Not long after RK, or radial keratotomy, came a new technique for shortening the focal length of the nearsighted eyeball. This was the long awaited PRK, photorefractive keratotomy. The procedure reshapes the cornea, in effect, shortens the focal length. A laser with low-heat UV radiation removes corneal material literally microscopic layers at a time. The procedure is robotic; the laser is pre-programmed, literally vaporizing a few molecules with each pulse from just the right place on the corneal surface.

Eyeglasses were for me when I was ten. Every year thereafter, my father would take me to New York City, where a pair of eye glasses were cheaper than any in New Jersey. And, the frames were fashionable. (Yes, I worried about that when I was ten.) Then, for at least five more years, we would go again annually for another pair with a stronger prescription. My eyes became more nearsighted as I advanced through my teenage years.

All of the talk at the time of this writing about LASIK eye surgery creating eyesight problems for a number of people after having the procedure seems to be overblown. Some might accuse the media of attacking LASIK eye surgery as a ploy by optometrists and eye contact makers who've been slowly losing business due to LASIK surgery becoming easier and gradually more affordable. And your humble writer of this article had LASIK surgery almost exactly ten years ago when the process still took approx. two weeks for each eye to recover compared to being done on an outpatient basis now.