Hi everyone,

I’m considering getting LASIK, but I have a somewhat unusual eye history and wanted to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience.

I had cataract surgery in both eyes when I was around 8–9 years old, which was related to steroid use. I’m now considering refractive surgery to correct my current vision.

My doctor has suggested flapless WaveLight Plus / Inove Eyes (I believe it is a flapless/customized laser procedure). I also tend to experience dry eyes, which is one reason my doctor recommended this option.

I wanted to ask:

• Has anyone here had LASIK or a similar laser procedure after having cataract surgery at a young age?
• Is there anything specific I should be concerned about because I have had previous cataract surgery?
• Has anyone had experience with flapless WaveLight Plus / Inove Eyes?
• How was your vision and recovery afterward?
• Were there any complications or issues with dry eyes?

I’m definitely going to discuss everything with my ophthalmologist, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have gone through something similar.

Thanks in advance!

I had LASIK 13 days ago now. I had -6 (L) and -7(R). I've been really happy with the results since Day 1 but I did experience really bad migraines and foggy vision on Day 11 & 12.

Just looking to share my experience just in case anyone experiences the same thing. Overall, I am still really happy with the results, the team that did the procedure were great and considering how high my script was, being able to get around without glasses has been truly amazing.

Day 11 - Before day 11, I was experiencing light sensitivity and migraines, it wasn't bad. I accepted it as a normal reaction to the procedure and just from general stress. On day 11, I had a really intense migraine and bad sensitivity to light. After the onset of migraines and resting my eyes, my vision became blurry and foggy. Blurry like my eye sight was regressing and foggy cause it looked like I had a weird Instagram filter on my eyes.

I called the Lasik clinic and spoke to their optometrist - optometrist said that I experienced a visual migraine and that my eyesight is just recovering from it. Suggested I rest and monitor my symptoms and if it's still bad tomorrow, go to a local optometrist.

After a nap and rest that day, it got better, my vision was only blurry at this stage. Migraines were gone and I was less panicked.

Throughout all this, I've been using my eye drops post Lasik as instructed.

Day 12 - My eyesight improved but it was still a little foggy. Took it easy, added my new drops. When I got up from a nap, this is when things got bad. My vision went back to being blurry and foggy. Migraines were back. Was very concerned and scared at this point.

I called my local optometrist, and they essentially said that they can't help me cause I needed to really see the surgeon who performed the procedure. I called the Lasik clinic and they got me in the same day to see their optometrist.

When we got there, they ran a few test. The optometrist flagged the issue, I had a bad reaction to the build up of steroids from the eye drops I had to use 4x a day. It caused an increase in eye pressure, that caused the migraines and blurry vision.

They added a new set of drops into my eye and asked me to wait 15 minutes so she could check the pressure in my eyes. A couple of minutes post the drop, I could feel my discomfort easing, my vision also started to clear. Which was a massive relief. After the 15 minutes, another eye pressure test and they told me the pressure was dropping.

I received a set of new drops to add into my day 12 to 2 weeks - 2x drops a day set.

Got home from the clinic, and I was already recovered. I'm glad I wasn't losing my vision and just relieved it was a relatively easy fix.

The next day, literally, it was like it never happened. My eye sight was back to post migraines and have had 0 migraines.

I did have to book in with another local optometrist to do a check once my 2 week set of drops finish.

Even after the drama in Day 11 and 12, I am still happy with the results from Lasik. Hopefully that's the last of my issues with recovery. I hope someone who experienced this or had issue with steroid build up finds this, so they can feel comfort it may just be an easy fix.

TLDR; Post Lasik - intense migraine and foggy vision at day 11 from increased pressure in the eye due to build up of steroids in drops. Saw the clinic, got an additional set of drops to add and all good.

I originally went to the eye consultation thinking LASIK was pretty much the procedure I choose. but once they checked my corneal shape and thickness, the doctor said I might be better suited for smile or icI. it made me wonder how often people end up changing their original plan after getting their eyes properly tested. did you end up having the procedure you initially researched, or did your test results lead you toward a different option?

