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POST-LASIK
COMPLICATIONS
WHAT ARE POST-LASIK COMPLICATIONS?
LASIK and PRK are two refractive surgery procedures that can provide excellent results to patients. However, in rare cases, patient may find that they have some complications after their surgeries that we can help fix with specialty contact lenses.
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These complications may include:
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1.) Severe dry eye that doesn't resolve after many months post-operation.
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2.) "Ghosting" of images.
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3.) Decrease in contrast sensitivity of images.
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4.) Eye pain
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5.) Corneal ectasia
These result from alterations to the cornea. Whenever the shape of the cornea is changed, it changes how light bends when it hits the cornea. With an abnormal bending of light, an image hits the retina and creates images that are not as sharp as they could be.
HOW CAN THESE BE FIXED?
Some of these complications can be fixed, or managed, with scleral contact lenses.
These are lenses that help create a "new" corneal surface that is more regular, allowing light to hit the retina in a straight line. This results in sharper images.
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In cases of extreme dryness that lasts well beyond the first 8-12 months post-surgery, scleral lenses may be discussed as an adjunct therapy.
Scleral lenses are filled with saline solution and place on the eye. This allows the cornea to be moisturized all day long and helps some very severe cases of dryness.
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Scleral lenses can help those with post-LASIK complications in the following ways:
1.) Managing post-operative dry eye
2.) Reducing halos
3.) Reducing ghosting of images
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Patients with large pupils tend to experience more halos, ghosting, and irregularities to their vision compared with those with smaller pupils. Many times, adding higher order aberration (HOA) correction to the scleral lenses helps to sharpen the vision, since HOAs are more prominent when the pupil is large.
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