The vision in my right eye is blurred even after three months of PRK eye surgery. Why?

Question

Hi doctor,

I had PRK eye surgery three months back, and everything went fine. However, when I went for my checkup on day ten after the laser surgery, my surgeon told me I had a herpes simplex infection in my eye. So I started applying Aciclovir eye ointment as prescribed by my surgeon and the virus took a few weeks to go away. The virus was gone last month, and my eyes started clearing up. I started to see 20/20 with my right eye, but there was a double vision which I was told would go away. The double vision started improving, and my left eye got 20/20 as well. However, the vision in my right eye started getting out of focus and double vision increased. It has been three months since my PRK procedure, but considering I had the virus disrupt healing for two months, should I worry about the right eye getting out of focus? My surgeon says that it is normal for vision to get worse before improving again. I am using Tobradex eye drops four times daily, and Systane eye drops as and when needed. Please give your valuable opinion.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I have a question, do you have a history of herpes simplex infection? If not, did you get it from surgery? If that is the case, it is completely abnormal and maybe because of bad disinfection. PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) is known to cause post-operative haze for a period of two to three months. We usually use Tobradex (Tobramycin and Dexamethasone) eye drops during this period to decrease the haze and wetting drops, as you have mentioned above. You are on the right track of post-operation recovery from PRK. Tobradex is a steroid drug that will excite herpes again. Are you on antiviral treatment now? You should measure your intraocular pressure next time you visit your doctor. Also, because of your complaint, I would prescribe another wetting gel to be used before sleep once. Please let me know if you need more information.