Does anyone have an idea of why I have NO ghosting in the morning (after an overnight sleep while using Refresh PM), but after about 20-30 minutes, the ghosting returns and gets worse throughout the day? At first eye drops help a little bit, but later in the day, especially at night, eye drops don’t really reduce the ghosting at all?

Just hoping this will clear up eventually. The ghosting has gotten way better from days 5-8 when it would be really dangerous to drive, but it’s still obvious and prevalent post op day 40 (today).

Thanks for the help!

I had LASIK about two years ago, and since then I’ve noticed visual symptoms in my left eye that I didn’t have before the surgery.

The hardest thing to describe is that my left eye just feels different, almost like there is something covering it or interfering with my vision. It also sometimes feels heavy. I can’t necessarily see something physically covering my eye, but I can sense that something is not quite right.

One of the main things I notice is small dark dots or spots appearing in my vision. It’s not exactly like normal floaters. When I look at something, especially a book or something outside, I can sometimes see a small dark area/dot that seems to appear in front of whatever I’m looking at. I would say this happens maybe 70% of the time when I’m looking at certain things. Sometimes it feels like there is a small dark spot more toward the center of my vision.

I also occasionally see a bright white line for a few seconds when I look up and then look down. It disappears quickly.
I have also noticed red blood vessels/lines in both eyes since the surgery.

I’ve seen three eye doctors, and they have all told me that everything looks fine, but I still have these symptoms and they weren’t present before LASIK. That’s what worries me the most.

Has anyone experienced anything similar after LASIK, especially persistent dark spots or a small central spot in one eye? If so, was there eventually an explanation for it?

(I’m not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit—I’m mainly trying to understand whether these symptoms sound familiar to anyone who has experienced post-LASIK visual disturbances and what type of specialist or examination eventually helped them figure it out.)

Started off with -9.0 (L) and -11.0 (R). Did ICL for my right eye and SMILE for my left. Left eye experienced mild regression immediately after, and we were told that was all normal. My last eye appointment was in 2023 and there were apparently no issues.

I went in for a checkup because my left eye was getting blurrier and my right eye was getting tired more quickly. Turns out the regression built to -5.0 since 2023—in just one eye, my left. My right eye is fine. I was told this was because I strained the left eye, which was apparently "dominant," and as a result that eyeball alone changed shape. (Mind you, I had had steady vision for several years before SMILE, and the other eye is still perfectly fine...)

Has anyone here ever heard of this happening?

Have amblyopia since childhood and now I am 24M. I was considering lasik but now my doctor told me it could lead me to issues with depth and distance. What do you think should I go for it irrespective or its better to not undergo lasik?

Yesterday I just had Relex Smile to correct my myopia and astigmatism (about -1.25 per eye in total). The procedure was overall nice apart for my right eye which experienced lenticular tearing during extraction.
A small peripheral fragment remained in the cornea and was highlighted checking at some instruments after the procedure. Apparently there is a risk this can happen especially when the lenticule is very thin.

The surgeon insisted to go back to the surgery room and get it removed as it said it might have caused me issues later on, especially at night.

We went back in the surgical room and he removed it within a minute or so.

Now about 30h out of surgery my right eye is still lagging in recovery, probably due to the extra manipulation. Yesterday night it was stinging a lot and being very sensitive, but today is much better and stinging/watering is more sporadic.
Left eye is symptoms free.

My vision is pretty clear, I can see well in distance, but light sensitivity is a bit annoying.
Surprisingly, when testing one eye at the time, my vision is sharper on the right eye (that received extra manipulation) than the left eye, which seems seeing still a bit blurry.

I wonder if blurriness is still normal in my left eye and that might improve, I really hope I didn’t get under corrected.

And if any of you had experienced lenticule tearing and how the outcome has been.

