In your articles it is still not explained what is happening to cause the eye to regress?

I had Lasik in Feb. My initial #s pre lasik were: od: -7.50 -4.00 x4 &
os: -9.25 -3.50x176

Here is my history post lasik:
Feb: od: +2.75 -1.00 os: +3.25 -1.00
Mar: od: +1.00 -1.00 os: +1.00 -0.25
Apr: od: +0.25 -1.00 os: +0.00 -0.25
Jun: od: +0.00 -1.00 os: -0.75 -0.50
Jul: od: -0.50 -1.25 os: -1.00 -0.50

At one point I was seeing 20/20 and now my vision is deteriorating. I just would like an explanation of what exactly causes the regression? If the laser reshaped the eye, then what causes the regression? I have heard that if I get an enhancement, because there is less tissue "lasered" the risk of regression is reduced. I guess I could understand the first few months of healing but as you can see my refraction went opposite and is still moving.

Looking forward to some answers to links for more reading on this.

Thank you!

p.s. I was a hard contact lens wearer for many years. Then GP for about 20-25 yrs. I am 48.

Regression is a healing response. My first question is how long were you out of your rigid contacts prior to having LASIK? Did you have a few checks to make sure everything was stable?

As for regression - we believe regression is related to corneal healing. For people with myopia, the problem is that the corneas are too steep. With LASIK, the cornea is flattenned by lifting the flap and applying laser under the flap. We expect very little healing in most cases (almost like making an etching in an ic sculpture). For some people - there can be a healing response - think of the healing as adding thickness and steepness to your cornea, causing the amount of flattenning to be reduced. So with healing, the cornea steepens, resulting in a return of some of the myopia (hopefully to just a very small level)

I hope this helps

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL