Considering LASIK or PRK?
Park Slope Eye does not perform LASIK, PRK or any other surgery. If you’re considering either procedure, we can help evaluate your prescription, eye health, and visual goals and coordinate care with an outside surgeon. We can also provide pre- and post-operative eye care when appropriate. This shared-care approach is often called “co-management.”
How does co-management work?
- Before surgery: a current eye-health and prescription assessment and a conversation about your goals, so we can help decide whether a surgical evaluation makes sense.
- Referral: if it does, we refer you to an ophthalmic surgeon for complete refractive-surgery testing.
- After surgery: follow-up care with us when appropriate, coordinated with your surgeon.
Could LASIK or PRK be right for you?
Whether LASIK or PRK may be a good fit depends on your prescription, eye health, visual goals, and other individual factors. We can help with the initial evaluation and discussion, while the surgeon makes the final determination about candidacy and which procedure, if any, is appropriate.
Factors that commonly matter include:
- A stable prescription. Laser surgery permanently changes how the cornea focuses light, so a prescription that changed during the past year may be a reason to wait.
- Corneal shape and thickness. Screening looks for keratoconus and other corneal patterns that could make surgery less safe.
- Dry eye. LASIK can worsen dry-eye symptoms. Treating significant dry eye first can improve comfort and make surgical measurements more reliable.
- Your health and medications. Some conditions and medicines affect healing. Don’t stop a prescribed medication on your own; the surgeon will tell you whether anything needs to change.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding. Both can temporarily change your prescription and cornea, so discuss timing with the surgeon once things have stabilized.
- Age. LASIK lasers are not approved in the United States for people under 18, and turning 18 doesn’t by itself make someone a good candidate.
Are you a good candidate for LASIK?
What’s the difference between LASIK and PRK?
Both procedures use a laser to reshape the cornea. LASIK creates a thin corneal flap, reshapes the tissue underneath, and puts the flap back, so early visual recovery is usually faster. PRK doesn’t create a flap. The thin outer surface layer is removed and grows back after treatment, so early recovery is usually slower and more uncomfortable.
Neither procedure is automatically better. PRK may be considered for some patients for whom a LASIK flap is less desirable, but that decision belongs to the surgeon after complete testing.
Read how LASIK and PRK compare
What can laser surgery promise?
LASIK and PRK can reduce your dependence on glasses or contact lenses, but neither can guarantee perfect vision for every task or that you will never need eyewear again. Possible tradeoffs include dry eye, glare, halos, starbursts, night-vision difficulty, under- or over-correction, and the need for an enhancement or for glasses for some tasks.
Laser surgery also doesn’t stop presbyopia, the age-related loss of near focus. Someone with excellent distance vision after surgery may still need reading glasses later.
How do you prepare for surgery?
If you wear contact lenses, follow the surgeon’s instructions about when to stop wearing them before measurements and surgery. Different lens types affect the cornea differently, so there is no one-size-fits-all timetable. Plan for someone else to drive you home after the procedure, and follow the surgeon’s instructions about when it’s safe to drive again.
Read our guide to preparing for laser eye surgery
What happens after surgery?
Use prescribed drops exactly as directed, avoid rubbing your eyes, and keep your scheduled follow-up visits. LASIK and PRK heal differently, so don’t assume someone else’s timeline will match yours. Mild irritation, blur, glare, or light sensitivity can occur, but severe pain, sudden worsening vision, or other unexpected symptoms should be reported promptly to the surgical team.
Where should you start?
Start with a current eye-health and prescription assessment and a conversation about your goals. If laser vision correction looks worth exploring, we’ll refer you for a full surgical evaluation and coordinate your care with the surgeon.