Eye pain after lasik? Dry Eye?

[Aaron77]

Hello all,

I had lasik Dec. 12, 2008 and six weeks out my eyes feel like they have been burnt, as if I have been staring at a bright welding rod all day.

Could this be a result of dry eye? or might there be another explanation?

I do still have a slight astigmatism in the left eye, the right eye seems to be a lot more painful then the left. The right eye seems like it wants to stay wide open, while the left seems to be a little more relaxed. I have pain when I sleep as well but its the worst when I am trying to read or working on the computer.

[Jen72]

It sounds like you are still healing and it will take some more time. I am 6 months post lasek and still have a mild burning feeling. Early on my eyes felt raw like you are describing all the time, but I also had severe dry eye. Computer use and tv seemed to make it worse. There are many tips on this site that can help and maybe consult your doc if it persists. It does get better, you are still early in the healing process. Hang in there.

[Aaron77]

Jen, thanks for the reply! I'm hoping that my problems are just a result of dry eye and that all will be fine in the near future.

I am still somewhat worried that I will still need glasses due to the slight astigmatism in my left eye. I'm wondering how long after lasik surgery can one be fitted with contact lenses?

[Aaron77]

What is the difference between Mild to Moderate to Severe Dry Eye?

How do doctors determine the difference between mild to moderate to severe dry eye?

All of the optometrists that I've seen have only done the basic check-up and they all told me that I'm only showing mild signs of dry eye, however because its so constant its just about unbearable for me at the moment. I'm only sleeping a couple of hours a night and I can't really make it through a day at work.

[Rojzen]

to be reckoned with

Aaron, the terms "severe" and "mild" have very little meaning in the context of a syndrome as complex as ours. . .You may, for example, appear to be producing lots of tears, and yet be in serious pain, for reasons relating to the condition of your cornea, the function of your meibomian glands, or the function of your goblet-cell-producing conjunctivae. I have learned that it seriously disserves a patient to attempt to label him/her with severe, as opposed to, mild or moderate dry eye, when treatment options have next to nothing to do with that ultimately meaningless set of labels. . .

It sounds to me like you need a really experienced and motivated eye doctor to pin down the possible sources of your pain. . .Also, please don't allow anyone to suggest that if you have an official diagnosis of dry eye, this is something requiring little or no attention, or something less pressing than any other possible post-Lasik condition. Dry eye symptoms run the gamut from slight discomfort all the way to completely disabling. . .Symptoms, and even causes, can be remedied in many cases, sometimes to an amazing degree, but dry eye after Lasik is not a small thing, even if it your only primary working diagnosis right now. Legions of us here suffer "only" from dry eye, and believe us when we say that it is something to be recognized and reckoned with aggressively, ideally in the hands of a terrific doctor. . .

Please see the many posts here, btw, on the use of Dwelle to address the corneal and tear film-related problems that can follow Lasik. . .

[bernmee]

hi,

I agree with Rojzen. A good Dr. will tell you that an eye can look and give results that point to severe dry eye, but the patients feels no pain. The reverse is also true. A good eye Dr. will tell you that what the patient says about their symptoms is just as important if not more important than how the eyes look.

Dry eye as a result of Lasik is something that Lasik surgeons will call "just dry eye". I heard this myself. But if they didn't tell you how serious/painful it can be before Lasik I don't think they are going to sit you down afterwards and tell you all about it. I know I can't speak for all Lasik surgeons but I do know many people have had to go to many Dr.'s before they find one to take their problem seriously, plus I have "anger issues" when it comes to Lasik surgeons so I'm not inclined to say anything good about them

On the plus side you are in the early days of your post Lasik recovery. Do you know what your problem is? Are you producing to few tears or are the tears you are producing lacking oil? You really do need to find out so you know what treatment you should be doing. When you find out you will have a great place to start.

As for the night time. Genteal pm Gel for severe dry eye seems to be a favorite on this site. Also taking Omega 3 oils is very important. Also watch your diet and your lifestyle. You are healing so you must do everything you can to help your body heal.

Keep asking questions and looking on this site.

Good luck,

Bernadette

[Aaron77]

Dry Eye and Vision Stabilization? Dwelle in Canada?

For lasik patients: has eliminating dry eye been a major factor in vision stabilization after lasik?

Is Dwelle available over the counter in Canada?

