Vision

I recently got laser eye surgery which put me out for pretty much the entire month of January. I had zero interest in looking at any kind of screen let alone blog. I thought I'd share my experience and be sure to pass along some helpful advice.

Let me just say that this surgery has changed my life. I have been wearing glasses since 3rd grade. I've been wearing contacts since high school. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but bottom line is that they are ultimately annoying. In the Army, I have to qualify with my weapon every year. Every year I have to deal with my glasses fogging up when I try and shoot. Because I need glasses I have to wear inserts, and cleaning the ballistic eye wear with inserts is truly maddening. Hopefully this surgery will make me a more lethal soldier. Aside from the Army aspect, just being able to lay my head down on my pillow and watch television is practically a euphoric experience. It was impossible to lay my head down on my pillow with glasses, and with contacts I would get dry eye after a while.

PRK

The laser eye surgery that I got was known as PRK. This is superior to LASIK in that I don't have any of the negative long term side effects that LASIK provides. People with LASIK may have trouble getting jobs as pilots and divers due to the effect the change in pressure may have on their eyes.

The other great thing about PRK is that more people can qualify for it. I was very lucky because my left eye barely qualified for PRK due to my astigmatism. I wouldn't have been able to get LASIK even if I wanted to. Basically in order to qualify for any of these surgeries, you need to have a thick enough cornea in order for them to sculpt it using a laser.

The best advice I can give is to -of course- follow the doctor's instructions. Right after the surgery the eye doctor poured cold water on my eyes. Then he put "band-aid" contacts in my eyes. I was able to see perfectly for about an hour, and then the burning kicks in. Needless to say, I popped the pain pills and was virtually knocked out for about a week. In hindsight, I would've gone straight home and avoid the burning. The eye doctor also gave my vitamin C pills and eye drops. As of writing this, I still need eye drops due to persistent dry eye, but it's not so bad. I can't comment on the vitamin C, but the doctor claims it'll help me heal.

LASIK

 Now I didn't have LASIK personally, but someone I know did at around the same time I did. He had a remarkably faster recovery time. Aside from the long term side effects mentioned earlier, LASIK is actually pretty harmless. You heal faster, and he was able to go back to work after three days.

I can't comment on any other short term effects, but he can see 20/20 and is very happy with it. Ultimately, I think you just have to decide if you want to suck up the short term side effects and avoid extreme changes in elevation or endure the negative short term side effects and not have to worry about your vision ever again. Chances are you may not have much of a choice, but those are the main differences are far as I see.