PRK
Why You Should get LASEK — NOT PRK!
PRK is the oldest form of laser vision correction, invented & patented by Drs. Steven Trokel & Francis L’Esperance 35 years ago. Dr. Chynn knew both surgeons because they were his mentors when he was at Columbia Medical School. In fact, when eye surgeons are trained in laser vision correction, they need to get “certified” on each laser “platform” (brand). Dr. Chynn was certified on the VISX laser by Dr. Trokel, and on the Summit laser by Dr. L’Esperance. So he was trained in laser vision correction by both of the surgeons who invented laser vision correction! Dr. Chynn is also on a first-name basis with Dr. Marguerite McDonald, who had the honor of lasering the first sighted (not blind) human eye in the world, at Tulane University in New Orleans 40 years ago! And his Cornea and Refractive Fellowship Preceptor was Dr. George Waring III, who is generally recognized as the “Father of American Refractive Surgery”.
PRK is called a “surface ablation” because the laser is applied to the cornea surface without any need for cutting. This is in contrast to LASIK, which requires a cut to create a “flap” of corneal tissue, which is then lifted & the laser applied to the underlying “bed”. And SMILE, where two incisions are cut with a laser so a small “lenticle” (lens-shaped) piece of cornea is surgically removed with forceps and then discarded. All of these procedures change the shape of the cornea, making it more flat to cure myopia or nearsightedness, steeper to cure hyperopia or farsightedness, or more spherical and less oval to cure astigmatism.
PRK and all non-incisional procedures including LASEK, epi-LASEK, and pneumo-LASEK are all slightly safer than LASIK or SMILE because the cutting step of LASIK and SMILE is eliminated.
Standard PRK never became popular because it requires scraping off the skin of the cornea with an Amoilis brush, which is a device with rotating nylon bristles, similar to an electric toothbrush. This is very traumatic, and kills millions of epithelial cells, which release cytokines and other inflammatory mediators when they are ground up and die, wich causes significant postoperative inflammation, pain, prolonged recovery, pain and sometimes scarring. This is why Dr. Chynn performed his las traditional PRK in 1999.
LASEK is synonymous with “alcohol assisted PRK”, which was invented at Harvard by Dr. Dr. Juan Carlos Abbad & Dr. Jon Talamo & Dr. Chynn (the three of them published a paper together). In LASEK alcohol is used to delaminate or gently separate the epithelium from the cornea, allowing it to be removed atraumatically, thereby preventing inflammation, pain, delayed healing and haze or scarring. LASEK was supposed to combine the best of both worlds: the non-cutting safety of PRK, with the faster recovery of LASIK.
Unfortunately, most surgeons abandoned LASEK too quickly, gave up on refining their techniques, and just switched to LASIK for its faster recovery, and accepted the higher risks of dry eyes (from cutting the corneal nerves when cutting the flap), night vision problems (from having a two-piece cornea), and permanent risk of trauma (if a LASIK eye gets poked with even a fingernail years afterwards, the flap can get dislodged or torn, leading to permanent loss of vision).
Comparison Table: Alcohol-Assisted PRK (LASEK) vs. pneumo-LASEK
| Feature | LASEK (Alcohol-Assisted PRK) | pneumo-LASEK |
|---|---|---|
| Procedure | Uses an alcohol solution to gently lift the epithelium, reshaping the cornea with minimal trauma. | ✅ Uses a patent-pending suction device invented by Dr. Chynn, eliminating the need for alcohol. |
| Post-Operative Pain | Very mild discomfort, 2-3 out of 10, requiring only Advil or Tylenol. | ✅ No discomfort at all, 0-1 out of 10 on the pain scale, no anti-pain meds required. |
| Recovery Time | Legal to drive immediately, see like glasses/contacts in about 1 week. | ✅ Better than legal to drive immediately, see like glasses/contacts in a few days. |
| Risk of Scarring | 🔵 None if you take your postop medications properly. | 🔵 None if you take your postop medications properly. |
| Corneal Integrity | 🔵 Non-cutting unlike LASIK & SMILE, so acceptable for boxing, martial arts, extreme sports, or military Special Forces. | 🔵 Non-cutting unlike LASIK & SMILE, so acceptable for boxing, martial arts, extreme sports, or military Special Forces. |
| Ideal For | People who want to avoid the dry eyes or night glare common after LASIK (& sometimes after SMILE). | ✅ People who want a safer option that has a quick recovery and is totally painless. |
| Long-Term Outcomes | 🔵 Perfect distance vision unless develop cataracts in old age; can be enhanced later to eliminate the need for reading glasses. | 🔵 Perfect distance vision unless develop cataracts in old age; can be enhanced later to eliminate the need for reading glasses. |
Dr. Chynn himself performed over 5,000 LASIKs from 1997-2000. But in 2000, he himself got LASIK in his left eye, and suffered from dry eyes and night glare himself! That’s why he never did his right eye–because he didn’t want to have these problems in his more important dominant eye! That’s why he switched his busy LASIK center to LASEK in 2001.
