SHARPEVISION MODERN LASIK & LENS is bringing custom all-laser PRK paired with the most modern technology & techniques to everyone, & all for the best price.
Is PRK right for you? PRK stands for “Photo-refractive Keratectomy” and is another laser technique with results identical to LASIK. We recommend PRK for about 10% of our patients due to a variety of medical, lifestyle & vocational reasons, most commonly if your corneas are too thin for the LASIK flap. And because we utilize the latest techniques & technology, we’re able to treat many patients who weren’t vision correction candidates in the past. So if you’ve been told that you aren’t a candidate, you very likely could be now at SHARPEVISION.
Dr. Sharpe founded SHARPEVISION MODERN LASIK in 2012 after 16 years of performing LASIK & vision correction procedures. He took the best of everything he’d observed, not just in medicine but in every consumer interaction he had, and translated it into a medical experience unlike any you have ever had. SHARPEVISION only uses the newest laser technology paired with highly trained surgeons, optometrists & support teams to deliver the best possible results.
As part of your comprehensive vision correction consultation, we’ll perform multiple diagnostic measurements, including 3-D measurements of the shape & thickness of your cornea, your prescription & a glaucoma check (no air puff!) to ensure that your eyes are otherwise healthy. Our doctors will then evaluate & discuss the data with you to develop a custom laser vision correction plan that is perfect for your unique eyes.
SHARPEVISION performs only all-laser PRK. Prior to the 2000’s, the only option for vision correction surgery was RK: where the surgeon made cuts in the cornea with a diamond knife to reduce nearsightedness. Fast forward to today, and an extremely precise Femtosecond laser is available to shape the cornea and allows for a faster, safer & more comfortable procedure. It’s a giant step forward in technology & the ONLY way we do PRK at SHARPEVISION, because it is the very best for your eyes.
If you are a candidate for laser vision correction but have thinner corneas, congratulations! You are part of an exclusive group of people- about 10%- that are good candidates for PRK. Don’t know where you stand? Take our candidate quiz to see which procedure is right for you. Then come in for your free consultation to see where your corneas rank.
A comprehensive, dilated examination is the only way to know which vision correction procedure is best for you. We do this at no charge because we believe so strongly in giving patients all the information necessary to make the right treatment choice. While your exam involves comprehensive diagnostic testing, it is also our opportunity to learn more about you, your expectations & your lifestyle. All of these factors play an important role in recommending the best procedure for you.
The complete exam can take up to 90 minutes. After all the data is collected, your doctor will examine you eyes, discuss the treatment recommendation & answer any questions you have. Your visit will include dilation of your pupils, which will affect your eyesight for about 4-6 hours, as you may have experienced with a routine eye exam.
We’d like you to leave your contacts out prior to your procedure; it’s usually just a few days. After carefully reading through the entirety of the literature you will receive from your doctor, you will sign a copy of the informed consent in our office prior to your procedure. We will give you a Recovery Kit that includes your prescription drops and everything you need for after your procedure. We’ll also explain & give you written instructions for your post-op care, which includes using these eye drops four times a day for seven days. All of your post-operative appointments will be scheduled before your procedure, so you can simply go home when the procedure is complete.
We understand that this procedure may create nervousness and fear & have worked very hard to make it easy for you. We offer an oral sedative (Valium) to help you relax & encourage you to take it if medically appropriate. We want your experience to be as comfortable as possible. Dr. Sharpe or Dr. Barker will gently talk you through each step of the process, so you know what you will feel, see & hear. He monitors your eye through the microscope at all times. The entire procedure takes about three minutes per eye; the first laser takes 20 seconds & the second laser takes 10-50 seconds, depending on the amount of your prescription.
