I had lasik on Jan. 2nd this year. At six weeks post surgery, I rubbed my left eye pretty hard. The eye got irritated and it became dry (not that dry prior rubbing) and uncomfortable for a few weeks. The dryness got better, however the vision in this eye has greatly reduced. I can still read 20/30 line on the eye chart, but the quality is so bad that vision at any distance is blurry and foggy, and contrast sensitivity is so bad that black appears to be gray to this eye. It's affecting my overall vision. I work at computer 8 hours a day, but reading is so difficult that I get headaches. Galsses do not help. Before the rubbing, I did not have all those problems, so i know the underlying laser work did not cause the problem. I suspect my rubbing the eye caused flap wrinkles, but I was checked under the slip lamp by two doctors and had topography done twice, no wrinkles were dected. I read on the internet that sometimes wrinkles can be so small that are not hard to see but can still affect vision. I want to try a flap lift and stretch, but the doctor said we can not treat what we dont see. I dont blame him. But what are my options at this point? It's been weeks since the incident. There is definetly something wrong? Can anyone help me? Suggestions and ideas from anyone is welcome. And any doctor who can help? I'm willing to travel.

Samantha,

I'm sorry to hear of your difficulties. There are a couple of things you may want to do.

Dry eyes can cause the very symptoms that you are describing. A good eye lubrication routine may be very helpful. Does your vision become more clear after the use of a preservative-free eye drop? You may want to read http://www.complicatedeyes.org/dry_eye_treatment.htm

You may want to request a wavefront diagnosis. This may be able to objectively measure the vision quality problems you have. It may also help indicate precisely what is causing the problem. See http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/wavefront_custom_lasik.htm

Flap wrinkles (striae) are sometimes not visible under a slit lamp. The outermost layer of corneal cells (epithelium) is very good at filling in the valleys and smoothing the surface. This is normally enough for minor wrinkles, but may not be enough if striae is your problem. See http://www.complicatedeyes.org/striae.htm

If you eyes are not dry but your wavefront shows significant problems, a flap lift may be appropriate. The doctor could remove just the epithelium on the Lasik flap to see if there are severe underlying wrinkles. The cells will regenerate very quickly and the flap does not need to be lifted if wrinkles are not evident. Your vision will be poor for a few days while the epithelium regenerates.

A second opinion from a corneal specialist at a teaching hospital may be wise. Ask your current surgeon for a referral after discussing these possible options.

Glenn Hagele
CRSQA
http://www.USAEyes.org

I am not a doctor.

Glenn,
Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. I'm pretty sure that dry eye is not the cause since my vision does not improve after I put in preservative-free eye drops. As you suggested, I think the first thing I need to do is to request a wavefront diagnosis. I hope that can pin point the cause of my visual problems. Is wavefront always successful in detecting micro wrinkles? If wavefront does not show any problems, I guess removing just the epithelium on the flap is the next step since I dont want to have the flap lifted without knowing for sure that it's necessary. How hard it is to see the wrinkles on the flap after the epithelium is removed? My next appointment with the lasik center is in about three weeks. It's been about 6 weeks now since the rubbing, do you think I can afford to wait for 3 more weeks or I need to go and see my surgeon now. If I go in 3 weeks and wavefront shows wrinkle problems, can a flap lift fix the problem that long after the wrinkle was created? What would be the best treatment? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions. I need to be well prepared before I talk to my surgeon. And I really need to have this problem fixed.