But unlike every other surgeon in the US, Dr. Chynn stuck with LASEK for decades, doing research with his Fellows (eye surgeons from the US and a dozen other countries who spend 1-3 years studying underneath him), publishing papers, and continuously improving and refining his techniques.
Over the years, Dr. Chynn has taught courses on “Advanced LASEK techniques” to hundreds of eye surgeons in the US and several other countries, including at ASCRS (the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Annual Congress), the most prestigious meeting of LASIK surgeons in the world, and at ESCRS (the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery). Dr. Chynn has attended 30 ASCRS and 20 ESCRS Congresses in his life–many LASIK surgeons have attended none or at most one or two when they were residents. So he’s always been a true “pioneer” in refractive surgery. At one recent ESCRS meeting in Milan, a German eye surgeon stopped him in the huge, cavernous exhibit hall, saying “can I take a selfie with you?” Dr. Chynn obliged, then asked, “Why would you like to take a selfie with me?” The German ophthalmologist replied, “Because I saw your name tag, and want to show my colleagues back in Frankfurt that I met the surgeon who has performed more LASEKs than any other surgeon in the world!”
Park Avenue LASEK has people flying in from other countries to have LASEK by Dr. Chynn for this reason. A few years ago, he had a Russian oligarch’s pilot fly in from Moscow for LASEK. He told Dr. Chynn, “My boss is almost a billionaire, so when I said I wanted LASIK, he said, “OK, but because you’re flying my family all over the world, I insist that you go to the #1 surgeon in the world, you can take the plane and I’ll pay for your surgery.” This pilot (Jeremiah S.) did obsessive internet research for years, and later joked that he had been “stalking” Dr. Chynn. He had his HD LASEK in New York City, but had to fly his patron afterwards, so he had his 1-month postop in Singapore, his 2-month postop in London, and his 3-month postop in Dubai. The entire time, he was sending his reports to Dr. Chynn to review using his secure WhatsApp group (which Dr. Chynn creates for every patient). After his 3-month postop, he called Dr. Chynn and said, “All three eye surgeons in three different countries told me the same thing, which I don’t really understand and I hope you can explain.” Dr. Chynn asked, “What did they say?” Jeremiah replied, “They all said that I am at the ‘limit of human vision’–what does that mean?” Dr. Chynn laughed and said, “Looking at your chart, you tested at every center at 20/10, which is twice as good as a “perfect” 20/20, and it’s impossible for humans to see better than that, because the photoreceptors in our macula, which is the center of the retina, are not packed closely enough to see better than that. That’s the maximum ‘DPI’ or ‘pixels’ in a person–hence the term ‘limit of human vision’.”
In 2015, Dr. Chynn introduced “epi-LASEK” to New York. In epi-LASEK, a plastic separator is used to separate the corneal epithelium or skin, eliminating the need for alcohol, which is slighty toxic to regrowth, and can cause delayed healing (recovery in a week). Recovery in epi-LASEK is less than a week, and totally painless.
In 2019, Dr. Chynn performed epi-LASEK on himself, to prove to the world that it is so safe, a surgeon can do this on himself. To date, he is the only eye surgeon in the world who has lasered himself!
In 2020, Dr. Chynn invented “pneumo-LASEK”, where he uses a special suction device to allow him to cleanly and painlessly separate the skin of the eye from the cornea, without the need for a plastic separator. This is safer, because rarely the separator enters the cornea instead of skidding across it, which creates a situation similar to LASIK (cutting into the eye). Dr. Chynn has a patent pending on pneumo-LASEK, so he is the only eye surgeon in the world allowed to perform this procedure! With pneumo-LASEK, if you keep your eye closed and sleep a lot one weekend (he performs his surgeries on Fridays), if you have a low prescription, you can see 20/20 by Monday. Which means he has finally achieved the “Holy Grail” of refractive surgery–inventing a procedure that is safer than LASIK or SMILE, with a recovery almost as fast (recovery after LASIK and SMILE is typically 1-2 days).
Dr. Chynn shares a story that distinguishes the very real difference between PRK and epi-LASEK. “We had a Navy SEAL come in for an enhancement years after his original PRK by another surgeon because he had a ‘thin cornea’. Military Special Forces are’nt allowed to get LASIK, because for the rest of their life the LASIK flap can get torn off by even minor trauma. After his epi-LASEK enhancement the Navy SEAL told Dr. Chynn, “I can’t believe I had no pain after my epi-LASEK.” Dr. Chynn said, “We told you it would be painless.” The SEAL replied, “Yes, but after my PRK I was curled up lying in a fetal position for a week taking narcotics. Before I found you, a LASIK surgeon told me your epi-LASEK was really a ‘glorified PRK’ Nothing could be further from the truth. PRK hurts like a bitch, and epi-LASEK is 100% painless.”
Anyone who is a failed LASIK candidate, and was told that they “need PRK” because they have a “thin cornea” should instead get some form of LASEK by Dr. Chynn, because their final result will be better, and they won’t have any pain (and one should note that Dr. Chynn has performed more PRKs than any other surgeon in NYC, too)!
