Lasik Starburst

A fuzzy halo around light sources at night is a relatively common complication of Lasik that usually resolves within the normal six-month healing process. Halos are often worse or only exist in low light environments, but can exist in daylight too. This Lasik night vision effect is caused by inconsistent vision correction across the cornea.

Night vision halos are not limited to just Lasik, but may also occur with conventional or wavefront custom Lasik, All-Laser Lasik, PRK, LASEK, Epi-Lasik, and RLE.

The causes of Lasik halo are often related to Lasik starbursts.

Lasik Halo Causes

Dry eyes, edema (inflammation), and an incomplete treatment area can cause or exacerbate Lasik halos. In nearly all cases the cause of long-term Lasik halos relates to the size of the patient's pupil and the size of the laser treatment zone.

Detailed Lasik Halo Information

See Lasik pupil size for details about the primary cause for Lasik halos..

If you are ready to choose a doctor to be evaluated for conventional or wavefront custom Lasik, All-Laser Lasik, PRK, LASEK, Epi-Lasik, NearVision CK, RLE, or any refractive surgery procedure, we highly recommend you consider a doctor who has been evaluated and certified by the USAEyes nonprofit organization. Locate a USAEyes Evaluated & Certified Lasik Laser Eye Surgery Doctor.

If this article did not fully answer your questions, use our free Ask Lasik Expert patient forum.

---

Current Lasik Halo Medical Journal News...

Reverse geometry rigid gas permeable contact lens wear reduces high-order aberrations and the associated symptoms in post-LASIK patients.

Related Articles

Reverse geometry rigid gas permeable contact lens wear reduces high-order aberrations and the associated symptoms in post-LASIK patients.

Curr Eye Res. 2010 Jan;35(1):9-16

Authors: Tan G, Chen X, Xie RZ, He H, Liu Q, Guo Y, Liao A, Zhong X

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the efficacy of custom-made reverse geometry rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses in the control of symptoms related to increased wavefront aberrations after LASIK correction of myopia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight myopes treated with LASIK were assessed for post-LASIK symptoms (declined night vision, glare, halos and/or monocular diplopia) and corneal topography. A set of RGP contact lenses was selected as trial lenses based on the matching between the lens and the patient's corneal topography. If the fluorescein pattern between the trial lens and the corneal surface showed a central alignment, a mid-peripheral bearing and peripheral clearance and if the patient felt comfortable with the lens wear, a duplicated lens was ordered for the patient. Otherwise, a lens satisfied with corneal topography of the patient and clinical judgment was used. Visual acuity (VA) and wavefront aberrations were measured after the lens wear. RESULTS: The custom-made lenses well matched the host cornea with no dislodgment in all subjects. The post-LASIK eyes showed an increase of 1 Snellen line in VA (from 0.90 +/- 0.33 to 1.11 +/- 0.24) and a significant improvement in all symptoms after the lens wear. The total higher-order aberration is significantly reduced after the lens wear with at least 70% reduction in either spherical aberration, coma, third or fourth aberration but only 33% reduction in the fifth aberration. CONCLUSIONS: Reverse geometry RGP lenses with the design based on individual topographic data can improve visual performance of post-LASIK eyes by reducing higher order aberrations.

PMID: 20021249 [PubMed - in process]