PRK and dry eyes...

[tootsieroll]

I had my PRK done around Dec 17th and so far so good. That is except for the dry and tired eyes. I find myself waking up in the morning with my lids stuck together unable to open. I find it hard to sleep because I worry about waking up with sticky eyelids and I might accidentally harm my newly healed layer if I open them too suddenly! I take omega oil capsules and I make sure I put in all the drops before bed, but it still happens! The tired eyes is bad too. I feel like I want to sleep around 7 pm, which is too early for me, and by then my eyes feel really heavy and as if they are pulling away from my head. Just wondering what I can do about this and how long it will be until this goes away. Thanks.

[LasikExpert]

Sticky eyelids for the first few weeks after PRK is not exactly common, but is a known problem. I highly recommend that you check with your doctor if it would be okay to use a nighttime gel eye lubricant like Refresh PM. Use it just before going to bed. It is a heavy lubricant (Vasiline for the eyes) and your vision will be smeared, but it does a great job of keeping your eyes lubricated while you sleep. You can purchase it over the counter.

[tootsieroll]

I have tried the nighttime lubricant drops but they seem to make it worse. Dousing my eyes with refresh celluvisc seems to work better than the nighttime drops, but only a little. Could it be because the nighttime drops have preservatives in them? I'm almost at my 3 week mark and blurry vision is starting to get to me. I find it annoying when I can't see peoples faces clearly. I was at a party and a woman tried to strike up a conversation with me but I totally ignored her cause I had no idea she was looking in my direction!!! She must have thought I was so stuck up! I have to say I will not be attending parties anytime soon.

[LasikExpert]

If you have the sticky eyelids in the morning even after the use of lubricants then you may have Recurrent Corneal Erosion, however the same symptoms are a known problem in the early stages of PRK healing.

[tootsieroll]

I went for a check up today and its not quite my 1 month yet but they said that its okay. My 1 month isn't till next week on the 17th, so was it okay to schedule a check up? Either way I didn't like what I heard at the check up. I found out that my right eye has .25 astigmatism and about .50 nearsightedness and my left eye is just still hazy and hasn't changed much since my last check up. I know its still too early to expect a great change but I hope that the astigmatism is not permanent. I will continue my FML 2x a day for the remainder of this week and then 1x a day next week. As for the dry eyes at night, I had to switch to a night time gel that was oil based (refresh lacri-lube..I couldn't find the refresh pm) and boy did it make a difference...only its REALLY oily haha.

[tootsieroll]

ok new day, new question. I find that the night time ointment really helps with not having to rip my eyes open in the morning BUT I have blurry vision the next day and applying a lot of lubricating drops to wash out the ointment doesn't seem to work. What did it do to my eye and vision? I know for a fact that my vision didn't get blurrier until I started the ointment(oily film??). So now I have to decide whether to stay with the sticky morning eyelids or the 'day after' blurry vision...any suggestions?

[tootsieroll]

Its past a month now and everything pretty much has stayed the same. The one thing that worries me is when I am in a mall or supermarket and everything is very blurry and I find it hard to concentrate on things. I usually see better during the day when its pretty bright outside but it seems to be a different case under bright indoor lights. Why is that? I can understand not seeing well under dim light but malls and supermarkets are far from dim. I also experience blurry vision when I go to bed past my bedtime =).

[tootsieroll]

I just got back from my 3 month check up and found out i have +0.75 farsightedness and -0.75 astigmatism with a cyl of 150. Its still early but what are the chances of farsightedness changing as time goes on or the astigmatism. I know astigmatism can go away as the swelling goes down but does farsightedness??

[tootsieroll]

I also forgot to ask..should I get contacts to correct the farsightedness and astigmatism or should I wait? I really feel I need something as it's something I think about everyday. Would contacts affect my healing? Thanks.

[LasikExpert]

Whether or not contact lenses would be appropriate needs to be discussed with your doctor, but it sounds like your vision is poor enough that you may want to get a pair of glasses while you decide if you want hyperopic Lasikenhancement surgery or not.

The closer you are/get to age 40 the more difficult vision will be with that hyperopia (farsighted, longsighted) vision. This is an issue to discuss with your doctor.