I had mine done a few years ago on a state of the art machine (at the time), called the Allegretto Wave Laser. No blades - just one laser to cut the flap, and another to shape the lens.
Result - in 17 seconds (per eye time of the laser doing it's work), I went from 20/400 with a bad astigmatism to 20/15. A week later it had improved to 20/10 in one eye, and 20/12 in the other. Overall, it took 5 minutes or less of time laying down, including all adjustments.
This year celebrates 10 years without glasses, and I am finally needing to start looking at reading glasses for some situations (small print at a close distance). The great thing is that I have thick corneas, and they can actually shape them again to get rid of that as well - which I'll do in a couple years when I hit 50.
The only greater miracle I have had is the birth of my son. If you can, I highly recommend it.
Personally, I wouldn't get any surgery with a marketing department on principle.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13024352
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9941566
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5218268
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photorefractive_keratectomy#Co...
[4] http://www.healio.com/ophthalmology/news/print/ocular-surger...
I suppose this is because the machine is expensive and you need to recoop your investment, plus most people are being sold glasses and contacts from their doctor as that is the default.
It does take effort to educate people about new options and it's an elective surgery where if you go with the alternative you don't really know what you are missing...
My eyes aren't perfect, but I've spent about $500 on glasses in 10 years. How much do others spend? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around financing $5k for eyes (not saying it bad, just not close to my experience).
Outside of that, having the equivalent of HD vision is worth every penny.
It does appear to have fewer complications with the flap, since it's a thinner one, and less chance of hazing.
[0]http://www.the-lasik-directory.com/lasik_lasek_chart.html
People want LASIK for the convenience, almost no recovery time. With PRK I took 1 week off work and the next week was bad too. Then more discomfort for upto 6 months. After that it's great.
The entire procedure was incredible including an HD prescription profile generated by scanning your entire eye.
The process is $4k-$5k but with financing comes down to about the same you spend on glasses or contacts annually.
No risk of halos as there is no "flap" cut like with LASIK, no chance it will come loose, and more accurate vision than you could ever achieve with lenses.
The quality of life upgrade is incredible, no scratchy eyes, no falling asleep and waking up with stinging eyes, and for sports it's incredible.
I can't explain what going from 20/400 to 20/15 is like, but basically I walked around manhattan for 6 months feeling like I was on LSD in awe of being able to see the mortar between bricks on the tops of buildings.
I found the best LASEK surgeon in the country and have brought in friends / CEOs from other states and introduced them with incredible results.
If anyone wants more info, an intro, etc. let me know and I can probably get you $500 or $1k off if you end up doing it.