Laser vision correction is a life-changing solution for those who are dependent on corrective eyewear, but not everyone qualifies for LASIK.
Fortunately, Andrew E. Holzman, MD, FACS, of greater Washington DC also offers PRK, a forerunner of LASIK that remains an effective option.
Why is PRK a better option than LASIK for some patients?
Because this procedure does not require the creation of a corneal flap, some patients with abnormally shaped corneas may benefit from a more superficial procedure
PRK is better than LASIK for patients whose corneas are too thin or whose lifestyles or professions are likely to disturb a corneal flap.
After PRK eye surgery, patients can experience 20/20 vision or better and end their dependence on eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is a laser eye surgery that corrects nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism by reshaping the cornea. The procedure was first approved by the FDA in 1996 and studies have shown that 94 percent of patients experience longterm improvement of their vision after PRK surgery.
The biggest difference between PRK surgery and LASIK surgery is that PRK does not involve the creation of a corneal flap. In a PRK procedure, the surgeon removes the epithelium, or the outer layer of the cornea, entirely in order to access the stroma, or inner layer of the cornea. After the surgery, patients are provided with a specialized contact lens that acts like a bandage so the epithelium can naturally heal and grow back.
The different surgical approach to PRK makes it a better option than LASIK for patients with thin corneas, certain corneal conditions, or professions or hobbies that put them at high risk of damaging a corneal flap.
Photorefractive keratectomy can give patients 20/20 vision or better.
Have you had enough of eyeglasses and contact lenses? Are you looking into laser vision correction? If you live in the greater Washington DC area, we invite you to schedule a totally free consultation with Andrew E. Holzman, MD, FACS, at any of his four convenient locations.
During your free consultation, Dr. Holzman will ask about your medical history and conduct an eye exam to determine what form of laser eye surgery is best for you. He is committed to maintaining patient safety by only operating on excellent candidates, so you can trust that whatever surgery he recommends is truly the right choice for you.
While LASIK has become the most well-known laser vision correction option, PRK surgery is just as effective and is often a safer choice for some patients. Whichever method ends up being right for you, your vision will be in good hands with Dr. Holzman, a board-certified ophthalmologist and one of the most respected laser eye specialists in the nation.
To request a free consultation, please fill out our online form or call the office that is closest to you.
The cornea’s job is to refract light. Other parts of the eye behind the cornea receive that light and produce the images we see. However, when the cornea is too flat (farsightedness), too steep (nearsightedness), or misshapen (astigmatism), then it refracts light improperly and distorts our vision.
Corrective lenses like eyeglasses and contact lenses assist our vision by refracting light in such a way that it compensates for the errors in our corneas. However, by reshaping the cornea itself, we can eliminate the need for glasses or contacts and give the eye the natural ability to see at a level of 20/20 or better.
Many patients wonder: What is laser eye surgery? Dr. Holzman explains that laser vision correction reshapes the cornea so that light refracts properly. Treatments like LASIK and PRK can address nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, often eliminating or significantly reducing the need for contacts or glasses.
Patients with certain conditions are not good candidates for LASIK but are often good candidates for a PRK procedure. These conditions include:
In order to qualify, you must be over 18 years of age to ensure that your eyes have stopped developing.
You should also have had stable vision for at least a year. If your prescription is still changing, it is best to wait.
You should not be taking medications such as Imitrex®, Accutane®, Cordarone®, or any steroids that can interfere with healing.
Conditions such as keratoconus (a corneal condition) or glaucoma may disqualify you from this procedure.
You should have no allergies to local anesthesia since your eyes will need to be numbed before surgery.
Patients should be free of autoimmune diseases or immunodeficiencies, which can interfere with proper healing.
In order to qualify, you should not have systemic diseases such as diabetes or certain types of arthritis.
Eligible patients must not be predisposed to keloids, which consist of irregular or excessive scarring at the surgical site.
Those considering PRK eye surgery should not have collagen vascular disease since it can lead to corneal ulceration.
You should not be pregnant if you’re undergoing refractive surgery.
About 20% of Dr. Andrew Holzman’s patients are better PRK candidates than they are LASIK candidates. Generally, a patient will be deemed a PRK candidate at any of the HLV facilities in Virginia, Maryland, or Washington D.C. if they have thin corneas or if they are engaging in physical contact in their daily routine.
