Mini wrinkles in one eye affect my vision to the point that I would like correction. Flap was lifted and irrigated at 10 days post lasik. I am now 6 days post the lifting procedure without improvement (so I am 16 days post original surgery). I have learned a lot on this board and would like to clarify the following:

Does a 2nd lift and irrigation ever work? Why do it? Is it beneficial just to keep the wrinkles from healing in place?

How technically difficult is suturing? As a trained opthamologist would you have experience in stitching the cornea for reasons other than lasik striae that would help in this situation? Or should I seek a surgeon with experience in this specific event.

I tolerated hard lenses in the past and would be willing to wear one again if it aviods the possibility of further complications and vision loss. How much of a sure thing is a hard lens in clearing bluriness caused by mini striae?

Thank you so much for any information or opinions! I will post any furture outcome.

If of any use to others I will add the following:
I am in reading glasses and opted to have modified monovision, so one eye is clear at arm's length. The eye that had less correction did not develop the problem--so that is one possible advantage of monovision.
Nightime holos are much worse now than with contacts (I am willing to live with it) but the interesting thing is that the holos are just as extreme in both eyes. If striae cause halos, could I have undetected halos in the "good" reading eye too?
Thanks again,
Sue U.

Suturing can be very effective for removing flap striae, and personally is my first choice. Of course, other surgeons tell me that they are successful at removing striae with lifting and stretching of a flap.
The most important issue is that the sooner the flap striae are removed - the better the chance of having an excellent result. So if the first intervention was not successful, then your doctor should discuss with you as to whether more needs to be done.
If your surgeon has not performed a flap suturing procedure, you can certainly request referral to an experienced surgeon.
I hope this is helpful.

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL

I am not a doctor, but I say go for the suturing with an "experienced" doctor. One who has done this before with good results. My stria were eliminated in both eyes 4 months and 8 months after lasik. If you are willing to try hard lenses, they may help too. You might want to try that before doing the suturing. It will be about 4 weeks or more after suturing till you find your actual vision. E-mail me if you would like more details from one who's been there!

Thanks for you kind and timely replies to my questions about flap wrinkles. The irrigation procedure looks, for now, to have helped. If that should change I now have to good idea what to do next!

sue