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Medical Forum / General / Vision / July 2005Tear Break-Up Time and flap question
I had LASIK eight years ago which left me with severe night vision problems. I've tried several types of RGP lenses but cannot tolerate any of them for more than two hours a day. I have been told I have a 2-3 second tear break up time which is why I can't tolerate the lenses. A second opinion surgeon is suggesting a flap lift to clean out scar tissue followed by suturing the flap back down. She says I have high and low spots on the cornea which is why the tear break up time is so low. It sort of makes sense to me, visualizing wiping a squeegee across uneven glass. The squeegee collects water from the high spots but not the low spots. She is suggesting my eyelids are doing just that. She says I cannot have more lasering because I'm 20:20. I'm hoping the procedure will level the cornea and improve the TBUT. Is that likely? If so, will that allow longer RGP wear? TIA Of course is makes sense that the TBUT would be affected by the regularity of the surface. We see this all the time in the case of EBMD, which is why dry eyes and EBMD often occur together. What I don't understand is how this would affect contact lens wear, since the "squeegee effect" would apply to the surface of the contact lens, which is highly regular. Perhaps the poor TBUT has other additional causes. DrG > A second opinion surgeon is suggesting a flap lift to clean out scar > tissue followed by suturing the flap back down. I hope Dr. Robins chimes in here, but I don't much like the thought of sutures on the cornea. Seems to me they can cause some serious astigmatism of the irregular (bad) variety, and the surgery itself could cause MORE dryness (by additional severing of corneal nerves, thus decreasing corneal sensitivity (again)... w.stacy, o.d. Thanks for the replies. I seem to have exhausted the other possible treatments for TBUT: blepharitis treatment, cyclosporin, etc. Although I'm 20:20 it's not quality. Even in rainy weather, like today, it's difficult to see well. The RGPs solved 90% of my problems but the poor TBUT makes wear time low. The surgeon is suggesting this in hopes of clearing some of the HOAs. There was no mention of its effect on contacts. I don't expect surgery will do much so I'm banking on it improving the TBUT. Just wondering if anyone had been through the process. Kevin Well, perhaps the proposed surgery WILL increase the TBUT when there is no contact lens in the eye, but I doubt that it will have much effect on the wearability of contact lenses. DrG |
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