How Can Lasik Side Effects Like Droopiness and Dryness Be Fixed?

Question

i am a 27 year old female. i had a lasik surgery done 4 years ago and i've been experiencing side effect from it ever since,such as: dry eyes.droping of my left lid and what i think is an eyebal shifting. Can lasik surgery cause cross eyes? i'm currently wearing glasses again and keep seeing motion movement from the side. what are these?...what can i do to fix these side effect??

Emil William Chynn, MD, FACS, MBA · Answer

I don't think you have true Ptosis which can rarely be caused by the speculum tearing some levator muscle nerve fibers. It's probably pseudo Ptosis caused by dryness. That's why I switched to ASA as surface Ablations don't cut the corneal nerves like LASIK does which is the cause of your dryness. You need permanent punctal plugs and Restasis. Hope this helps

Andrew E. Holzman, MD · Answer

the symptoms of dryness in the eyes is very common post LASIK, but it usually only is temporary in the vast majority of cases, lasting 3-9 months typically.  Drooping of an eyelid is extremely rare and if it does occur, would likely occur immediately post op, not years later.   Cross eyes, and movement disorders are not caused by LASIK.   My immediate concern is that these symptoms are not from your LASIK and that you need to seek attention from an ophthalmologist quickly in order to evaluate you further.

Mark H. Blecher, MD · Answer

Without examing you to find out what exactly is going on with your eyes, its tough to answer your question.  There fore i can only speak in more general terms drawing upon the most recent studies of LASIK patients.  All patients after LASIK have dry eye.  Some more than others, and some had dry eye before LASIK.  It is currently rare for patients to be more after LASIK once you get beyond 3-6 months.  Not impossible but rare.  Over time though, people do get more dry eye just from getting older or having changing hormone levels, or developing other conditions that can have dry eye.

	LASIK does not directly cause a drooping of the eyelid.  Dry eye can cause some relative drooping as the lid tries to protect the irritable cornea.  Again, drooping lids occur with age or for other medical reasons that would need to be ruled out, but the LASIK procedure does not do anything to the lid itself.

	The 'shifting' of your eye is a more complex question.  Many people have a tendency for their eye to shift that comes out more in certain situations such as being tired.  Eyeglass prescriptions that are very large induce some shift of the eyes that most eyes easily adapt to.  In eyes that have a tendency to shift, taking away the large eyeglass prescription can on rare occasion bring out a shift.

	Bottom line, you need a comprehensive exam to sort these many issues.  Best of luck.

How Can Lasik Side Effects Like Droopiness and Dryness Be Fixed?

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How Can Lasik Side Effects Like Droopiness and Dryness Be Fixed?

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