My Epi-LASIK Journal pt3: Why I chose Epi-LASIK over regular LASIK

So I’ve been dripping drops of Vigamox into my eyes at every mealtime today. I guess it kills all the bacteria in my eyes or something to reduce the chance of infection before the surgery (though the name sounds more like another ED drug). I also get to take some other anxiety reducing drug during and after the surgery, and tonight if I can’t sleep. To be honest, it’s kind of exciting, I’ve never taken a powerful clinical mood altering drug.

Been thinking a lot about what the following few days of the surgery will be like. Haven’t got any clear answers on what my vision will be like because it varies for everyone and not as many people have had Epi-LASIK as opposed to LASIK.

I’ll use this post to explain what Epi-LASIK is and why I’m choosing it over regular LASIK. Epi-LASIK is a newer procedure. In normal LASIK, they cut through your cornea, lift it up, and zap you underneath, then put the flap back. Recovery is super quick. Epi-LASIK is the same thing except instead of cutting through the cornea, they only scrape off the very surface layer of the cornea (the epithelium), then zap you. It’s less invasive, but recovery takes a bit longer because those cells need to grow back.

So why am I doing Epi-LASIK? Normally, Epi-LASIK is an option for people whose corneas are too thin to cut a flap so they do Epi-LASIK instead. But I have “plain vanilla” fairly thick corneas, so what’s up? Well, turns out when they cut the flap, there’s a chance of your cornea being dislodged. I haven’t beenblogging long, so you won’t know that I’m an avid fan of ultimate fighting and train in grappling (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and always wanted to try some boxing (but couldn’t with contacts), plus I play racquetball a decent amount. These are all prime sports for knocking out corneas and I just don’t want to have to worry about that. So that’s why I’ve chosen Epi-LASIK. I’m probably in for 2-3 days of discomfort rather than 1, which is honestly the most nerve-wracking part of this whole thing for me, not the actual operation. But I think it’ll be worth it in a couple months when I put those boxing gloves on. :)