[mary kenny badami]

Aaron --

For SOME post-Lasik patients, solving dry eye problems actually DOES also resolve vision problems.
For others, not. I truly, truly, hope that you are one of the former group.

I'm post-Lasik; for me, unfortunately, it did not.
As far as I know, these problems get resolved by trial-and-error, case-by-case, and there is no way to predict who will get better and who will not.

My first two Lasik/post-Lasik docs sounded a lot like yours. (Please be reassured, that any criticism which I make is of THEM, and not of you.)
I said at every post-Lasik appointment that my eyes hurt and that aspects of my vision were poor.
They replied that their measurements showed that my eyes were doing very well: e.g., "You have beautiful flaps."
One doctor actually refused to make additional appointments with me, saying "You are making too many complaints and you are confused and I cannot help you any more."

It took several years to find better doctors -- who verified with sophisticated equipment that my eyes had actually been damaged, in terms of my daytime and nighttime visual acuity.

And it took a predecessor website to this one, to convince me to try "Dr. Holly's Drops"
(in my case Dakrina and NutraTear -- others have found Dwelle and Freshkote more helpful),
which brought my eyes back to a state of relative comfort and reasonable health.

As to your docs -- if you report having (subjective) unbearable pain that they aren't able to objectively measure,
then I'd recommend only sticking around with a doc who says something like "my limited objective instruments don't show this, but I do believe you, so let's work to solve it."

As to your future outcome -- six weeks out seems very early to make either positive or negative predictions about how things will turn out.
Best for now to strive to achieve comfort and keep a record, week-by-week, charting (a) whether your vision improves and (b) what level of pain you are experiencing in each eye.
Time enough in the future to deal with less-than-great-case scenarios.

[gz9gjg]

Hello Aaron,

Dry eye after LASIK is an all too common problem. When the corneal nerves are cut to form the flap, the signal to the tear glands is disrupted. Sadly, those nerves will never regenerate to pre-surgical density, so dry eye problems may be permanent.

In addition, your tear quality may be poor. This forum regularly discusses how to improve tear quality and quantity, so hopefully you can get good ideas from us.

You can't get Dwelle at present, but NutraTear is available by mail order from The Dry Eye Shop.

Good luck,

Lynne

[mary kenny badami]

Here's a suggestion, Aaron --

if you haven't already done so, take a look at the OSDI --
a 12-item questionnaire which you as a patient answer, reporting your ability to function and to be comfortable in the past week:

Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI)
The OSDI Quality of Life questionnaire:
http://www.dryeyezone.com/encyclopedia/osdi.html

Some of us patients fill this out before each visit to our eye docs, to bring a report of our subjective experiences and the impact on our quality of life.

If you fill it out weekly and keep a record, it might also help you to notice whether things are getting better or worse for you over time.

Hope this helps!

[bostonlover]

Hi Aaron77! Boy do I know what you are going through! You are still very early into recovery as everyone else has said. I would recommend getting to the care of an ophthalmologist that can help you with dry eyes at this point. I wish I had gone sooner as my lasik surgeon did just what yours is and I left each appointment very upset. I started to do better when I got to an ophthalmologist that was willing to start dry eye treatment. She put punctal plugs in, gave me a prescription for Restasis and at the same time I invested in a pair of Panoptx goggles/sunglasses. All of these things helped to get me to a comfortable enough place to be able to deal with the amount of time my eyes were going to take to heal.

Good luck and I am so sorry you are enduring this!

Tera

[Aaron77]

Supplements for Corneal Nerve Regeneration?

Besides Vitamin A, E, and omega 3's for dry eye are there any supplements out there that would actually aid in the healing of the corneal nerves after lasik?

[bernmee]

Can't answer that question but Bilberry is supposed to help with any problems with night time vision and I think it helps the retina...google it for more inof.

bernadette

[Aaron77]

Dry Eye Mainly Bothers My Right Eye?

my left eye does'nt really bother me to much, however the right eye is usually in severe pain, is it common to have one eye that's a lot worse than the other? seems like its 10 times worse!

yes, I know so many questions, its just that this is driving me a little crazy right now. Thanks again for all of the responses thus far!

[Lucy]

Aaron, it is common for one eye to be much worse than the other. Not always the case, but often enough. There does not seem to be any one common thread as to why one is worse than the other, unless the person knows their situation and has an explanation.

My left eye is much more painful than my right. Both have Schirmer's of zero mm. The left eye flap was damaged during Lasik and I think the damage went deeply into the eye. Lucy