Need help-9 days post PRK

[falldrive]

Hey all,
So I had PRK about 9 days ago now, and overall, it wasn't too bad. The first 3 days hurt pretty bad (as expected), but after 4 days the contacts were taken out and my vision was great. Although I was still pretty light sensitive, I was reading about 20/40. Since then, vision has improved dramatically and Im seeing 20/20 with no halos, no haze, dry eye, starbusts etc...
Now here is my problem...my right eye is feeling and seeing great, but with my left eye its a different story. Although my vision is excellent, I have a foreign body sensation. I've been moisturising my eyes consistently and it doesn't feel like anything related to dry eye.
Constantly it feels like I have an eyelash in my left eye and I'm starting to really worry, especially since my right eye is feeling so great. Its been about 4 days without any improvement. Is this normal? And more importantly, will this feeling go away???
Thanks in advance,
FD

[JustLooking]

I'm sure no expert, but I had PRK 12 days ago and I have experienced a similar thing. I don't think it's any big deal, but if you are close to your doctor, you might want to let him or her take a look to be on the safe side.

Mine first got that grainy feeling about thirty minutes after my contacts were removed. It was gone by the next morning, but it does tend to come and go.

Right now, I feel like I have something in my right eye, but it's not painful. Like you said, it just feels like an eyelash or something. Mine is not a constant feeling in one spot, though. Mine moves around.

If yours is in one spot or it is really painful, you might want to have your doctor check it out. I have read of many other people experiencing the same type of thing, so I don't think it's unusual.

Sounds like you are way ahead of most people who have had PRK (certainly ahead of me, as my vision is still blurred and ghosted). I hope it's no big deal and that your vision continues to improve. You will read that there is a lot of healing that will take place over the first six months, so I don't think changes in vision are really a bad sign in most cases. I'm sure someone more qualified will answer your post eventually. Hope you feel better soon.

[kslone]

I have been over 2 months now and still have bad ghosting with little to no improvements.

[falldrive]

I've been to two doctors now and they've found no visual explanation. One thought it might be a reaction to the preservatives in tears, but I've since switched to preservative-free (Bion, then I tried Refresh Plus) ones which I take every hour with no improvement. The other thought it might be a general allergy and discussed an antihistamene, or possibly steroid drops, but didn't want to interfere with what my main optometrist had recommended yet.

I discussed dry eye with the doctor and they didn't see anything on the eye and said that even if it was, I should experience some relief when the tears are put in, but that hasn't happened.

It's now been about 11 days with this dicomfort in the one localized spot in the one eye and I'm going crazy! Is there anyone else who's experienced this? Could this actually be allergies? What do i do?? Please help!!!

FD :cry:

[LasikExpert]

Yes, it could be allergies. In addition to switching to a preservative-free artifical tear, try different types of artificial tears.

An antihistimine would be a reasonable approach to an allergy. Steroid eye drops would reduce inflammation. Both seem appropriate recommendations by your doctors.

[Pappy]

I had something similar from week 2-6?

Localized (painful in my case) "spot" in my right eye. Lots of checking and taking steamy showers cleared it up. Went away on it's own and I finally attributed to nerve endings healing after surgery.

Doc had no explanation beyond that for it.

Definitely try different perservative free drops. Read the ingredients they all have their own concoction as well as "thickness."

Good luck with your healing.

[falldrive]

Hi Pappy,

Did you find that the localized pain in the one eye fluctuated randomly? I find that most of the time my discomfort is probably a 8/10 (10 being the most discomfort), but sometimes it'll go down to a 5/10. This happened after I took the first allergy drop that my optometrist recommended and that the surgeon gave the OK for, but it did not happen for any of the other subsequent allergy drops. Also, it has gone down to a 5/10 at other seemingly random times, with no consistent drop/environmental factors.
More bothersome is that more commonly it'll flare up to a 10/10 on the discomfort scale - seemingly at random times/places as well.

I'm being religious about the preservative-free drops - the surgeon recommended the least 'viscous' ones (Refresh Plus, previously was doing Bion ones). I'm also taking flaxseed oil and Omega 3 capsules regularly. I'll have to try the steamy shower idea. Do you have any other suggestions?

