Why laser eye correction?

I recently under went PRK a laser eye surgery procedure at lasikplus to permanently correct my astigmatism.

This was a decision that I couldn't take lightly, we're talking about my freakin eye here! And, having spent the last 34 years in glasses and 24 years in contacts myopia was all that I knew. I could have coined the term "chicgeek" in my lovely spectacles, but still there was something missing.

I did some homework on laser correction ten or twelve years ago and got scared away at the the thought of someone cutting on my eyes, but then a friend of mine underwent the surgery with stellar results, 20/20 vision, and I took another look at what was happening in the world of LASIK and asked myself a question, "Will this improve the quality of my life?"

Sure glasses are fine, they were my shield and sword if you will. They protected my identity (How many of us look different without our glasses?), protected my eyes from flying objects, stopped that drunk guy from slobbering on me at the club. 

My glasses said so many things to people without me having to say a word, like if I looked over the top of my frames, "No don't bring that bull over here."  "Seriously?" "I'm considering what you're saying." How awesome are those kind of non-verbal skills?

Alas, they were not enough to overcome some of the hinderances of wearing glasses:

Bangs caught in the arms of my glasses

Open my eyes in the morning and I can see

Sweat under my glasses frame- I got pimples there sometimes too!

Indents on my nose

Wearing headphones and glasses is irritating

Going to the salon and not being able to see my haircut until after

Fog in the humidty or from A/C to outside

Shaving my legs blind in the shower

Now, I know some of you are like, "Just sleep in your contacts." Uhm, those suckers need to come out at some point and they got uncomfortable towards the end of their cycle.

So, when my puppy chewed the frames of my favorite pair of glasses i had to really make a decision, so I chose to go under the laser.

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I am not a paid spokesperson, employee, or friend of LaskPlus. I am a a blogger, so I'm doing this because I know people out there are curious.


More on PRK via wikipedia:

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is a laser eye surgery procedure that corrects a person's vision, reducing dependency on glasses or contact lenses.

The procedure is distinct from LASIK (Laser-Assisted in-Situ Keratomileusis), a form of laser eye surgery where a permanent flap is created in the deeper layers of the cornea.

Like LASIK, PRK corrects the way light hits the cornea. Unlike LASIK, which uses a flap to move the corneal surface, PRK uses a laser to reshape the corneal surface itself. While PRK can involve a slightly longer recovery time, it is better suited for patients with thinner corneas.

PRK corrects by permanently changing the shape of the anterior central cornea using an excimer laser to ablate (remove by vaporization) a small amount of tissue from the cornea at the front of the eye. The outer layer of the cornea is removed prior to the ablation. A computer system tracks the patient's eye position 60 to 4,000 times per second, depending on the brand of laser used, redirecting laser pulses for precise placement. Most modern lasers will automatically center on the patient's visual axis and will pause if the eye moves out of range and then resume ablating at that point after the patient's eye is re-centered.

The outer layer of the cornea, or epithelium, is a soft, rapidly re-growing layer in contact with the tear film that can completely replace itself from limbal stem cells within a few days with no loss of clarity. The deeper layers of the cornea, as opposed to the outer epithelium, are laid down early in life and have very limited regenerative capacity. The deeper layers, if reshaped by a laser or cut by a microtome, will remain that way permanently with only limited healing or remodeling. With PRK, the corneal epithelium is removed and discarded, allowing the cells to regenerate after the surgery. 

Who benefits from PRK?

PRK is best for patients who:

• Are 18 or older.
• Have mild to moderate myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism.
• Have chronically dry eyes.
• Have thin corneas
• Have jobs or interests that may cause impact to the eyes.
• Have no eye diseases, such as glaucoma or cataracts.
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