Surgical correction of myopia is rarely offered on the NHS and when offered will involve a series of small incisions designed to flatten the cornea and redirect focus on to the retina. Laser surgery is offered through a rapidly increasing private sector specialist to this work. Prognosis Over 15,000 people have already received PRK in Britain. The majority of people do well and are completely satisfied although others require two or three treatments during the initial six month period before a satisfactory conclusion is reached. There is considerable pain for two to three days following surgery.
Clinical trials identify problems which can arise from the procedure.
These include deteriorated night vision, light scatter and haloing, cloudiness as well as the necessity to have repeat surgery. Very rarely, in some cases where serious damage occurs, a corneal transplant is needed. The cornea is the transparent membrane at the front of the eye. Best results occur in the range up to 6 dioptres. Around 5 million British people are short sighted and some 200,000 of them will have high degree myopia.