During your initial consultation, Dr. Holzman will thoroughly examine your eyes to assess corneal thickness, the size of your pupils, the moistness of your eyes, and the degree of correction you require. He will also review your medical history and current medication intake to check for any conditions that would contraindicate photorefractive keratectomy.
Dr. Holzman has performed over 95,000 vision correction procedures with life-changing outcomes. You can expect that he will not recommend PRK eye surgery unless he determines that you are an excellent candidate.
When you schedule a PRK surgery with Andrew E. Holzman, MD, FACS, at any of our Holzman Laser Vision Centers in greater Washington DC, please be sure to arrive on time for your appointment. When you arrive, a friendly member of our team will greet you and give you a sedative to help you relax. We will then prepare you for surgery. The procedure will proceed according to the following timeline:
We will clean the area around your eyes and then apply anesthetic eye drops to keep you comfortable.
Once your eyes are completely numb, we will place an instrument called a speculum to prevent you from blinking.
Once you have been prepped, Dr. Holzman will precisely remove the thin outer layer the cornea.
Dr. Holzman will ask you to look directly at a target light while he reshapes your cornea with an excimer laser. Each eye takes less than a minute.
Following your PRK procedure, Dr. Holzman will examine your eyes with a slit lamp to assess the results.
He will then place soft contact lenses that act like bandages, which you will need to wear for three to five days.
After the surgery, you may experience blurred or hazy vision for one to five days. As the epithelium heals, you may notice some discomfort. To minimize any pain, we can provide you with eye drops and pain medication.
In most cases, you can return to normal activities within one to three days. Your vision may continue to fluctuate for up to six months following the procedure.
Before you leave our offices following your treatment, Dr. Holzman will provide you with the following guidelines to ensure that your healing process is quick and comfortable:
If you follow Dr. Holzman’s postoperative instructions, you should be able to return to daily activities quickly. As your vision improves over the first few days, you can watch TV, use a computer, or read. Many patients are able to safely drive within the first week following surgery.
We are not the type of eye clinic that wants to complete as many procedures as possible and then rush our patients out the door. Dr. Holzman follows up with his patients the night of their surgery and regularly during their recovery. He also provides his patients with his personal cell phone number and email address so they can reach out to him at any time if they have a concern.
If you’re in the market for an eye surgeon, choose a board-certified ophthalmologist who will truly care about you. Schedule your free consultation with Andrew E. Holzman, MD, FACS, right now by filling out our online form or calling any of our offices in the greater Washington DC area.
The PRK recovery timeline is a bit longer than that of LASIK, but the procedure can result in comparable enhancement. The typical recovery is complete within six months:
You may experience some irritation, discomfort, and light sensitivity. It is best to take these days off work or school.
You will return to our office three to five days after your surgery to have the bandage contact lenses removed.
Your vision should continue to stabilize during this time. Fluctuations should become less frequent. During this period, some patients may also experience a glare or halo effect.
Your vision should be completely stabilized and you can fully enjoy a reduced or eliminated need for glasses or contacts.
Many patients are concerned about the safety of refractive surgery. However, when you choose a renowned specialist like Dr. Andrew E. Holzman for your procedure, the risks of laser vision correction are minimal.
Patients can rest assured that LASIK eye surgery at our practice is as safe as possible because of our…
When you are ready for laser vision correction, choosing the right surgeon is a major decision. You don’t want to entrust your vision to an inexperienced doctor or a doctor who only does laser surgery on the side. You need a board-certified ophthalmologist who specializes in laser eye surgery and who uses the most advanced technology in the field. You need a surgeon like Dr. Holzman.
Dr. Holzman has an extremely high success rate with both LASIK and PRK eye surgery. Only one percent of patients who undergo these surgeries at our eye care centers in Washington DC, Maryland, or Virginia require a touch-up procedure in the future. The other 99 percent achieve greatly enhanced vision that lasts a lifetime.
Invest in your own success by choosing the eye surgeon who has successfully completed over 95,000 vision correction procedures. Schedule a free consultation with Dr. Holzman by contacting us online or calling your preferred office location.
The vision improvement that a patient experiences as a result of the PRK procedure may last a lifetime. Holzman Laser Vision Centers throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. perform the PRK process with precision to ensure lasting results. Under Dr. Andrew Holzman, only 1% of patients need to undergo an enhancement procedure.
Dr. Holzman excels at giving patients 20/20 vision or better through PRK procedures. However, no surgeon can prevent the onset of presbyopia, or age-related farsightedness.
