With PRK, your eye surgeon removes the top layer of your cornea, known as epithelium. Your surgeon then uses a laser to alter the rest of the layers of your cornea and correct any irregular curves that you have on your eyes.
With LASIK, your eye surgeon uses a laser or tiny blades to make a tiny flap in your cornea. The two procedures are similar, as both reshape uneven corneal tissue using lasers or tiny blades. During the LASIK procedure, your surgeon will make a small flap in your corneal tissue, which is then folded back to allow the excimer laser to alter the shape of your cornea, changing the way you see.
With an excimer laser, your surgeon can alter your cornea, which is the clear dome of the eye, so light is able to hit the retina, a neurally-rich layer that transmits images back to the brain, correctly.
During the PRK procedure, the outer layers (epithelium) of your cornea — the clear window at the front of your eye — are removed, then you have the cornea altered by using a cooling excimer laser. During the PRK procedure, the upper corneal layer is gently scraped away so the parts of your eye your doctor will be reshaping using an excimer laser. While you are looking into the light to help make sure your eyes are holding steady, your eye doctor will direct excimer laser energy at the area under the flap to change the shape of your cornea.
With LASIK, your doctor would create a hinged flap at the corneas surface using an Intralase femtosecond laser. In the popular LASIK procedure, a thin flap is created on the cornea using microkeratomes or femtosecond lasers. In LASIK and some other types, a flap is created instead on the epithelium and a portion of the cornea.
Because LASIK involves creating a flap, patients need thicker corneal tissues for the procedure. Because there is less disruption of corneal tissue in PRK and EPI-LASIK, thinner corneas may be treated.
PRK or EPI-LASIK can be better treatment options for people who have moderately dry eyes, as there are fewer corneal nerves affected when compared with LASIK. PRK and EPI-LASIK, together known as superficial ablation procedures, are visual correction options for patients who are not perfect candidates for LASIK due to a pre-existing dry eye condition or thinner corneas. If you are considering laser eye surgery to correct vision, PRK offers a number of benefits.
Both photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and LASIK are laser eye surgery techniques used by eye doctors to correct vision by altering the cornea. PRK and LASIK are two forms of excimer laser refractive surgery that can correct common vision problems, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. PRK and LASIK each use different methods to help correct vision by changing the shape of the corneal tissues.
Photorefractive Keratectomy, or PRK, is designed to correct nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism by using an excimer laser to alter the shape of your cornea, without creating a flap on the cornea.
PRK uses an excimer laser to correct vision by removing microscopic amounts of tissue from the corneas surface in order to enhance its refractive — or ability to concentrate light — capabilities. Extremely precise removal of microscopic amounts of tissue to create precise corneal contours needed for a clearer view. Once your doctor has access to the deeper layers of corneal tissue, Dr. Belmont uses an extremely precise laser called the Excimer Laser to correct for your particular refractive adjustment or anomaly of your eyes.
The same laser reshapes the corneal tissues, and like with LASIK, PRK takes approximately 20 minutes overall. The primary difference between the two procedures is that PRK involves only the outermost layer of the cornea (the epithelium), which naturally regrows in just a few days.
In PRK or EPI-LASIK, once the epithelial layers are removed and laser eye correction occurs, you place a special contact lens with adhesive material over your eyes to encourage comfort and healing. Then, an eye surgeon will use what is known as wavefront-guided laser technology to adjust LASIK and address any unique aberrations (imperfections) that might be interfering with good vision.
If you are tired of wearing contacts or glasses, but you do not qualify for LASIK eye surgery (because you have dry eyes or participate in contact sports), PRK surgery might be a good option to discuss with your eye doctor.
The Excimer Laser was developed in the early 1970s,and modified for eye surgery use in the early 1980s, but it was not approved by the FDA to use it in photorefractive keratectomy for eye surgery corrective purposes until 1995.
LASIK, PRK, and LASEK (a variant of PRK) are surgical techniques using precision excimer laser energy to change the eyeas refractive state. Because PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) does not require a corneal flap to correct refractive errors, the procedure is generally considered to be an effective alternative for individuals who might not get the desired visual enhancement from LASIK, or might suffer from unwanted side effects from LASIK. PRK/LASEK can also offer an additional margin of safety in patients with an unusually-shaped cornea; this benefit is once again attributed to leaving a greater portion of the cornea unaltered by LASIK.
As an early surgeon in the area who became involved with laser vision correction, Dr. Sandra Belmont has performed more than 50,000 LASIK and PRK procedures, along with other refractive surgeries, lens implants, and corneal transplants. Dr. Belmont introduced the bladeless laser eye treatment procedure in 2002 and was the first surgeon to perform LASIK eye surgery in the greater New York City area. Book today with Belmont Eye Center!