Did the pain go away steadily? Or did you wake up one morning with it gone?

I appreciate your help.

FD

[Pappy]

As I recall (i'm at 9 months here) it just stopped happening about the 6th week after my surgery.

It was also a variation of pain levels from "hey lash in my eye" to "omg this sucks" very localized to the point where it seemed like something was there.

The showers helped immensely to make it go away but some times it would return a few hours later. I do lots of computer work so even though my eyes didn't feel dry I kept pushing drops just in case.

One day it just stopped happening either what ever it was "healed" over or my brain learned to filter it out. Wish I knew.

I never had my doc check the undersides of my lids but you might want to have them look at that too. It's possible that what I or you think is on the eye surface was just irritation on the lid.

Good luck!

[houstonman]

weird...I dont ever remember that feeling being constant but time to time I do feel like an eyelash is in my eye and I find my self rubbing it to make it stop and it usually does within an hours time. Hope all goes well for you. Never hurts to have it checked out where u got it done. Im sure they would do it for free.

[falldrive]

Hi all,

It is now coming up on 7 weeks post-PRK and the discomfort feeling is still there! I'm really starting to freak out!

I've seen the surgeon a few times now and he's prescribed topical steroid drops for mild haze (that doesn't even affect my vision - i'm still at 20/15 and it's very crisp with no usual PRK side effects). But that feeling at the top of my left eye (nowhere near the spot where the laser went), under my top eyelid is still there! The doctor's looked at it a few times and can't see anything, he also checked under the eyelid and nothing there either.

When I look at it in a mirror at the right angle, it's almost like there's some faint squiggles (almost like an 'S' shape). But the surgeon says that's nothing to worry about. He says it will just get better with time, and if anything the steroids will help.

I'm still trying everything - steamy showers, flaxseed oil, omega 3 oil, Refresh Plus preservative-free drops, etc with no success. Can anyone help? Are there any other ideas? PLEASE HELP!

[dsorrent]

I'm still trying everything - steamy showers, flaxseed oil, omega 3 oil, Refresh Plus preservative-free drops, etc with no success.

Have you been trying these things the whole time? If so, maybe you're allergic to one of the oils?

[falldrive]

Hi all,

So tomorrow it will be 11 weeks since my surgery and I'm starting to think I may have exhausted all my options. In addition to the above, I've been put on a topical antihistamine for nearly two weeks - and still no improvement. The localized discomfort is STILL persistent in the same spot in the same eye.

I will be tested for allergies on Monday. However, I'm skeptical since I haven't had any other kind of allergic reactions, and it seems odd that it would only affect one part of one eye.

Could this be a corneal abrasion or scar? Looking at it in the mirror there is a 'squiggle' on the cornea, right where the discomfort is. And having read up on these, the diagnosis/symptoms fit. However, now having had a few different doctors look at it (with microscope, slit lamp, nothing), they say they don't see anything. Are they possibly missing something?

Any other ideas/suggestions/encouragement would be much appreciated. I'm starting to lose hope!

FD

[LasikExpert]

It's about three months postop. How are your foreign body symptoms?

[ernie]

Hey all,
So I had PRK about 9 days ago now, and overall, it wasn't too bad. The first 3 days hurt pretty bad (as expected), but after 4 days the contacts were taken out and my vision was great. Although I was still pretty light sensitive, I was reading about 20/40. Since then, vision has improved dramatically and Im seeing 20/20 with no halos, no haze, dry eye, starbusts etc...
Now here is my problem...my right eye is feeling and seeing great, but with my left eye its a different story. Although my vision is excellent, I have a foreign body sensation. I've been moisturising my eyes consistently and it doesn't feel like anything related to dry eye.
Constantly it feels like I have an eyelash in my left eye and I'm starting to really worry, especially since my right eye is feeling so great. Its been about 4 days without any improvement. Is this normal? And more importantly, will this feeling go away???
Thanks in advance,
FD

Hi, Im having the same issue, did your's ever got resolve, if so what was it, Im going nuts, need to know ASAP, thanks for your help in advance, please help!!
ernie