What Is This I Hear About Corneal Haze After PRK?

PRK is the main alternative to lasik. The main difference between PRK and lasik is that the treatment is done at the surface of the eye instead of within a lasik flap. Avoiding a lasik flap is perfect for high risk individuals such as boxers. But not having a lasik flap increases the recovery time. In addition, something called cornea haze can develop.

Before talking about cornea haze, we first must understand how PRK heals up. During PRK, the very surface of the eye called epithelium is removed. The laser is applied to the layer below to change the shape of the cornea and correct vision. Over the course of the first week this epithelium grows back. The cornea should remain transparent during this time, but sometimes abnormalities in the healing process can cause fibrosis making the cornea hazy. The higher change in the cornea (such as when treating high prescriptions), the higher risk that the cornea can become hazy.

Fortunately, haze isn't as big of a deal with modern PRK. As we learned more about corneal haze after PRK over time, we also have learned how to best prevent it from occurring in the first place. New technologies such as the ICL have allowed us to avoid doing very high prescription treatments with PRK. During the PRK treatment itself, a special medication called mitomycin-c is used on the cornea to prevent corneal cells from causing fibrosis. Use of this medication has made significant haze very rare. And even if haze develops it typically resolves on its own after a period of time.

Haze after PRK isn't much of a concern anymore. It is still good to know about, but our ability to perform safe and effective refractive surgery has come a long way.

Also check out What YOU Can Expect With Post PRK Haze on EyeMountain.com

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