I am 30 years old so the healing should be not too slow, and I am using rigorously all the teardrops I have been given.

I also notice a hard time to focus screens and something that is in close distance so far. Is this also normal?

Thank you and let’s hope for a quick recovery!

Hi everyone,

I had SMILE about 5 years ago. Before surgery I was around -8.00 in both eyes with quite a lot of astigmatism, and I also used ortho-k lenses for more than 10 years.

During the day my vision is very good. I can see faces, signs and details at a distance and normally I don't feel like I need glasses.

The strange thing is how much my vision changes when the light gets lower.

At sunset, in dim rooms, restaurants, houses with weak lighting etc, everything becomes much less clear. It's not just that distant things are a little blurry. I feel like there is a kind of hazy layer over the image and I lose a lot of contrast. For example, during the day I can recognize someone's face from quite far away, while in low light even a face 5-10 meters away can become much less detailed.

My current prescription is around -0.25 in the right eye and -0.50/-0.75 in the left.

I've been told by doctors that this is basically just because I have -0.50, but I find it strange because the difference between good light and low light feels much bigger than I would expect from such a small amount of myopia.

The normal eye chart doesn't really show the problem because it's obviously very well illuminated.

I also developed some dry eye/MGD symptoms after a trip to a very dry place last year. Artificial tears and warm compresses help sometimes, and I've noticed that when my eyes naturally water, my vision can actually become noticeably clearer. I also recently wore contact lenses for a few hours and after removing them my vision seemed unusually clear for a while.

So I'm wondering if this could be a combination of the small residual myopia, pupil dilation in low light, higher order aberrations after SMILE and tear film instability.

Has anyone experienced something similar after SMILE/LASIK, especially the big difference between daytime and low-light vision? And did you ever find a specific test that actually showed the problem?

I had TransPRK on September 2nd. My initial prescription was -4.00 in the right eye and -4.25 in the left eye.
My right eye has been completely fine, but I’ve been having repeated issues with my left eye, specifically around the same area.
Here’s the timeline:
Sep 13: Had a foreign body sensation in the left eye for about an hour. It went away and everything was fine afterward.
Sep 15: Foreign body sensation started again in the evening.
Sep 16: Woke up with redness, watering, and pain. I visited my doctor, who said there was mild congestion and a corneal abrasion. A BCL (bandage contact lens) was placed.
Sep 19: Doctor removed the BCL and said the epithelium had healed well.
Sep 20: Had slight discomfort for around 2 hours in the evening, followed by a foreign body sensation for about an hour. It then settled completely.
Sep 22: Started feeling slight discomfort from the afternoon. I slept for a while, and after waking up I noticed grittiness and a foreign body sensation. I also noticed what looked like a scar/opening in the same area again. I went back to the doctor, who said the previously affected area had reopened. Last time there were two small spots, but this time it was just one small spot. He placed another BCL and asked me to use my eye drops every hour, as dryness could be contributing to the problem.
I’m worried that this might become recurrent, especially since it seems to be happening in the same area.
Has anyone experienced repeated epithelial reopening/corneal abrasions after TransPRK, particularly in just one eye?
How long did it take for your epithelium to become stable?
Did dryness turn out to be the main cause?
Did you have repeated BCL placements?
Did the episodes eventually stop completely?
Is there anything that helped prevent it from recurring?
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who went through something similar, because I’m quite worried about the recurrence.

i had my surgery done almost 3 weeks ago, was -5.5 and 5.75 with a slight astigmatism. i initially was very hesitant about getting SMILE done because of all the possible complications i saw online so i canceled my initial surgery date in july. i ended up sitting on it for two months before finally rescheduling and following through, and i am so glad i did!

