The technology varies from clinic to clinic. Depending on the equipment, the surgeon will then place a suction ring on your eye that will hold it steady for the entire procedure. Some machines actually track and follow the pupil. Rather than making cuts in the cornea, the PRK procedure uses an excimer laser to shape an area 5 to 9 millimeters in diameter on the surface of the eye. The major advantage of this procedure is that the integrity and the strength of the corneal dome is retained.
Some patients see a dramatic improvement in their vision the first day.
For others, vision may be blurry and fluctuate for several weeks to several months. Most patients return to normal activities in 1-3 days. Regular follow-up visits are essential to monitor your progress and ensure that you achieve the best results. A series of follow-up examinations will be scheduled to monitor your progress for up to a year. Normally you will be seen a few days after correction, then for a series of follow-up visits over the next twelve months.