Am I a PRK Candidate?
Custom PRK is an amazing, simple, and elegant eye operation that can greatly reduce or eliminate your need for glasses and contacts. At the Orange County LASIK Institute, we offer PRK as a "flapless" laser vision correction procedure and an alternative to LASIK. PRK is a procedure with definitive benefits but also requires a much longer recovery and more discomfort during the recovery. Often, patients who are not a candidate for LASIK surgery at the Orange County LASIK Institute due to thinner corneas and dry eyes may be a candidate for custom PRK surgery.
As always, our goal is to provide you some initial information about PRK surgery. However, the most important step in determining if you are a custom PRK eye surgery candidate is to schedule a free consultation with the Orange County PRK and LASIK Institute. Here are some questions to ask yourself to get you started.
Are you a candidate for LASIK? Then you are likely a candidate for PRK.
Most patients who are candidates for LASIK Surgery are also candidates for custom PRK. Orange County LASIK patients who elect to have PRK surgery may have certain occupations such as being a professional boxer in which they may not want to have a LASIK flap. However, even military members and Navy Seals can get all laser LASIK with a flap due to the stability and strength of LASIK flaps made with the all laser Intralase laser. People who are candidates for LASIK who elect to go with PRK may be concerned with having a LASIK flap. They may also be in professions in which they are concerned with the slim possibility of the flap moving. With PRK, there is no LASIK flap and the procedure is "flapless."
Are you not a candidate for LASIK?
Many patients who are not candidates for LASIK may be candidates for PRK. For example, you may have thin corneas or excessively dry eyes. Since there is not a flap created during PRK, less tissue will be removed from your cornea during your PRK surgery at the Orange County and Irvine LASIK Institute. Many LASIK surgeons feel that people with corneas thinner than 500 microns may do better with PRK.
Characteristics in Which PRK may be better than LASIK:
- Thin Corneas
- Dry Eyes
- Patients with Mild Corneal Scarring
- Patients with Cornel Erosion
- Patients with mildly irregular topography (corneal maps)
- Patients who do not want a corneal flap
- Professional Boxers or Professional Mixed Martial Artists
- Patients who do not mind extra recovery time and a non pain free laser vision correction surgery
Are you over 18?
PRK has been approved for people over 18 years of age and with a stable prescription. However, for patients under 21 it is very important that your prescription is stable. For younger patients, it is especially important that your prescription has not changed during your past few eye examinations. The Orange County LASIK and PRK Institute will check to see if your prescription has been stable.
Are you farsighted, nearsighted, or have astigmatism?
Custom PRK can treat a full range of refractive errors including your hyperopia (farsightedness), myopia (nearsightedness), and astigmatism (irregular shaped cornea).
Are you currently not pregnant or nursing?
Unfortunately, you cannot have custom PRK while you are pregnant and nursing at the Orange County LASIK Institute.
Do you have a desire to see crisply and clearly without glasses or contacts but are willing to have a slower recovery and more discomfort than that with LASIK?
Custom PRK is a fantastic surgical procedure that has helped many patients of Dr. Pham's achieve clear vision free from contacts and glasses. However, it requires more of a commitment in terms of time and discomfort during the recovery process. Dr. Pham will outline in detail the recovery process during your PRK or LASIK surgery consultation at the Orange County LASIK Surgery Institute.
If you answered yes to these questions, then PRK surgery may be an option for you. There is nothing more crucial to your success with PRK than the determination if you are a good PRK candidate. No website can provide all the information about whether you are a good PRK candidate.
The best way to determine if you are a custom PRK candidate is to schedule a free consultation with Dr. Pham and the Orange County Eye Care and LASIK Center. At this examination, we will do the necessary ocular testing to see if you are a good candidate for custom PRK surgery. We look forward to meeting you and answering your questions soon about this procedure!
Orange County LASIK Institute
The Orange County LASIK Institute
3500 Barranca Parkway Suite 150
Irvine , CA 92606
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