Immediately following the procedure, you will notice a change in your vision. It’s always foggy at first, but most people can see well enough to read a clock from across the room. Your eyes will be numb for 15-25 minutes; then they will start to water and burn. After PRK, this discomfort usually lasts 24-48 hours, with the second day often being the worst. To help with the burning, we supply you with “comfort drops” in the Recovery Kit that have numbing medicine in them. We will give you a cool compress to put on your eyelids & recommend you have one waiting in your fridge. It will really help with the discomfort. Try to sleep or rest with your eyes closed when you get home. You may resume normal activities the same or following day. You can lift & exercise, but do not rub your eyes. Your vision may still be foggy; this is a normal part of your healing process & will clear in the days & weeks following the procedure. Most people see well enough to work the next day.
Over the years, we’ve heard many myths about vision correction and want to clarify them and answer other common questions.
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A very small percentage of patients qualify for PRK, which means that if you don’t, the good news is that you probably qualify for LASIK or EVO ICL™!
A safe and effective option for people who aren’t candidates for PRK. 90% of our patients are good candidates for LASIK
We correct one eye for distance vision & the other eye for near vision using all-laser LASIK or PRK.
Micro-thin collamer lenses placed inside the eye to correct a variety of vision problems & it won’t cause dry eye!
Laser-assisted exchange of your blurry lens with a new, custom lens. No more readers and no Cataract surgery in the future!
Laser-assisted removal your cloudy, blurry lens replaced with a new, custom lens. Get back the brightness & see near & far like you did when you were young!
No, the laser can’t burn a hole in your eye. But it’s a good question. Find the answers to our most frequently asked questions at SHARPEVISION. Some of them may surprise you!
One of the things that sets SharpeVision apart is that we have every technology available to get you out of glasses, so we don’t have to shoehorn you into a procedure that might not be the best fit for you. The biggest two factors that affect the procedure recommendation and outcomes are: age and amount of prescription. Also important is your anatomy and eye health.
Your age is important, because our eyes go through different stages:
Your prescription amount (degree of nearsightedness) is important for several reasons. The higher the degree of nearsightedness, the more tissue LASIK and PRK removes from your cornea, and each person has a slightly different amount, and limit. At SharpeVision we measure the thickness of your cornea with both sound and light to get a highly accurate measure. LASIK removes tissue from beneath the laser created flap. PRK removes tissue from the surface of your cornea.
Your ocular anatomy is important, in that some people are not LASIK candidates due to the shape and thickness of their cornea. If your cornea has signs of instability, or is too thin, we don’t operate on it. Some people can safely due PRK but not LASIK due to these same factors. Anatomy is also important when considering an Implantable Contact Lens (ICL) because you need adequate room between your natural lens and the back of your cornea to allow an ICL to be implanted.
Your eye health must be excellent to safely perform vision correction surgery. This is a big part of why we perform a free comprehensive exam at SharpeVision.
At SharpeVision, we offer LASIK, PRK, ICL, and IOL. The recommendation depends on your age, prescription amount, anatomy, and other factors. We spend a lot of time making sure you know the what, the why, and the pros and cons of our recommendation.
Of course there are risks associated with every kind of surgery, and laser vision correction is no exception. To put it in perspective, however, the risk of laser vision correction is significantly less than the risks of wearing contact lenses. Yes, you read that correctly. The conclusion of a 2016 article from the academic journal Ophthalmology stated: “Compared with contact lens wear, current LASIK technology improved ease of night driving, did not significantly increase dry eye symptoms, and resulted in higher levels of satisfaction at 1, 2, and 3 years follow-up.” Price MO et al. Ophthalmology. 2016;123(8):1659-1666.
If your vision is worse after LASIK or PRK than it was before with glasses or contacts, it’s almost always due to dry eyes or residual prescription. Both of these are fixable with time (for dry eyes which is almost always the cause of foggy vision for a month or more after LASIK) or with additional laser to touch it up (which is necessary approximately 1% of the time and free for the first year after surgery).
Most insurance/vision plans do not pay towards LASIK or PRK, but we do honor the discount from EyeMed, VSP, and Davis, so that if you’re a member, your out of pocket expense will be the same. Always check with your insurance carrier or health benefits administrator before coming in for your exam. A few forward-thinking companies are currently paying for some or all of their employees’ LASIK, PRK, and ICL including The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Adaptive Biotech, and Zillow in Seattle.