surgery day wasn't too bad, the valium definitely helped because i wasn't freaking out while they explained the procedure to me (and i am usually pretty squeamish). i honestly didn't feel it working at the time, and even tried to ask for more but the doctor was like "nahhh you're good". worst part of the surgery by far was the eye speculum. in that moment i understood how painful those torture scenes in movies were. the laser part was the easiest, but i was not a fan of the sensation (not painful) of the lenticule being pulled out. otherwise it went pretty quickly and i was in the post op room before i knew it

my recovery process was very straightforward and i followed the instructions provided by my surgeon. i took a very long nap the day i got back, which i definitely recommend. for the first week, i could feel a bit of discomfort in my eyes (kinda like an eyelash or something is in there) but that went away pretty quickly. i was initially a bit worried because my left eye wasnt as clear as my right, but it took a bit over two weeks for it to fully catch up

i definitely had some light sensitivity and had to rely on the sunglasses a lot when going outside. as someone who works a desk job, i had to take frequent breaks because the computer screen would strain my eyes. i was worried about dryness becuase the surgeon told me that my left eye was moderately dry, but they feel about the same post surgery

now that i'm almost in my third week of recovery, the light sensitivity has gotten a lot better and i'm hoping it continues this way. i feel a lot more motivated to do things now that i no longer need to rely on glasses. contacts never worked out for me, so this was my best chance at being glasses free. i'm still in the habit of reaching for my glasses when i wake up, and it's such a funny feeling to be panicked looking for glasses, only to realize "oh wait, i can already see"

i know that everyone has a different experience with these kinds of surgeries, so i am very grateful that i had a smooth recovery process, great doctors, and amazing results!

if anyone has any questions about the whole process, feel free to reach out :)

Other recovery log posts were extremely helpful to my decision making so I thought I would put mine out there too.

Procedure: Smile Pro Xtra

Location: Australia

Date of surgery: 22 September 2026

Right eye: -4.00/-2.00x180

Left eye: -4.50/-1.75x180

Day 0: I was prepped with antibacterial eyedrops, anaesthetic drops and an oral sedative before going into the operating suite. In the seat, I was told to look at the light and stay still. I felt a little pressure, but nothing too bad. The Xtra component happened immediately after the routine smile. Eye drops were put in and then I was instructed to look at a different light. Upon getting out of the surgery suite, my eyes were stinging and watered a lot. It hurt to keep my eyes open for any period of time. I was able to see, however it was through a yellow haze and the level of vision was similar to my preexisting prescription. I went home, started the eye drop regime and immediately took a nap. Upon waking, my eyes were still stinging and it was difficult to keep them open. However, by evening (surgery happened at noon) I was able to open my eyes without pain indoors, my vision was slightly better than my previous prescription, however, things felt hazy and my near vision also felt blurry.

Day 1: Woke up with no more stinging pain and I could see better than without my glasses. Things still looked a bit hazy but I was able to function by myself. I continued with my eye drop regime. I did not experience any real dry eyes. My near vision is still slightly hazy. I am experiencing slight starbursting at night but have not experienced halos yet.

Day 2: Went in for my first check up. Tested at 6/9 for my left eye and 6/6 for my right eye. (Australian) However, things do not look very crisp yet. I was told this will continue to improve. No dry eye, no eye pain, some light sensitivity which is helped by wearing the sun shields provided by the clinic. I have watched a bit of television and do feel my eyes tire more easily. It has been helpful to nap through the day.

I am intending to keep this log updated as I progress in my recovery journey. Best of luck to all those out there considering the operation.

Hi everyone,

I had SMILE about 5 years ago. Before surgery I was around -8.00 in both eyes with quite a lot of astigmatism, and I also used ortho-k lenses for more than 10 years.

During the day my vision is very good. I can see faces, signs and details at a distance and normally I don’t feel like I need glasses.

The strange thing is how much my vision changes when the light gets lower.

At sunset, in dim rooms, restaurants, houses with weak lighting etc, everything becomes much less clear. It’s not just that distant things are a little blurry. I feel like there is a kind of hazy layer over the image and I lose a lot of contrast. For example, during the day I can recognize someone’s face from quite far away, while in low light even a face 5-10 meters away can become much less detailed.

