Ok Thing is like This... I Just had Lasik 2 1/2 Weeks Ago on July 08 2004, They Told me that everithing went fine and sent me ho to sleep. to tell you the truth I was so nervous that really couldnt sleep, even thoug i had my eyes close for a full day. After the First check up i opened my eyes and felt a little wierd... thought it was the operation... felt like when i put a wrong prescription on my eyes... gradually i began to notice that the right eye was sharp as a razor... but left was blury and kind of double image and lack of ability to clearly define the shape of any object, tripple image (or highly distorted multiple images) and massive halos on lights... after that i visited my doctor the next monday and he told me that it was a "Normal Vision Variation" to continue using Tobradex (Antibiotic Every 3 Hours for a Week) and Dunason (Tears every 2 Hours for a Month). The condition of My left eye was driving me crazy... i was seen everithing white and milky, double and unclear edges.
Whent back to the doctor and he checked my prescription, after that he told me there was still some astigmatism in my left eye (Aprox -1.0)and that he has to do a Touch-Up on 3 moths.

Here Are The Questions:
1- 2 1/2 Weeks has passed since my lasik and still the blury vision, multiple highly distorted image on lights on my left eye... Is this ever going to end??? or will I Have to Wait The Touch Up??

2- I Know the Touch-Up Will Fix the Astigmatism, but will it fix the double, blury, milky vision ???

I Really Feel Up to this point I would have been better Without Surgery... Even Thoug right Eye is Great.

Please MD ... Tell me Someting ... I Belive in Science.

Best Regards,

Sterling

What you describe could be caused by astigmatism alone, but may include other issues.

Were you able to see clearly with corrective lenses during your most recent exam? If lenses in front of your eyes cleared up the problem totally, then it is probably just astigmatism. If lenses cannot clear up your vision, then it is probably astigmatism plus something else.

Is your ghosting or doubled vision significantly worse in low light environments? This could indicate that the problem is primarily astigmatism.

What has your doctor said that makes you suspect it is something more than what has been diagnosed?

You can expect changes as you heal. You are only 2-1/2 weeks postop. Your cornea has only started to heal. Also, astigmatism can be exacerbated by dry eye. You may want to read:

http://www.complicatedeyes.org/dry_eye_treatment.htm

Glenn Hagele
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
Email: glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org

I am not a doctor.

Well Actually I fell that i see better in low light condition.

The double Image on the left eye has persisted... My doctor have sugested me to use contacts until the touch-up on three months. The milky vision has been better but still the left eye is not clear. For Example highway lines are pretty clear up to a 5 feet from my car after that they start to double up to a point that at a 50 feet i can clearly see 2 exact lines of the same size apart from each other.I whent to an optometrist to "test" if the double vision on the left eye was caused because of the astigmatism and after preparing a new glass lenses I could se clearer but still a little double on the eye.

I'm NoT using those glases it was a "Test", but still my Doctor is providing me free contacts until touch up.

What do you Think.

Now Im 3 1/3 weeks from lasik

Thanks

Regards,

Sterling

I am assuming that the double highway line occurs only when both eyes are open, but does not occur when only one eye is open. If this is true, it appears that you have a convergence problem. That is the process of both eyes looking at the same object. It may be that when looking at an object at a distance, one eye is turning inward or outward and causing the doubled vision.

If the double line occurs with only one eye, then the problem is probably related to a corneal imperfection induced by LASIK and/or a healing response.

It is a bit early, but I think a second opinion may be in order. It sounds like your doctor has reached his/her limits to explain the situation. Even if you find that your primary doctor is doing everything correctly, you will at least have the peace of mind that you are in good hands.

Glenn Hagele
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
Email: glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org

I am not a doctor.

Thanks Gleen for your advise.

About the double vision its just in one eye the left Eye... If I open both eyes the image its clearer but still a little like a "3D glases".

My Right eye is perfect but on my left eye alone I see Double...

I'm Really Scared... Because with the "Test glasess" I made shure the image on my left eye alone is a little bit clearer but still doble image closer together than without glases.

If it is a Lasik Induced efect... can it e corrected with wavefront ????

Best Regards

Sterling

PS: really getting a second opinion.

How Do I Know for shure if it is a corneal inperfection ???

Ghosting after corneal surgery is almost always some imperfection in the cornea. It can be as simple as epithelial cells that have not quite smoothed out, or to the other extreme like striae. At this point, we have guessed long distance about all that we can. The second opinion will probably be very helpful, and will undoubtedly give you some of peace of mind.

Whatever was induced by surgery is very likely able to be fixed in the future. It may take some management, another surgery of some sort, special contacts, or something we have not yet discussed, but it should be fixable.

It an absolutely worst-case scenario - not like you, but where someone's cornea is really screwed up - a corneal transplant can put things back in order. I don't want to downplay the seriousness of a corneal transplant, but hundreds of thousands are performed with good result.

It is highly probable that once the problem is defined, it will be able to be fixed. It may take some aggressive steps, but even the absolutely worst-case scenario is manageable.

Glenn Hagele
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
Email: glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org

I am not a doctor.

Ok, I got a second opinion on another doctor, the secon doctor was great, afeter a battery of tests she told me that my problem was a severe dry cornea...

She says my corneas are like sand paper... she prescribed everithing i have read about dry eyes... Systane every 1 hour, cyclosporine every 12 hours, genteal gel every night, a humidifier or vaporizer wile AC is on on my room, punctal plugs and flexseed (linoleic and gamma-linolenic).

