I had Lasik 8 months ago with a -5.75 SPH. now I have a -1.0 CYL (astigmatism). I still see star bursting. Is this normal?

Question

I have remained very confused and concerned on my condition. Should I consider an enhancement? Will it help in fixing the star bursting that I'm seeing? Should I consider any medication. (My Opthalmologist has recommended I use FML for a month along with Alphagan for 3 months. I doubt it will help as I tried using it for a short period with no improvements.) I've gone back to wearing glasses which completely defeats the purpose of getting lasik done in the first place.

Mazin Yaldo, MD · Answer

Your vision (and side effects) are most likely stable this
long after LASIK.  If your glasses
correct the starburst, then the astigmatism is causing this.  More surgery can usually reduce your
astigmatism and may be a good option if your corneas are thick enough and if
your topography is normal.  If your
glasses do NOT improve the starbursting then the astigmatism is not causing the
symptom.  It is highly unusual,
though possible, that Alphagan will not help starbursting.  In my experience, it nearly always
helps.  You might want to have
wavefront aberrometry testing done to see what your High Order Aberrations
(HOAs) are, things like spherical aberration and coma which can often cause
night side effects like halos and starbursting.  If these are elevated, you can consider a custom LASIK enhancement to try and reduce the starbursting.

Martin L. Fox, MD · Answer

At eight months out it is likely that your quality of vision issues will not clear and that a refinement procedure to address your complaints will likely be necessary. We usually counsel our patients to wait until their vision stabilizes which usually requires at least sux months. Custom guided wavefront or topography guided retreatment will be necessary. These quality of vision issues are often best treated with surface treatment.

I had Lasik 8 months ago with a -5.75 SPH. now I have a -1.0 CYL (astigmatism). I still see star bursting. Is this normal?

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I had Lasik 8 months ago with a -5.75 SPH. now I have a -1.0 CYL (astigmatism). I still see star bursting. Is this normal?

Answers (2)

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Everything you need to know about LASIK

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.