I had my surgery last july about 4 months ago. I am still experiencing starbursts at night especially while driving I notice the tail lights. I am little worried that I have not seen more improvement.

question: are startbursts life lasting or will they eventually go away and if so how long can I expect to wait?

question: should I consider going back in for a touch up? besides the starbursts my eye sight is 20/15 left eye and 20/20 right eye.

You could ask your doctor to prescribe some Alphagan P drops (although he may want you to give it more time to heal before you try this). Alphagan P reduces your pupil size and often temporarily eliminates this type of problem.

At 20/20 and 20/15, you would be crazy to get a touch up.

>You could ask your doctor to prescribe
>some Alphagan P drops (although he
>may want you to give it
>more time to heal before you
>try this). Alphagan P reduces
>your pupil size and often temporarily
>eliminates this type of problem.

>At 20/20 and 20/15, you would be
>crazy to get a touch up.
>

20/20 and 20/15 acuity in bright is worthless if you cannot see well enough to function indoors or at night. If Harold's problems are indeed just a barely noticible perception of GASH then he is foolish to consider another surgery. If his problems are debilitating then he is also foolish to consider another surgery with today's technology.

I don't follow the disjointed response that quoted my Alphagan P recommendation and then didn't respond to it.

since you apparently are free of refractive error, the starbursts you see are from a rough ablation zone. the microscopic irregularities (pits) created by the laser procedure are diffracting the light entering your eye, thereby creating the starbursts. it is unlikely that if you see them at 4 months they will go away. it is possible that a rigid contact lens will make them less apparent.

I just had an enhancement to correct astigmatism in one eye. I now see 20/15 in both eyes.

I still however experience significant starbursting and halos at night from headlights and street lamps; Alphagan-P works well to eliminate the starbursts.

My surgery was done in April. After many "second opinions", it was determined that my pupil size is greater that originally measured (closer to 8mm than 7mm first measured)... most likely the cause of the starbursts.

My surgery was done on a Visx Star S3 with a 6.5mm treatment zone and transition out to 8.2mm.

I too pray that I'm not stuck with the starbursts for life!

Best of luck to you!

Besides a refraction and topography, many centers now have a machine called a wavefront device, which can measure the exact pathways of images as they enter the eye. This device can answer your question as to whether the vision problems you are having are due to pupil size, or just some mild aberrations in the cornea.

Please let is know what your wavefront maps show.

thank you

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL

What was your diagnosis and how are your eyes today?

What was your diagnosis and how are your eyes today?

It's frustrating the way people on this site don't very often seem to follow up with how their problems are going. They come in here a week or so after their surgery (during the unpredictable healing phase) in a state of panic and desperate for answers. Then you never hear from them again once they've got what they want. It'd be nice if they shared some of their outcomes