Dr. Holzman performed PRK surgery on me about a month ago, and I wanted to share my experience. My vision correction is so much better than with eyeglasses. Everything you can see (entire field of vision) is in focus for long-distance and middle-distance vision. Compared with eyeglasses, there is a wider field of view compared with glasses, but markedly less distortion and much sharper long-distance vision – my vision is better than with eyeglasses. If you are considering Lasik or PRK I recommend that you have an exam with Dr. Holzman and discuss your options. I’m happy I decided to have the procedure, and was really impressed by Dr. Holzman, and the results have been amazing – my eyesight is better than with eyeglasses!
Here are some details:
Everything from the initial counseling to the follow up after the surgery has been a great experience. The initial counseling was clear and easy to understand, and described the various options I had. The initial exam and counseling about whether to undergo Lasik or PRK was helpful (I do martial arts, and they recommended PRK instead of Lasik because of the risks posed by martial arts). The initial counseling is important, because you have to make some decisions about, for example, whether you want to optimize long-distance vision, or want to correct the vision of each eye differently, so you have greater depth of field (retain more short-distance vision). If you need reading glasses currently/before surgery, you will still need them after surgery – at least that’s been the case for me. The procedures I was eligible for at the time of my surgery (December 2018) could not correct presbyopia (the need for reading glasses as we get older).
The process went exactly as described. The surgery itself, from my perspective, was simple, painless, and quick. They provide very helpful instructions on what is required after the surgery (various eye drops mainly) and clear instructions about follow-up visits. Part of the counseling stressed that it would take a bit for my vision to recover (because I did PRK rather than Lasik). Compared with a friend of mine who did PRK with another surgeon, my recover has been faster. Initially there are some temporary side effects, consistent with the ones described in the initial counseling – halos from lights at night, and I had some sensitivity to bright sunlight. But those mostly resolved after a few weeks, and now after a month they have completed gone away.
As far as the recovery, the counseling stressed using artificial tears, and using those regularly eliminated any discomfort. In my work, I spend most of the day in front of computer screens – even before the surgery I would sometimes experience dry eyes. But using the artificial tears has even made this go away, so my eyes feel better after the surgery! I have no second thoughts and recommend scheduling a visit if you are thinking about it – it will give you helpful information.