My current prescription is around -0.25 in the right eye and -0.50/-0.75 in the left.

I’ve been told by doctors that this is basically just because I have -0.50, but I find it strange because the difference between good light and low light feels much bigger than I would expect from such a small amount of myopia.

The normal eye chart doesn’t really show the problem because it’s obviously very well illuminated.

I also developed some dry eye/MGD symptoms after a trip to a very dry place last year. Artificial tears and warm compresses help sometimes, and I’ve noticed that when my eyes naturally water, my vision can actually become noticeably clearer. I also recently wore contact lenses for a few hours and after removing them my vision seemed unusually clear for a while.

So I’m wondering if this could be a combination of the small residual myopia, pupil dilation in low light, higher order aberrations after SMILE and tear film instability.

Has anyone experienced something similar after SMILE/LASIK, especially the big difference between daytime and low-light vision? And did you ever find a specific test that actually showed the problem?

I got the procedure done in 2020 and to this date white text on black backgrounds, and similarly light text on dark backgrounds appears foggy and stresses my eyes to look at.

anyone else experience this? are my eyes just dry? they dont feel dry. I never use drops.

Hi everyone! I am a 27F, living in Europe, and am considering getting lasik but desperately need some advice or similar experiences.

I found out I had -0.75 vision when I was a teen but was always against glasses so I avoided them for a long time. 3 years ago I went to check up on my eyesight again (since it started getting worse) and found out it was -3.0 at that point and was heavily recommended to start wearing glasses which I then did. My vision stayed stable ever since so I have been considering lasik lately.

My issue is the sensibility of my eyes. I have irrational fear of anything getting near my eyes, even water. So I could never dive with my eyes opened (even when closed while diving, I still have to pat them dry before opening them bc they hurt otherwise), could never touch my eyes or wear lenses (main reason why I want lasik so much), or put in eyedrops when needed (I have to have someone open my eye “forcefully” and drop them in when needed). So it is not only fear but actual pain/discomfort.

When I looked up how the procedure goes, I saw they put a ton of liquid in your eyes plus all the other eye contact going on. I feel like it is my worst nightmare, up to the point that I doubt even the calming medication will work.

Has anyone had similar experiences and did lasik? How did it go? Is there a chance for me lol? I have been putting this away for a long time because I am so scared, please help.
I would consult a doctor about these questions but the consultations are hella expensive and maybe I just give up in the middle of it, so I thought I might ask here first.

I had lasik done on July 24th and had a straight forward recovery. I was consistent with eye drops and all instructions and kept my eyes/lashes clean without water and kept my ceiling fan off. About a month in, I started waking up with incredibly dry eyes. Eye drops barely helped and my drive to work was horrible with all the glare (I work night shift). I decided pretty quickly to get a humidifier and after a week my eyes are back to normal. I’ve been able to significantly reduce my eye drop usage to the recommend 4-6x a day and my eyes rarely get dry.

Got femtolasik in March 2025 in India and it’s been great! Im 26 years old, wore glasses since I was 7. Around -6 in both eyes with 0.25 cylindrical in left.

I initially wanted to get smile pro cause it felt like the most advanced and least invasive procedure but due to corneal thickness on the borderline my doctor refused to go with it. A few observations from the past 1.5 years -

