Today marks 7 months Post-PRK

[MyDryEyes]

Today I am discouraged to say that I am at 7 months post-laser surgury and I have yet to see an improvement on my dry eye condition.

Two things that really scare me are:
1) I have yet to come across another person on this sight that had PRK. Most that have laser sugury induced dryness seem to have had LASIK. True?
2) My prescription was very high prior to surgury -10 in the left and -10.25 in the right eye. I was not informed of my heightened risk for dry eye. In fact, dry eye was never really mentioned. I fear my precious corneal nerves are hammered.

Has anybody out there had PRK and not LASIK?

I still have a small glimmer of hope that my eyes will improve with time. But, honestly, every day that goes by makes it harder to cope. Sigh.

Additionally, I have had plugs put in my lower tear ducts, but they certainly aren't helping much. Some days are worse than others. My eye doctor has told me that there is nothing else he can do for me except plug my upper tear ducts. I am really wary of this and my gut is telling me not to do this. I am feeling a bit helpless, but have decided to get another opinion (and spend more money!!).

The plugs are also increasing the itchiness of my eye drops. This makes me so nervous as I am dependent on them. I am currently using Tears Naturale Free and Refresh Celluvisc (during the night). I was using Systane but can no longer tolerate them. Any suggestions on what to try next? I prefer preservative free drops, but I am certianly contemplating the drops for purchase in the Dry Eye Shop.

Any thoughts from all you helpful dry eye folks is appreciated!

MDE

[Guest]

MDE

I am sorry to hear that you are here after having PRK, I can absolutely empathise with where you are at as I was there also.

There are a number of us here who have laser induced dry eye and you are probably right that there are more that have had Lasik than PRK.

I know of two of us (prattstar, hangus) that have had a derivative of PRK called epi-lasek. It is essentially PRK, the flap (epithelium) is created the same (weak alcohol solution), however in PRK the flap is discarded whereas with epi-lasek the epithelium is replaced to assist with healing.

In some cases (such as mine) they are now saying that I would have been better off having PRK rather than epi-lasek - a little too late to tell me after the event but they are saying that my epithelium would have reattached better if it has have been completely discarded.

You may need to try a number of drops (and yes I know this can be expensive) but you need to find a drop that works for you. Of a night you could try Genteal Gel (although it is preserved) or Viscotears (PF) (not sure if it is available in the states), you may just need to experiement for a little while to find a better combination for you.

Anyway, all I can do is encourage you and suggest that things will get better, I am certainly not out of the woods (after 2.5 years) but things have certainly improved for me.

I wish you well and hope things improve for you sooner rather than later

REgards

Ian

[desertcry]

hi

Hi MDE,

I´m about 11 months post PRK. I also had a high strength (about -8 D) prior to surgery. It seems to me that the higher the strength the more risks for everything. If I recall correctly my surgeon told me there was no risk of inducing dry eyes.

Since I´ve had laser surgery I´ve had my eye lids stuck to me eyes in the morning. In the morning they are very very dry. I´ve been to my home doctor twice about this problem - but on monday I will go to an eye doctor. I also plan to visit the laser center again to talk to the eye surgeon.

Desert Cry

[MyDryEyes]

Thanks!!

Thank you both for your information and words of encouragement!

MDE

[Maenad1]

MDE, sorry to hear about your problems; you sound very frustrated, and I can't blame you. Like you, I'm a high myope and at one time I considered PRK. Have you checked out the D'Eyealogues board? I've seen posts there from people who've had PRK.

Just curious, did the PRK take care of your myopia, or do you still have to wear glasses?

I haven't had surgery, but I do like the drops from the Dry Eye Shop (all three), and I like Genteal Gel at night; it seems to leave less buildup on my lids than Celluvisc. It also seems to last longer.

Good luck to you, I hope you find a treatment that works.