How PRK Works with Eye Disorders

To understand how PRK can help solve eye problems, first a person should know what the most common eye problems are: nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is the eye’s capability to view things that are immediately in front of the person but not the things that are from a certain distance. It is the most common disorder in the world and affects more than one quarter of the US population. To explain this disorder, the incapacity of the eyes to see things at a distance is due to the mismatch between the eyeball’s length and its capability to refract light. As things that are farther need less refraction, a nearsighted person’s eye sees them as a blurred image because the light always refracts a huge amount of light regardless of the distance of the image.

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Hyperopia is the medical term for farsightedness. Opposite to myopia, it is the ability to see things clearly from a distance but not from things that are up close. The eyes of a person with hyperopia are more flat, causing less light to be refracted. Things that are near a person need more refraction to be seen but because the eyes cannot control it, it ends up as a blurry vision. Unlike myopia, hyperopia is hereditary. The only reason why people do not see it during childhood is because the eyes can still control it.


Astigmatism is the disorder caused by misshapen corneas. The result is a combination of myopia and hyperopia as any distance that the person sees becomes a blurred vision. Astigmatism, if left untreated, is a disorder that gradually gets worse. In simple terms, the reason for the blurred vision is that the eyes are trying to produce two images at the same time.

With any of the disorders, the solution is prescription eyeglasses or laser eye surgery houston. One of the earlier procedures is called photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).

PRK is done with a laser and it removes the thin layer of tissue of the eyes. The thin layer removed easily regenerates so no permanent damage is done. Then the laser can now heal all the problems in the inner layers of the eye.

After going through the laser eye surgery houston, the person is normally asked to rest from 3 to 5 days. During this time, a protective cover is given to the eye. Normally, vision immediately after the surgery is still blurred because of the lack of layers, but this is restored within a couple of days.


After the recovery period, the eye completely heals and the vision is fully restored. The fast recovery makes laser eye surgery houston a very popular means of correcting a person’s eyesight; rather than wearing glasses for the rest of his life.