable, and the ophthalmologist recommended PRK.

In addition, PRK doesn't leave a flap, which is why it's recommended by parts of the military/NASA--that alone is enough for some people.

Since it's the more painful and more expensive procedure, it's unlikely the OP settled on it by flipping a coin.

tardcore

Man, I'd be so nervous to get this kind of surgery where they hold your eyes open like in A Clockwork Orange and burn parts of your eyes with a laser. More power to you, OP.

HyperAquaBlast

I got PRK done back on November 1st on a Monday. The worst part during the surgery was the smell of burnt hair as the laser goes off. Right after getting out of the chair I immediately saw better. Everything was fine other then bad vision coming back for awhile until Wednesday night when my eyes felt like they were being stabbed with hot spikes.

So for the rest of the week I was pretty miserable. Make sure you have music, podcasts or movie commentary ready cause if you are like me then all your entertainment is visual based so you will be bored and in pain. Then when I got the protective contacts removed a week after surgery a new annoying pain arrived for two days every time I blinked but thankfully that disappeared a lot quicker. So here is to your job being cool too with leave cause I got a free week of sick leave and then took 3 days off the next week.

So about 3 months later now for me. Just had a checkup today in fact and all is great. Colors have been a lot more vibrant and I dont have to worry about contacts or glasses anymore. I can use good sunglasses on the fly. I look even sexier than usual too!

Oh and regarding the meds they give you: I found out I was allergic to hydrocodene so not only were my eyes killing me but I was also itching everywhere on my body. Be careful with that.

And I had to get PRK because my eyes are a little more sunken in and I have astigmatism so PRK was the better bet for. LASIK is not a better option. Just what works best for you.

harvest

So I'm in the doctors office right now waiting my turn. I appreciate the input and I'm looking forward to getting this show on the road.

Julius

man my first thought on seeing this topic was: "dude, are you seriously asking for tips on how to perform eye surgery??"


good luck on the surgery!

E.Coyote

Do not sneeze.

Slider

I want to know how it went. I had Surgery on my kidney last may. It was not fun.

precisionk

I have had PRK done because my pupils were too large for Lasik. It burned and I had to live like a vampire for a good solid 3 days before I could turn on the tv to a manageable level. Wore sunglasses for around a week everywhere I went. First night is definitely the worst and it gradually gets better.

The eyes will constantly itch for a solid week. You have to put steroids (at least I did) that make you cry white like you are Bishop the android from Aliens.


Beyond that, its the best thing I ever did and purchased for myself.

Awk

I had PRK.

We wont hear back from OP in a while.

Demerdar

Eye surgeries can be rough. I had to be put under to fix my lazy eye, and it took me over 3 months to fully recover.

Wulf

I think the worst part of LASIK was the day I spent bumbling around my house with my eyes closed. Thankfully my family who drove me home, were kind enough to put a rope across the stairs.

harvest

I can barely see through the haze to type. Good thing I type by touch. ANyway the surgery itself was pretty simple and didn't hurt. They dropped in some drops to kill the pain and then the strong alcohol drops to melt the cornea. The laser machine evoked the smell of burning flesh/hair and there was a vacuum set up just to remove the smoke. Pretty wild and a little disturbing.

These last 3 days have been hell. The itching never stops. It's like every eyelash in th eworld is stabbing me at once, in both eyes. It hurts bad enough that the doctor kindly proscribed Vicodin in advance, knowing it would hurt so bad. Bright lights are also bad news and I can't look at or near them or it hurts my eyes and head. This has been improving and I can stand to be in the same room as a lightbulb now. The computer is basically impossible to use, and I only navigated here by pure will. Nothing is sharp enough to read and I think I'll have to forgo computer use for another 3 or 4 days, which really sucks.

One of the biggest problems is boredom. I can't read, watch tv, sue the computer, or go anywhere. I sleep as much as I can but that's hard to do after you've got 20 hours of sleep for a few days in a row. If I had known how boring it was I'd have loaded up some audiobooks on my iPod and at least had those to listen to.

These proscriptionless contacts come out today in a few hours and I hope the source of the irritation goes with them. I understand they're a necesssary precaution to keep infection at bay but they seriously suck worse than anything I've ever had to deal with. One of them might abe out already, i think it poped out in the night.

Anyway, for those that have had it, how long after the PRK treatment was it before you could use a computer again? I'm dying of boredom here.

Awk

It took me about a week to even think of using a computer. Your eyes will be very sensitivite to light for something like 6 months. In a few days, once you can pry your eyes open, you will for the first time ever, see. Its a slow healing process but goddamm is it worth it.

precisionk

harvest wrote: »

I can barely see through the haze to type. Good thing I type by touch. ANyway the surgery itself was pretty simple and didn't hurt. They dropped in some drops to kill the pain and then the strong alcohol drops to melt the cornea. The laser machine evoked the smell of burning flesh/hair and there was a vacuum set up just to remove the smoke. Pretty wild and a little disturbing.

These last 3 days have been hell. The itching never stops. It's like every eyelash in th eworld is stabbing me at once, in both eyes. It hurts bad enough that the doctor kindly proscribed Vicodin in advance, knowing it would hurt so bad. Bright lights are also bad news and I can't look at or near them or it hurts my eyes and head. This has been improving and I can stand to be in the same room as a lightbulb now. The computer is basically impossible to use, and I only navigated here by pure will. Nothing is sharp enough to read and I think I'll have to forgo computer use for another 3 or 4 days, which really sucks.

One of the biggest problems is boredom. I can't read, watch tv, sue the computer, or go anywhere. I sleep as much as I can but that's hard to do after you've got 20 hours of sleep for a few days in a row. If I had known how boring it was I'd have loaded up some audiobooks on my iPod and at least had those to listen to.

These proscriptionless contacts come out today in a few hours and I hope the source of the irritation goes with them. I understand they're a necesssary precaution to keep infection at bay but they seriously suck worse than anything I've ever had to deal with. One of them might abe out already, i think it poped out in the night.

Anyway, for those that have had it, how long after the PRK treatment was it before you could use a computer again? I'm dying of boredom here.

Welcome to a new life. Yes it does suck and boredom sets in quick, but don't worry. It will get better.

A solid 1-1.5 weeks before I could attempt to use a computer and able to view for long periods of time. The itching will stop in time, just don't rub your eyes. A cold pack on the eyes can help or an eye pillow.

Improvolone

I wonder if he'll have someone read these responses to him...

phoxphyre

I hope somebody's reading the responses to him! Take it easy OP, eyes are important -- let them heal

Get well soon!