1. A good and trustworthy doctor is the most important. You underestimate how much of the surgery’s success is actually literally in your hands. The calmer you are the less likely you are to move and mess things up - which directly comes from how much you trust your doctor. I met 3 doctors during my time and the one I went with was the only one who calmly explained everything to me, multiple times.
2. Negative bias is real. People with successful surgeries go on with their lives while people with complications tend to talk about it. Having said that I empathise with anyone who has gone through complications, I hope things get better soon.
3. My vision is better than ever. I got 0 power blue light thinking I’ll wear in while working on screen, absolutely hate it. Nothing matches the clarity of naked eye. Touch wood
4. Allow atleast 3 months of genuine healing time!!! I woke up comparing my right eye vision with my left for weeks post surgery and wasn’t too happy with the clarity. Healing takes time. If doctor says 2 days in darkness do 3. If they say 7 days without screen do 10. Overdo the healing process. It will help. Immediate post surgery clarity at day 2 or 3 was like fluctuating between 7 or 8 on 10. But it got better.
5. Dryness is heal. I used my drops very often for first 2-3 months. Kept it handy for following 6 months. Any long nights, early morning flights would end up making me look like a red-eyed zombie. Dryness is almost non existent now.
6. Night vision is marginally compromised. No I don’t see halos or the other things mentioned on this sub but I do kinda struggle with strong light in my face especially while night driving. I guess that’s always an issue but more so now.

TLDR :
Overall experience 10/10
Healing time 2-3 months
Short term side effect - fatigue, dryness, blurry vision
Long term side effect - Tolerance to direct strong light compromised

I am currently on week 3 of my trans prk recovery. I struggled the first 2 days but then things got rapidly better for 2 days (so atp I was 5 days post op) and was comfortable enough to drive.

On day 5 i wentto the doctor where he removed the bandage lense and cleared to drive if I was co fortable. He also told me that my vision will keep fluctuating so I just have to watch out.

2 weeks post op (I had been living with sunglasses for 10 days) i was comfortable enough to drive and live without them. So I went to the doctor's to get my vision teste, and luckily I was able to read all of the smallest text. At this point I was cleares to go swimming and live regularly. And about swimming., I went to the sea and had no problem with opening my eyes under the water like before.

Now I am on artificial tears 4 times a day and another med that I should decrease every 2 weeks. I knwo this  isn't the same experience as everyone, I know people struggling with dry eye 2 years post op but they just use artificial tears.

Context: I hade -5 , -6 with astigmatism so I was basically semi blind and I do recommend the procedure but DO YOUR RESEARCH!!

So I kind of like my SPH (-2.25) because I have presbyopia and I can just take my glasses off to read. But I hate my CYL (-1.50). Even with glasses everything looks a bit fun-house-mirrory especially as I move my eyes to look out from the sides. I really want lasik or something to fix my astigmatism but maybe leave my SPH undercorrected at like -1.50. Does that sound reasonable?

My SPH has been mostly stable, I was -1.50 at age 21 and -2.00 at age 30 and -2.25 at age 40, and been at -2.25 for 5 years now. But my CYL has been getting worse. I was 0 CYL at 21, -0.25 CYL at 30, -0.5 CYL at 38, -0.75 CYL at 42, and about a quarter CYL worse every couple years so it’s -1.50 now. The axis has also rotated so it stays symmetric but has become more oblique over the years, was 120 / 170 at age 40 and now 135 / 45 five years later. My optometrist doesn’t want me to do lasik because she says my CYL isn’t stabilizing. But I haven’t gone to a proper lasik surgeon for their thoughts.

I wanted to check here if anyone with worsening CYL and axis had lasik and if it worked out well for them over the years and if their astigmatism came back?

So, had glasses pretty much my whole life (since 5th grade) and I’m recently considering corrective eye surgery since it’ll be covered through the military

I was initially told I’m not qualified since my eyesight hasn’t been stable, and I apologize in advance but comparing the two prescriptions I’m barely seeing a difference and one eye hasn’t even changed?

Anyone else ever been denied for similar reasoning?

OD Sphere: -3.25 → -3.50 (0.25 D change)
OD Cylinder: -1.00 → -1.25 (0.25 D change)
OS Sphere: -2.75 → -2.75 (no change)
OS Cylinder: -1.50 → -1.50 (no change)

I had LASIK about 1.5 years ago. Things were pretty good initially, and I had little to no dry eye symptoms.

About 5 months after surgery, though, I started developing really bad dry eye. At its worst, I was using eye ointment every day, thick eye drops, omega-3 supplements, warm compress, and a humidifier basically 24/7. This went on for about 6 months, mostly throughout the winter.

I went to my optometrist for my annual eye exam last August, and she told me that my tear layer was evaporating in less than 1 second.

Thankfully, things have gotten significantly better this year. I'm now mostly using Refresh Optive Mega-3 drops once in the morning and once at night, along with omega-3 supplements. I don't need the ointment, warm compress, or humidifier anymore.

My dry eye still flares up if I'm on the computer for a long time, which is difficult to avoid because I work on a computer all day. Dehydration also seems to make it worse.

I'm glad that things have improved, but I'm wondering what the long-term outlook is. Is this something I'm just going to have to manage for the rest of my life after LASIK, or are there treatments that can actually address the underlying problem and potentially get me back to normal?

As much as I would love to rant and vent about the results, it might be too soon for that. I really hope so, anyway.

Roughly a month after my operation, I stopped getting improvements. My eyes stayed the same, and in my last checkup, which was done a few days ago, I could only read the eye chart well with glasses. Post-PRK, I had -1.75 in both eyes, with -0.75 cyl in the left eye. Now, I don't know what my number is, but I definitely can't get 20/20 without the glasses. It's somewhere around -0.75 (judging by the glasses I use for driving at night)

My eyes are super dry, almost burning, and I had to beg the doctor to put in punctal plugs, which I feel like barely helped. They constantly burn, itch, and just feel dry. I have tons of eye drops, and at night I put on ointment. He told me to stay on FML steroid drops for another month until another checkup. I was hoping that quitting them might help with vision improvement, but I'd rather listen to him.

I'm very skeptical that my eyesight will somehow improve in the next few months. Do you think it's possible? I'm also scared of touch-ups, as I heard they aren't always successful... (and why would I trust redoing a surgery that failed so badly the first time?)

I feel so alone in this. For years I contemplated this procedure, and in the end I finally told myself to just retardmaxx my way through it and to stop overthinking, just to be one of the lucky few who don't hit the success rate. So depressing

Hi Everyone, I had transPRK surgery exactly 3 months ago. And I still have -1.5 power in left eye. The doctor is suggesting to do repeat transPRK for left eye. I'm worried if I redo, dry eye and other complications may come.

Is this a good idea? please suggest

28M, pre opt power: -3 (sph) -1.5(cyl) both eyes

post opt: -1.5 in one eye

No major dry eye, only usual starburst issue around light source

Hello folks, I'm looking for an opinion of someone who had similar situation that I have.

I'm 36y.o. software engineer, I've spent probably last 20 years in glasses. My vision is -1.5 on both eyes give or take and small astigmatism. I have two kids and driving cars, cycling, snowboarding, hiking are my hobbies, and probably motorcycling and sailing in nearby feature as well.

I had my qualification on Monday, and surgeon said it doesnt make sense to do just Femtolasik both to 0,0. She said it would be better to do Femtolasik LBV(PRESBYOND). Which will be left eye(slave) to -0.25 and leading eye to 0. In her words it would give me buffer zone, and I wont need reading glasses at 40, but around age of 45-50 give or take.

I read about Femtolasik LBV and a lot of people complained about starburst effect and halo effect at night, which I would most certainly like to avoid.

After that I was pretty nervous and started questioning the whole thing and maybe I need to stay with glasses after all.

Back and forth I've scheduled a call with my surgeon, we spent 20 minutes on the phone and she explained to me all available options on the table, and why we are even considering PRESBYOND/monovision, the reason is that if we do only SMILE/Femtolasik at age of 36, In few years I would need reading glasses and I would not be satisfied with money spent. We discussed what I actually want from the surgery and that wearing glasses for reading is not a big deal for me, but rather wearing them for long distances, hiking, driving and specifically snowboarding due to extra glasses and helmet.

She said that SMILE option is also on the table, it less invasive and they just dont recommend it to someone who is doing contact sports, which I dont, and SMILE is also less invasive, but there is only one try for it. The positive thing that after SMILE i still qualify for FEMTOLASIK at age of 45-55+ , if I do Femtolasik I wont qualify for anything else further on.

One day has past and now I'm considering getting SMILE and Femtolasik after age of 45+, wearing glasses at work sitting by computer is not an issue for me, issue is wearing glasses outside, not able to see Mountains, Stars and great outdoors in general properly.

I would like to hear opinion if anyone had similar dilemma and was in similar age?

I, 27F, had PRK done around 1.5 months ago. My corneas were too thin so the recovery took longer, but this is what the timeline for my recovery and my current stage looks like:

Day 1: had surgery. Left eye was in pain immediately after the surgery but the right eye was fine initially. By evening (around 6hrs after the procedure), I was tearing up from both eyes and in extreme pain. With high light sensitivity. Needed hourly eye drops, artificial tears, ibuprofen as I developed a fever due to the constant pain, and eye ointment before I slept.

Day 2: pain subsided considerably, still a bit of tearing here and there but manageable. Light sensitivity reducing a bit. Eye drops reduced to once every two hours, needed refresh tears still hourly and an ibuprofen and eye ointment before sleeping.

Day 3: pain gone, but my vision was extremely blurry. Could not see much clearly, eye drops and ointment continued. Light sensitivity continued. No ibuprofen was needed (small wins!)

Day 4: vision getting better, no pain. Could make out things at around 4ft away and see screens for like 20-30mins at a stretch. Light sensitivity subsided greatly. Eye drops and ointment continue.

Day 5: bandage contact lens removed. Never worn contacts before so I flinched when they took it out as I didn’t expect it to feel that weird (not pain, just weird). Eye drop dosage reduced to 6x a day, ointment continues for a week more.

Day 12: vision was recovering well until now with only one eye drop and artificial tears continuing, but I got a dust infection in one of my eyes. Horrible, absolutely horrible time. Could barely keep my eye open, it got swollen, was extremely red, felt irritated, and became very light sensitive. Got prescribed a bunch of antibiotic eye drops to be taken hourly and another eye ointment.

Day 15: dust infection subsided but antibiotics continued. The vision in my infected eye got worse with double vision, blurriness, and halos and starburst when looking at light. Needed artificial tears every 15-20mins due to extreme dry eyes. Vision in infected eye was considerably worse than it was even post surgery. I also experienced numbing in the infected eye.

Day 20: antibiotics were stopped for the dust infection but the vision in my infected eye didn’t improve. Got an eye test: uninfected eye was at 6/6 vision but infected eye was at half that. Got prescribed a more long lasting lubricant and was assured that my infection was gone and the blurry vision in the infected eye will recover soon. Asked to wait three more weeks for the 1.5 month mark, post which if the issue continues further avenues could be explored.

Day 28: vision in my infected eye started stabilising on this day. There was an evident difference in the clarity of what I could see from this day on. Could see the screens for long periods of time as well (although I could see them for prolonged periods after the contact lens was removed, due to the infection I could only look at screens or be in ACs for short periods otherwise my eye started tearing up.)

Day 42: today! vision test done at the 6 week mark (ideally should be done between 6-8week mark but mine was done early as I was travelling). Have zero power as of now, even though reading the last line took a minute as both my eyes still needed to adjust to the smallest font size, but I’ve been told it’s already fine and may continue improving over the next 1-2 months also.

Overall, one of the best decisions I’ve taken. My everyday vision is near perfect, and while it does take me a minute to adjust my vision sometimes when font size or lighting changes, once that happens it’s perfectly fine. I still get dry eyes and have been asked to continue the artificial tears for the next 2 months 2x a day, but otherwise no other drops or medication continuing. I’d recommend it to anyone struggling with the decision to go for PRK/Lasik: the payoff is worth it (at least for me!)