Epi-Lasik and going back to work

[cmb5]

I've read quite a few threads here and found them to be very helpful. Because of this site I've decided that if I green light laser vision correction I'm going to get Epi-Lasik rather than Lasik.

One thing that I haven't got a good feel for is the amount of time after the Epi-Lasik procedure before I can see well enough to drive or to go back to work and read a computer screen. I realize it varies from one person to the next. I was told by the physician that I'd be fine by day three and stable within 4 weeks. Is that reasonable?

From many of the posts I've read it might be more realistic to say 5 days before I get to 20/30 and a month before 20/20. Is that a reasonable expectation on my part? Currently I am -1.25 in both eyes and no astigmatism so I think I would stabilize quickly but still have the usual epithelium issues until it heals/regenerates.

To sum it all up I'm not quite sure how blury things are going to be and how long it will last.

Thanks again.

[LasikExpert]

Both you and your doctor are in the general range for vision recovery. For something between 3-5 days you will have poor to "functional fuzzy" vision and somewhere between 3-8 weeks before things really settle down.

PRK is virtually the same as Epi-Lasik (in fact if the epithelium flap becomes unstable during surgery they will simply revert to PRK) and there really does not seem to be any advantage in vision recovery for Epi-Lasik after the third day. There is no advantage in the long-term. Keep your mind open to any of the three surface ablation techniques of PRK, LASEK, or Epi-Lasik.

If you are near age 40, you will want to read about sudden presbyopia. If you are past age 40, you will want to read about monovision.