STANDARD MESSAGE TO OUR THIN CORNEA PATIENTS INTO THEIR WHATSAPP GROUP
Below contains the patient instructions our office provides before a Second Opinion for “thin corneas.” Please skim this, so you see how incredibly through we are!
Dear Patient
Your visit is on:
DAY OF WEEK, MONTH, DATE, TIME AM/PM.
We’re located at 102 E 25th Street & Park Avenue South. We’re on the ground floor, on the SW corner next to Citibank. Look for our red laser in the window, you’ll learn why it’s there by reading this entire message completely
You were told that you have a thin cornea, so were rejected for LASIK & told that you need PRK. This is probably the 2nd most common reason people choose to come to us. You’ll learn the #1 reason below!
Dr Chynn has performed more mechanical scraping PRKs than any other surgeon in NY, NJ, CT, or PA—over 1,000. But he stopped using this technique because of tissue damage, which causes severe postoperative pain (Dr P in NYC only operates on 1 eye at a time for this reason & needs to put every PRK patients on narcotic). And recovery is prolonged—you won’t be pain-free for 2 weeks, and won’t see like glasses or contacts for 1 month (which is why Dr P often operates on 1 eye at a time, so at least you’ll have 1 functioning eye—but then you’ll have 2 one-month recoveries)
Dr Chynn helped invent alcohol-assisted PRK, which is also known as LASEK, when he was a surgeon at Harvard. Because Dr Chynn is the co-inventor of this technique, he’s performed more LASEKs than any other surgeon in the US—over 30,000. This is why we have patients flying in from other states to have him perform their alcohol-assisted PRKs: because they want the most experienced surgeon to work on their eyes!
Dr Chynn has refined his technique over decades, so it’s better than anyone else’s PRK because he:
1. uses the best alcohol concentration for the shortest amount of time so this step which causes pressure to your eye lasts 3 seconds, rather than the standard 10 seconds
2. has the cleanest epithelial borders (faster healing)
3. uses intraoperative MMC to prevent scarring (many doctors don’t) because he “wrote the book” on MMC (published a paper on how to properly dilute it & limit its time so it’s safe to apply)
4. performs the procedure more quickly, so your cornea doesn’t dry out, which can cause variations in outcomes, and so clamp is in your eye shorter)
5. can administer nitrous oxide (laughing gas) or ketamine in the OR, if necessary, to calm you down if you get nervous, so you can keep your eyes straight during the laser portion, which is critical to prevent residual prescriptions and halos at night
6. is assisted in his OR by another eye surgeon, who can take over if necessary (this hasn’t ever happened)
7. uses 8 different base curves for your bandage contact lens, so it fits better, for better comfort & shorter recovery
8. tapers your NSAID drop more quickly for faster healing (again, he’s the only surgeon who published a paper on this correlation, when he was at Harvard)
9. continues your steroid drop for longer, to decrease your chance of scarring and regression more
10. uses a designer steroid so he can use it longer safely, because it doesn’t cause glaucoma
Importantly, his office is 100% PRK/LASEK, so you won’t ever be put on the wrong drop schedule. Unfortunately, we’ve seen dozens of patients come in with bad corneal scars so they saw badly & needed additional surgery, because they got PRK at a LASIK center, and were told to stop their steroid drops after a week, which will cause scarring in 100% of PRK patients with higher prescriptions
Dr Chynn invented pneumo-LASEK, which uses air suction to avoid the need for alcohol, which is toxic and can leak or burn during the procedure. He has a patent pending on this even more advanced technique. With pneumo-LASEK, there is no pain whatsoever, and you can return to work in less than a week! We have patients flying in from other countries to get this procedure by Dr Chynn, because it’s not offered anywhere else!
For all these reasons, we feel very strongly that you’d be silly to get PRK or LASEK from any other surgeon or at any other center, if you’re within 100 miles of our office. We hope you agree!
Please ask your further questions to Dr Dovzhuk at your Free Consultation. If necessary, please feel free to ask her to call Dr Chynn on speakerphone to answer any remaining questions. Finally, you’ll be given your own, encrypted WhatsApp group to communicate securely with Dr Chynn, 24/7/365, both before and after your procedure with us. No other surgeon will personally answer all your questions within 24 hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays. That’s another reason why the smartest patients always choose us!
FILL OUT THIS FORM IF YOU HAVE A THIN CORNEA AND DR CHYNN HIMSELF WILL ANSWER YOUR #1 QUESTION – FOR FREE!
#1 Rated
LASEK, LASIK, PRK, SMILE Eye
Surgery Center in NYC
#1 Rated LASEK, LASIK, PRK, SMILE Eye Surgery Center in NYC
CALL OUR OFFICE AND SPEAK TO OUR PATIENT COORDINATOR AND PRACTICE MANAGER, BOTH OF WHOM HAD HS LASEK THEMSELVES SO ARE SEEING BETTER THAN A “PERFECT” 20/20! THEY WILL ALSO LET YOU ASK ONE OF OUR TWO EYE SURGEONS YOUR #1 QUESTION–FOR FREE!
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102 E. 25th St. (corner of Park Avenue South), New York, NY 10010
