Hello all,

I had lasik done to both eyes on 1/6/05 in Cincinnati, OH. I ended up getting the wavefront visx laser on both eyes. Upon returning home the first night I felt a sensation in my left eye that felt like an eyelash. I didn't think anything of it since that appeared to be a common symptom. I made sure not to rub it either. On my follow up I stressed the fact that something felt in the eye and was told it was still too soon to tell. The docs didn't see anything however it still felt not normal. On 1/10 I called and told them that I still had the eyelash feeling in the eye and the discomfort seems to be increasing. I had 2 docs there check it out, 1 being the surgeon and both said everything looks great. As of today (1/15/05 the feeling of the eyelash still has not gone away from the left eye. The vision is slighly blurry compared to the right eye. The last time the vision was checked it was 20/15 so I can't complain. I am just worried that this feeling will never go away. It feels like a contact or something is stuck in the bottom corner of my eye closest to my tear duct. Am I being paranoid or is it possible there is something irritating the flap? I have continued to use the Alcon EconoPred drops for the inflamation and plenty of refresh tears. The feeling comes and goes from time to time. Sometimes the feeling even causes the eye to tear on its own. I am kind of scared but hopefully something could be done if need be. Any help is greatly appreciated.

You should have your doctor check for dry eye. Treatment may include:
Restasis
Punctal plugs
lubricating gel
Warm compresses
Preservative free tears (rather than regular tears)

I hope this helps

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL

I felt the exact same sensations after my surgery. Felt like something was stuck in my left eye or something. Just felt horrible and so I squeezed my eyes shut several times to see if I could make it go away. WORST mistake... My left eye now is blurrier than my right.

Why cant the freaking doctors put in their damn post-op pamphlets NOT TO SQUEEZE the eyes shut after the surgery? All they have is not the RUB the eyes. I think that is total negligence.

There are several possible causes of slipped flaps after LASIK (dry eye, excessive swelling, rubbing or trauma to the eye, squeeze blinking). Slipped flaps are not that common, but do occur to all LASIK surgeons and their patients at some frequency. Just because you have a feeling of an eyelash does not mean the flap has slipped.

Just out of curiousity, who did your post-operative exam: the surgeon who did your surgery? someone else?

Dr. Furlong

What was the name of your dr.?

You must be joking. Negligence...
You had LASIK where a flap was created, placed on your eye, and carefully replaced. The idea is to be careful with your eyes - and to not rub your eyes after surgery. Forcefully squeezing your eyes can obviously do the same thing as rubbing your eyes with your fingers.
You should see your doctor and make sure everything is doing well.

Best of luck.

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL