Starbursting after PRK

[cdmike112]

I had CustomVue PRK on Nov. 20th 2008. I am currently just under 5 months post op, 20/15 in both eyes but still experienceing some starbursting. It has slowly gotten better over the past month. I was wondering what other peoples experience has been and how long it took for their starbursting to deminish.

 

[UMichfly]

I had noticeable starbursts for a while (at least the first year) after my PRK. After the first month or two, they only occurred when I wasn't as well hydrated as I should have been or if I was very tired and looked at a high contrast (bright on dark) object. After a year...they were completely gone and I have no problems whatsoever now (coming up on 2 years post-op).

Hope this helps. I was nervous as hell about them too but they went away. With the quality of lasers they have out there today (especially with the wavefront guided procedures), the chances of you having long term aberrations (i.e. starbursts, halos, etc) are slim.

 

[Junkball]

Like UMichfly, mine is generally only noticeable when I'm dehydrated and very tired. I generally don't experience it anymore, which is nice as I'm only about 3 months post-op. As others have said, complete healing takes time (like a year), so don't worry for now.

 

[eddie]

I had CustomVue PRK on Nov. 20th 2008. I am currently just under 5 months post op, 20/15 in both eyes but still experienceing some starbursting. It has slowly gotten better over the past month. I was wondering what other peoples experience has been and how long it took for their starbursting to deminish.

Don't tell anyone. Wait awhile.

 

[nugget61]

I had CustomVue PRK on Nov. 20th 2008. I am currently just under 5 months post op, 20/15 in both eyes but still experienceing some starbursting. It has slowly gotten better over the past month. I was wondering what other peoples experience has been and how long it took for their starbursting to deminish.

Don't tell anyone. Wait awhile.

Starbursts will keep you from getting the waiver, and as I was told, they will forever be in your med history, whether or not you still have them, and can permanently DQ you... I'd wait to go for the waiver till you heal enough so they're gone.

 

[spitfiremkxiv]

Starbursts will keep you from getting the waiver, and as I was told, they will forever be in your med history, whether or not you still have them, and can permanently DQ you... I'd wait to go for the waiver till you heal enough so they're gone.

To quote a Navy doc during my recent eye exam:

"Statistics show that pilots and applicants experience very few PRK complications compared to the rest of the population."

Don't be the abnormal applicant that has starbursts.

 

[Aggie08]

I'm 2+ years out and still have them. All I can say is you can get used to them to where they don't affect your performance. So just sssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

[torpedo0126]

wow thats a comforting thing to know in terms of safety...

 

[Kycntryboy]

Could make flying the ball interesting

 

[Jeff29]

To quote a Navy doc during my recent eye exam:
"Statistics show that pilots and applicants experience very few PRK complications compared to the rest of the population."
Don't be the abnormal applicant that has starbursts.

Is this due to the fact that pilots somehow have superior outcomes, or that they just don't tell anyone about their complications? -- I would guess the latter.

Could make flying the ball interesting

Interesting is not exactly the word I used.

The bottom line is that unless the starbursts are ridiculously bad, they will not be detected in an eye exam -- it is almost completely subjective. It is also almost completely disqualifying.

As a little side note, the former head of Navy Refractive Surgery, who developed the Refractive Surgery program for the Navy and Air Force was an F-14 pilot before going to med school (TOPGUN Instructor, highest score ever recorded in a scored ACM exercise at the annual F-14 fighter derby, real underachiever). He claims that he had horrible starbursts and actually thought it was normal before he became an opthomologist.

One of the most significant indicators or starbursts and glare is pupil size vs. treatment zone size. Do you know the size of your fully dilated pupil and the size of the area of your cornea that was treated (it should be on your surgical records)? The other common indicators are bad surgeons and bad luck.

 

[Jeff29]

I'm 2+ years out and still have them. All I can say is you can get used to them to where they don't affect your performance. So just sssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Either yours are not that bad, or you have never flown the ball at night. Hopefully it's the former.

 

[cdmike112]

I went to a reputable doctor, who has performed over 20,000 surgeries and is currently the VISX West Coast Medical Advisor, and trains many of the new doctors in the area. My treatment zone in both eyes was 8mm, my dilated pupils where 6mm.

 

[sanders]

I had PRK done a while back and had perfect results and never experienced any starbursting, but my buddy had slight double vision sometimes and starbursting until about the 5-6 month mark.

 

[bunk22]

Mine lasted for about 6-8 months. I had an eye exam this morning, 6 years and 4 months since I had my PRK. The smallest line the doc put up was 20/15 which I easily read with both eyes. Have a little stigmatism in each eye. Here's hoping that all who have PRK have long lasting good effects.

 

[Jeff29]

I went to a reputable doctor, who has performed over 20,000 surgeries and is currently the VISX West Coast Medical Advisor, and trains many of the new doctors in the area. My treatment zone in both eyes was 8mm, my dilated pupils where 6mm.

8mm plus transition zone, or 8mm including transition zone? What device did they use to measure your pupils?

My doc had done over 15,000 PRK and performed extensive trials for VISX. Unfortunately, it only takes one small mistake.

Hopefully, it will go away over time as it does for many people. You could go back to your doc and ask him to do a wavefront scan to see if you have any significant higher order aberrations (spherical aberration is the most common).