Patient letter to eye doctor seeking help for floaters after LASIK

I am thirty years old, and I underwent the Lasik procedure back in late September of 2008. My left eye healed very fast, and today I have excellent vision in it without any problems. However, while my right eye improved, I am still nearsighted in it. That is, I have trouble reading a street sign more than fifteen feet away.

But my main problem is that I now have several floaters in my right eye. Yet one larger one causes me the most concern because it is very mobile and large enough that I see it whenever I am outside, and usually when I am inside too. Also, it's very prominent as I work on a computer. I do not notice it at night or in a dimly lit room.

During my surgery, the doctor had difficulty suctioning my right eye, making a total of four attempts-breaking suction between each try-before she could gain proper suction. I am not sure when the floater first appeared, but I remember seeing it as far back as a few weeks after surgery. At the time, I believed it was some non-descript mass that would go away over time, and it did not concern me. In fact, I thought it was part of the healing process. But, a month ago, while looking up at a projection screen, I noticed it very distinctly. I then looked it up on the internet and discovered what it was. Since then, I have been very concerned about it.

I went to my lasik surgeon who said she saw floaters in both eyes, and wasn't sure how I got them. She examined my eyes and said there was no retinal-detachment. She said there was nothing that could be done about it, and that it would never go away, but that an additional surgery (an enhancement) on my right eye would not cause more floaters, since there is very little pressure on the eye during an enhancement.

My questions, then, are the following:

1) Will this floater go away?

2) Is there any treatment available?

3) Do you anticipate any treatment becoming available in the future?

4) Will another surgery (an enhancement) cause another floater?

Answer from a retinal specialist:

1) Will this floater go away?

Over time the brain is quite resilient and will adjust to its "new reality". However floaters don't go away. The posterior cavity of the eye that houses the vitrous is a closed space and floaters don't "escape.

2) Is there any treatment available?

None that I endorse.

3) Do you anticipate any treatment becoming available in the future?

Perhaps, but nothing in the near term.

4) Will another surgery (an enhancement) cause another floater?

Probably due to the "trauma" of the suction he may develop further liquifaction of the vitrous and result in further floaters. The important thing to be aware of is a sudden increase in floaters or flashes could be precursors to traction on the retina resulting in tears or detachment of the retina.

More information about post-LASIK floaters


Disclaimer: This information is NOT intended to be used as medical advice. The information contained on this web site is presented for the purpose of warning people about LASIK complications prior to surgery. Persons experiencing vision problems or other eye problems should seek the advice of a physician.