Hi, I had LASIK on June 30 2004. I have had a enhacement only on my left eye on January 11 2005.
Until now I have several problems with my left eye:
*Glare and halos at night.
*Burning and irritation when I'm at work (I'm a computer programmer)
*Floaters
*I have remaining astigmatism and hyperopia after the enhacement (that's my before LASIK aberrations)

I'm currently using artificial tear drops every 4 hours. I went to see my Dr. about 1 month ago,
he put a silicon plug in my tear duct,he hopes that with this I can feel alot better. If this doesn't work he just have to do another enhacement.

All this problems can be caused by dry eye?
This problems can be corrected by an enhacement?
I have to comment, my night problems seems to be more severe after I get out of work. On weekends (when I'm not in front of a computer 8 hours) the glare and halos seems to be reduced. Why is this?

I'm afraid to do another enhacement "because" I have floaters since my second procedure, I guess that if I go through the procedure again, this can cause even more floaters!!

Thanks for your help!

I had an "enhancement" procedure done, which made my vision much worse. Before the "enhnacement", I was correctable to 20/20 with glasses and was content with that level. I have always had floaters and now it is worse. I see phantom flashes as well, about once or twice a day. Before I ever had Lasik, I would see flashes about once a month!

An "enhancement" will not make you see things sharper. It will not reduce floaters. Based on my literature research online, doctors will tell you that floaters have nothing to do with lasik!

As for your GASH issues, it may be that your eyes are not as tired during the weekends, and can accommodate the visual disturbances better. That's only my guess tho.

"Enhancements" come with more risks as well. Since the edges of the flap are not as sharp as they used to be (the doctor's instruments mess up the edges so they are not as clean), epithelial ingrowth and infections become a big concern. I had to have my flaps lifted to clean out the ingrowth.

I would advise looking at contact lenses instead to take care of some of your issues. Dry eye may take up to a year to subside. It took me 10 months to feel comfortable leaving my home without a bottle of eyedrops in my pocket.

First, Dr. Howard Fine does not perform LASIK.
Second. The first mention of dry eye after LASIK was from 1999. PRK was the main surgery until 1999, at which point there was a swith to LASIK. At that point, it was noted that LASIK could cause dry eye. Since it became reported, we have all discussed that as an issue.
Fortunately....2 studies in the past 18 months have shown that pre-treatment with Restasis can significantly reduce the degree of dry eye that develops after LASIK....so I personally pre-treat my patients with Restasis (although I perform surface ablation rather than LASIK).

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL

Again...please just provide your comments/answers rather than quoting the previous question. We can all look to see what the other person said when you comment about it.

Anyway...Restasis works great for patients whether they have undergone LASIK or not. You are correct...it reduces inflammation, restoring the quality of the tears.

We have also shown (in a study I collaborated with Dr. Tseng on ) that warm compresses along with other therapies can treat even the worst dry eye patients after LASIK. We took patients from other centers that had failed therapy, and were able to dramatically improve their dry eye state. The study ended 18 months ago, and these patients have done great even since the study end. Part of that is because dry eye is s cycle - so breaking the cycle (with Restasis pre-surgery or other therapies after surgery) can significantly help dry eye after LASIK, and can allow patients to get off Restasis after a number of months.

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL