Richard A. Norden, MD (in memoriam)

A number of possibilities exist here.

The first is that the combination of your thin cornea and the size of your prescription may mean too much tissue removal so that you're turned down for both LASIK and PRK.


Many LASIK specialists feel that a cornea thinner than 500 microns should not have any procedure and turn down patients for both procedures without any evidence that LASIK shouldn't be performed on these patients.


I and a co-author, two years ago, have presented a series of several hundred patients that have undergone LASIK successfully with corneas thinner than 500 microns with some patients having over twelve years of successful follow-up.


My recommendation is to find a LASIK surgeon with this experience and, assuming there are no other contraindications, have LASIK performed.

Richard A Norden MD

Overcorrection with any refractive procedure, be it LASEK, PRK or LASIK, can occur in a small percentage of patients due to healing outside the Bell curve of normal. Overcorrection can and does frequently resolve with time; on occasion it does not. You seem to have a rather large overcorrection for the amount treated during the enhancement -- are you still on steroid eye drops and, if not, for how long after the procedure were you on them? Steroids can sometimes promote an overcorrection. If this doesn't resolve, your surgeon should do a "cycloplegic" refraction (put drops in to relax your focusing and measure your prescription after). You certainly can have another procedure as long as your cornea is thick enough. Your surgeon should easily be able to determine this.

Richard A Norden MD  Ridgewood, NJ

Thermage, even in its most advanced iteration, has very modest and subtle effects. There are many superior radiofrequency alternatives on the market such as Exilis Elite and TruSculpt. Prices vary depending on the center.

The best thing that you can do is wait. A LASIK surgeon may typically "overcorrect" you because you "undershot" the first procedure by treating more than the measured amount, anticipating that with time the "overcorrection" will return to normal. If not, another enhancement can be performed, in general.

You can ride a bike one DAY after LASIK. Exertion at 100% is allowed from the first day on. The most important thing to know is that you must protect your eyes from trauma in the early post-LASIK period (not a bad idea to protect them forever!).