I am the 5%. What and where did my surgery go wrong? Is a refraction going to help if lenses were blurry too?

Question

First 4 hours after lasik I Clearly saw out of both eyes but when I woke up the next day (3am) my eyes were inflamed. I went into the dr and he refloated and put surgical contact lenses to help w inflammation. I still had clear vision until I woke up the next day with a blurry left eye. A day later my dr removes the lenses however my blurry left eye remained. I am now 4 weeks with no change to my vision. 20/51 left 20/15 right. I am now waiting for the 8 week mark to go back and see my dr.

Lee Katzman, MD · Answer

Without knowing all circumstances its hard to know exactly what occurred with your surgery. You may have experienced a rare situation where the corneas/flaps get inflamed and require re-floating, as you mentioned. If you have any autoimmune diseases (e.g. lupus)  or collagen vascular disease (rheumatoid arthritis), this would be the time to tell your doctor.
The right eye seems to to be doing really well! The left eye may require a longer time to heal. Eventually it will settle down and there will be a refraction that will correct your remaining blurriness. But it may take many months. Because your situation really depends on the appearance of your eye, its impossible for me to speculate. But in my experience, the eye eventually settles down and about 6 months later a subsequent enhancement may be possible. If more time is required, we can sometimes fit you with a contact lens to make the recovery a little easier on you. 
- Lee Katzman MD

I am the 5%. What and where did my surgery go wrong? Is a refraction going to help if lenses were blurry too?

Answers (1)