A patient from Camarillo that I saw in my Ventura office asked me about the choice between PRK and LASIK for athletes. LASIK laser eye surgery involves creating a thin flap on the surface layer of the cornea before applying the laser to reshape the cornea. The flap is then positioned back into place after surgery. PRK is the same surgery, but no flap is made and the laser is applied directly to the surface of the cornea. In my experience, the outcomes of the two procedures are identical. The benefit of LASIK is that the flap allows for more rapid recovery after surgery. However, PRK may be a better choice for athletes who may be exposed to trauma to the eye since there have been reports of severe trauma to the eye actually dislocating the flap, even years after LASIK. With PRK, since there is no flap, this is not a concern. Jordan Howard, running back for the NFL’s Chicago Bears, had been playing professional football with astigmatism. He found glasses and contacts got in the way of his game, so he generally played without glasses or contacts. He said “I was just going out there kind of blind. I couldn’t see far away.” Last summer, Howard underwent PRK laser eye surgery to correct his astigmatism. He said the improvement in his eyesight after surgery was “instant” and “definitely beneficial.”  Once he returned to playing pro football, Howard said of his PRK laser vision correction, “I used to squint a lot because I couldn’t see stuff. Now I don’t have to squint. My eyes, they’re never hurting from squinting so much. I can just see the field a lot better. It’s definitely easier to catch now.” As in the case of professional athletes, PRK can be a very good choice for people with jobs that also put them at risk for eye injuries such as law enforcement or firefighting.