I went in to have Lasik done by the surgeon @ Portsmouth Naval and ended up getting PRK. She said I was a good candidate for either procedure and since I was not flying g-aircraft anymore, there really was no reason to get PRK and go through all the pain and delayed recovery as compared to Lasik which is pretty much no pain and immediate (24 hour) recovery. Lasik (theoretically) can have some risk of the flap getting jarred loose w/ g-loading, direct contact (punch in the eye), etc.
So I figured why go through the pain and opted for Lasik. Day of the surgery they stick me under the laser machine, immobilize my eyeball, and get ready to laze the flap cut when the machine fails some BIT check. 20 minutes of troubleshooting later they realize Laski wont be happening that day, and offer to either reschedule all 15 of us or do PRK (PRK uses one laser; Lasik uses two different lasers - one for the flap, and the PRK laser to reshape the cornea). About half reschedule, the rest of us go w/ the PRK.
Procedure was quick. The doc kept saying that in about 36 hours I would wish I had no eyeballs the pain would be so intense. Big take away was to be diligent in taking the pain meds because if you didn't, the pain would overcome you and the meds would not be able to catch up.
Bottom line, I had no pain. On the scale from 1 to 10, I was zero. At worst, it felt like I was wearing a slightly dirty contact lens. I don't consider myself a stoic or high threshold for pain, but there was none. I told them I thought they sort of overplayed the pain factor and she just said you wouldn't believe how as many people say it didn't hurt as say they almost killed themselves the pain was so intense. So they hedge their bets.
It has been two weeks. I put in a full day the day of the surgery - went out to lunch, took a short nap, then went to a volleyball game and home. Pretty much the same the next day. Day three I went to work (almost pointless as I was blind much of the day) and drove home that night - really dumb as the halos were like I had been in a chlorinated pool for 12 hours.
Today I am 20/20 and will probably get better. No haloing or starburst at night.
If offered the choice, don't discount PRK unless you are a real sissy for pain or don't think you can follow simple directions on when to take your medications.
is there another resource that unequivocally states this as fact? I'm not doubting your conversation or anything but when I relayed this information to someone else he said he didn't buy it until he saw something concrete 