I have been on that for 4 days and already i feel a little better... no double vision on my left eye (most of the time) with glasses. Sometimes i do get double vision but when apply systane it dessapears in a cuple of minutes.

She told me that the hipocorrection was worse than my doctor told me. she informed me that I have -1 miophia and 0.75 astigmatism on my left eye, right eye is still within the aceptable range. I'm using these glasses right now.

My new question is like this... How long until my dry eyes get fine ???? Does anyone have an estimate???

Thanks, Sterling

Hi Sterling,

Your symptoms are almost certainly LASIK-induced, and are commonly referred to as "irregular astigmatism." Though fairly rare, the three most common causes of iatrogenic irregular astigmatism are: (1) Corneal bruising and/or edema, (2) Flap striae, or (3) Para-central stromal irregularities, such as a Central Island. If the problem is caused by (1), it will almost certainly resolve on its own over the next month or two. If it is caused by (2), it will likely not fully resolve on its own, and it is imperative that the flap be lifted and the striae stretched smooth immediately. The longer such striae sit in place the more difficult it is to remove them. If it is caused by (3), it gets a bit more dicey. Over time (months), such stromal irregularities virtually always improve significantly, due to epithelial remodeling; however, they sometimes do not entirely resolve. In that case, you have two options: (1) Contact lenses, or (2) Further refractive surgery. If the irregularity is small (~2 mm or less) and not very high (~10 um or less) a soft lens will often solve the problem and provide good vision. However, if the irregularity is bigger and/or steeper, a RGP lens may be necessary to get good vision. If this is your problem, and contact lenses provide an acceptable solution, you may want to just leave it at that. However, if soft lenses don't work for you, and RGP's are uncomfortable, you may wish to consider further refractive surgery (an enhancement). This is not something to rush into, and I, personally, would wait significantly longer than three months before proceeding with such surgery. The reasons are twofold: First, if the problem is a stromal irregularity, your vision will improve over the next several months on its own, so it only makes sense to see how much it improves before doing anything. And, second, wavefront-driven custom ablations to remediate corneal irregularities are new and still "investigational," so if you proceed now you will be one of the guinea pigs the procedure is perfected on. Personally, I would prefer to wait and be the recipient of such perfection, rather than act now and be the donor. Within a year, or so, such remedial wavefront corrections should be more routine and ready for general use. So, hang in there, Sterling; depending on the exact cause of your symptoms it may take a while to find a solution, but it'll likely all work out in the end.

Bryce Carlson

... I strongly second Glenn's suggestion that you get a good second opinion without delay.

Bryce Carlson

Its Almost Two Months and sometimes i do feel fine with a -1.5 miopya lenses but still some blurness and double vision, sometimes i get the impression that with a lot of systane my vision gets better ... but sometimes i feel that doesnt matter how much systane and glasess i put on my left eye its like a left foot.

Im waiting a Little Bit to get a secon opinion on USA next month.

Best Regards,

Sterling

Ok, I got a second opinion from another doctor, the secon doctor was great, after a battery of tests she told me that my problem was a severe dry corneas...

She says my corneas are like sand paper... she prescribed everithing i have read about dry eyes... Systane every 1 hour, cyclosporine every 12 hours, genteal gel every night, a humidifier or vaporizer wile AC is on on my room, punctal plugs and flexseed Supplement (linoleic and gamma-linolenic).

I have been on that treatment for 4 days and already i feel a little better... no double vision on my left eye (most of the time) with glasses. Sometimes i do get double vision but when apply systane it dessapears in a cuple of minutes.

She told me that the hipocorrection was worse than my doctor told me. she informed me that I have -1 miophia and 0.75 astigmatism on my left eye, right eye is still within the aceptable range. I'm using these glasses right now.

My new question is like this... How long until my dry eyes get fine ???? Does anyone have an estimate???

Thanks, Sterling

Sterling

I have a similar situation where my right eye is perfect but my left one has a ghosting of birght objects on dark backgrounds (specially small objects or tail lights at night).

My doctor said I had 0.25 stigmatism and gave me a prescription but I still see the ghosts with even the glasses. They helped in the doctors office but not in real life. It looks like in his office the background of the letters is bright white with black letters so the ghosting is not as pronounced.

It´s been 4 weeks since my surgery and the ghosting is still present. It was worse at the beginning (a week after surgery) and then it got better, but now it´s gotten worse.

A second doctor told me that i had keratitis from dry eyes and gave me systane. I´ve been keeping my eyes well lubricated, but the ghosting hasn´t subsided. I am hoping that it goes away with time.

Has your ghosting gone away? Since you seem to have the same symptoms as I do, I was wondering if you could share the kind of management that you´ve been doing to overcome the ghosting.

THanks

Javier

My symptoms are similar to Sterlings and Javiers. I had Custom Lasik in first week of January. Post-op my doctor told me my vision is 20/20 in right and 20/30 in left.

However, after surgery I started having a double vision in my left eye and my right eye sees just fine. The second image is like a shadow just above the actual image. Reading is just a chore with this. The double vision in my left eye is pronounced with right eye closed but lately I can see a faint shadow image even with both the eyes open and i am getting worried.

My doctor was very evasive with his responses at my 2 month post op. He suggested that instead of seeing him at 3 month post-op it would be better to see him after 4 months post-op because he feels that my eyes need that long to heal before he needs to see again. He was evasive though with his response on my diagnosis.

Any help on how you both are progressing and what is working and what is not working will be very helpful.

Please MD give me some hope and tell me that if this will get better and what seems to be the problem with my vision?