 Although
LASIK is a newer procedure, it is becoming much more common as
surgical techniques and instruments improve.
 The
primary difference between LASIK and PRK is that prior to the use
of the laser to change the shape of the cornea, a machine called a
microkeratome is used to create a thin flap of cornea, which is
folded back, and the laser treatment is then performed under this
flap.
This
provides similarly effective correction of visual problems, as the
change in the shape of the cornea still takes place, but deeper
within the corneal tissue.
Because the surface layer of the cornea is not
removed, a protective contact lens is generally not necessary
after LASIK.
There is generally less postoperative discomfort,
because the eye's natural surface is returned to its original
position after the laser treatment is done.
Visual
recovery is usually faster as well, because the surface layer of
the eye does not need to re-heal after being removed as it does in
PRK. Some patients and surgeons prefer LASIK to PRK because
of these advantages of less discomfort and more rapid visual
recovery. Eye drops are still used, but often for a shorter
period of time.
 LASIK
does offer significant advantages for those patients with high
degrees of nearsightedness, because the risk of scarring with PRK
increases when large amounts of tissue must be removed from the
cornea. While LASIK does not eliminate this scarring
entirely, it tends to be much less common when the laser treatment
is performed deeper within the cornea as it is in LASIK.
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