PRK patients will have enhanced vision for life, but even that enhancement will slowly fade as the natural aging process results in the lens of the eye losing elasticity.
Fortunately, qualifying patients can become part of the Holzman Laser Vision Lifetime Commitment program. Membership in this program allows you to to restore the results of your first surgery through a second laser procedure, known as enhancement surgery, totally free of charge.
Every patient’s PRK procedure will be uniquely priced because every patient’s eyes are unique. When you meet with Dr. Holzman, you will have the opportunity to discuss your total treatment cost. A few of the factors that can affect the cost of your procedure include:
If you have a higher prescription, you may require more extensive correction which can add to the cost of treatment.
Sedation and anesthesia can greatly improve your comfort. However, it can also contribute to higher surgical fees.
While the advanced equipment we use increases the cost, it also improves your results and reduces the risk of complication.
Photorefractive keratectomy is an elective surgery, meaning most insurance plans do not cover the procedure. However, there are other options that can help with the cost of laser eye surgery.
You know that correcting your vision could improve your overall quality of life, but did you know that it can also save you money in the long run? PRK surgery can be a worthwhile financial investment for many reasons, including:
Photorefractive keratectomy is a surgical procedure, and like any surgery, it involves some degree of risk. However, thanks to Dr. Holzman’s prolific experience, the advanced technology in our office, and the special protocols of Holzman Laser Vision Centers, complications are extremely rare at our practice.
Even under Dr. Holzman’s care, PRK surgery can result in some temporary side effects, including:
By following our post-operative instructions and attending your follow-up appointments, you can make sure these side effects gradually subside.
The steroidal eye drops prescribed following PRK surgery also carry some risks. Minor risks include irritation and itching, as well as redness and inflammation.
There are few serious risks involved in PRK eye surgery, making it one of the safest vision correction procedures available. Patients are often at a greater risk of an allergic reaction to the sedative or their prescription pain medications than any complications related to the surgery itself. We will take measures before surgery to avoid these issues.
In addition, risks associated with the procedure include:
If too little or too much tissue is removed from the cornea with the excimer laser, your nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism may not be properly corrected. Dr. Holzman’s expertise ensures that this almost never happens.
YAs your eye heals following your surgery, there is a chance that it could regenerate cells that reverse the corrections made during your procedure. We can reduce this risk by prescribing you Mitomycin C.
One of the more serious risks of a PRK procedure is the development of ulcers in the cornea during recovery. This complication is extremely rare, and antibiotics help reduce this risk.
Any refractive surgery has the potential of creating dry eyes. We will provide you with specialized eye drops so you can manage this condition until it subsides after a few months.
Following your procedure, it is essential that you follow recovery instructions to manage post-surgery side effects. Temporary side effects of LASIK and PRK can include dry eyes and halos. Dr. Andrew E. Holzman makes every effort to minimize your laser eye surgery risks by thoroughly evaluating your candidacy and ensuring that you are provided with the highest level of care.
At the Holzman Laser Vision Centers overseen by Andrew E. Holzman, MD, FACS, in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia, patient safety is the number one priority during any LASIK or PRK procedure. We ensure your safety by:
If you want to correct your vision through photorefractive keratectomy, choosing our practice is the best way to ensure your procedure is handled with the utmost care. Start your journey towards 20/20 vision by contacting us online or calling your preferred office location.
Our friendly team looks forward to serving you.
We ensure patient safety and optimal vision correction results by utilizing the most state-of-the-art technology in the field of ophthalmology. Our cutting-edge diagnostic tools and excimer lasers allow us to complete both LASIK and PRK procedures with increased precision, reduced surgery and recovery time, and minimized risk of complications. Some of our favorite tools are:
Dr. Holzman is one of the most sought-after laser eye surgeons on the east coast. He has performed LASIK on multiple professional athletes, celebrities, and fellow eye doctors. If you think LASIK is the right choice for your vision needs, you can do no better than Dr. Holzman.
Andrew E. Holzman, MD, FACS, is one of the most well-respected ophthalmologists in the greater Washington, DC, area. He is regularly sought out by professional athletes, media personalities, and other doctors for laser eye surgery.
Dr. Jonathan Solomon has been acknowledged by GQ Magazine in their “Men of the Year” issue, recognized nationally as one of the “Top Doctors in America” by his peers, and listed as one of Baltimore-Washington’s Super Doctors for 2013.
To schedule a consultation at one of our locations, please fill out our online form or give us a call at (855) 99-LASIK.
