Has anyone out there that has Chiari and had Lasik eye surgery? My vision has gotten a bit worst in the last year (have worn glasses since age 6) - it's always been bad but noticeably now. I had a consultation and I am a candidate for Lasik (I have really bad astigmatism in both eyes). I'm curious who with Chiari has had Lasik and if the effects have been lasting because we all know about the vision issues related to Chiari - seriously annoying!! I'm just at that point where glasses/contacts aren't working for me so something else has to be done. Thanks for reading!
Hi
I had the Lasik surgery in my early twenties, almost 20 years ago. At that time, I was not able to see anything without glasses. Today, I have "fighter pilot" as stated by my optometrist last year. Of course, now that I am in my forties, I will have to consider reading glasses when the time comes.
For ten years prior to my surgery, I would go in to see the optometrist and say that I think that I need reading glasses and that I was having trouble seeing when driving. He would find nothing wrong with my eyes and call it a day. A year before my surgery I started to see double as a default setting but could still focus hard and see with 20/20 vision so again the optometrist and neurologist and neuro-opthomologist found nothing. I then saw a vision therapist, a physical therapist, and a specialized optometrist shortly before and after my surgery that outlined what was happening with my vision when under the Chiari influence.
My eyes themselves were working fine and transmitting clear images to my brain. Chiari does not affect how the eyes as an organ are working. My brain was where the problem was. There are about thirty different vision centers in the brain and that they all need to be working well to have good vision. Chiari placed stress on my brain and some parts of my brain were underperforming - hence the deterioration in my day-to-day functional vision.
I was given exercises to do at home, I did an on-line brain exercise programme ("brain hq" which has good research behind its programme and has a specific vision-centered section), and hands-supported primitive reflex exercises. My vision issues have resolved EXCEPT for when I get tired I find that my peripheral vision slides away from me a bit - just means that my brain is too tired to keep all the images together. Surgery did not magically cure my vision. It just seemed to remove the continual stress on my brain so that I could work on exercises to improve its functioning and, consequently, see better.
Studies with ball players and the elderly show that training the brain with vision exercises improves their functional eye vision and they have less eye strain. It worked well for me.
Hope this was helpful and that you will find your way in understanding and improving your vision.
I am still new to ALL the various Chiari symptoms (which every time time I read about Chiari seems to be more and more!) I had no idea that vision was also affected, can you please enlighten me on vision issues with Chiari please?
I had PRK twice. Once in 2006 that got me to 20/30 and 20/60 and then a touch up in 2012 and I remain at 20/15. However I am also followed by my Opthamologist (sp?) for Pigmentary Dispersion Syndrome which causes incrased eye pressures and could lead to Glaucoma. I was DX with that is 2006 during pre-op for PRK. I had mono summer of 2013 and then in December 2013 I had swollen lymph nodes all over my head and neck, eye sockets hurt when I moved my eyes etc. which were very painful for a few weeks...while on vacation during Christmas week my vision in my left eye went blurry for about 20-30m and then slowly returned...at the ER they told me it was chalazion (clogged oil gland) and to put hot compresses on it. eventually all cleared up.
Followed up at an appt early Feb 2014 and after a visual field exam the doc saw a visual field defect and marked it in my record as due to dry eye unknown to me. fast forward to moving to another state and seeing another doc and in July of 2014 I had a repeat visual field exam and the same spot in the same area was noted...the new eye doc had me repeat the test and again same spot. I was also given restassis for dry eye. I was referred to a new opthamalogist and then a retinal specialist who ran the dye in my arm and took pics of my eyes....nothing wrong in any of their professional opinions and they are very educated (wrote books) etc. so that is when the retina specialist referred me for an MRI and then I was found to have Chiari.
The vision field loss is still there and I was told by the NS that it is not related to the Chiari...it has not gotten worse and my visual acuity is still 20/15 and I wear no glasses and I just turned 40. Since I used restassis for a few months I no longer have issue with dry eye but I still do not like to drive at night because all the lights look like fireworks to me...that is the only side effect from the PRK. I love not wearing glasses and I work at a computer all day.
Hi,
I've had some weird problems with my vision but I don't think I'm typical. I got PRK (my corneas were too thin to be a candidate for Lasik) when I was 40. I was severely near sighted (20/300) and it corrected me to 20/40 when I was fully recovered. But it took me 6 months to recover. After surgery I had very blurry surgery and double vision, it was awful. The ophthalmologist said I was part of the small percentage of patients that don't recover right away. Eventually the blurriness and double vision went away and I was happy with the results. 4 years later I was having some blurry vision and went back in. The ophthalmologist did some more tests and discovered I had strabismus and my eyes were out of alignment vertically; which is very unusual (its much more common to be out of alignment horizontally). The starbismus was causing double vision that I probably have had for most of my life. My brain had corrected for it but when I got the PRK my brain had to relearn to correct for my new vision. I got bifocal glasses with a prism to correct for the double vision and now see well (back to 20/40) with them on. I can see fairly clearly without my eyeglasses but need them for reading or driving. I'm now 50 and have to get the prism increased every few years because my vision is getting worse.
It was a long frustrating road to decent vision but I'm happy with the results now. I can function without glasses and don't need the coke bottle lenses anymore :)
I HAVE DOUBLE VISION IN MY RIGHT EYE.
I had Lasik in 2001. I had severe astigmatism in both eyes and without contacts/glasses, was unable to see my fingers or toes clearly. Without vision correction, I could basically just see shapes and movement with some slight colors, I had worn glasses since a young child.
I've been very happy with my Lasik. I wasn't diagnosed with Chiari until late 2013, decompression surgery January 2014. The only lasting side effects from the Lasik has been slight dryness and when looking at lights at night--it's a starburst or firework effect and although that's a bit annoying, in my opinion, it's a small price to pay for being at 20/20 and 20/25 now. I was also one of those that took a couple of weeks to get to full correction--I was told it was because of the astigmatism? Who knows? May have been Chiari related (but this was years before diagnosed with Chiari)? I was certainly able to function during that time, my sight remained at 20/50 and then finally corrected to where it remains today in 2015. I was told I'd need reading glasses at an earlier age than the general population. I'm 41 now and have no need for them so far.
I've never experienced the vision loss I hear others mention--sounds scary. It also sounds like it's usually their left eye that is affected. Interesting since a few years ago I mentioned to my physician that it's ALWAYS my left side that's a problem....if sinuses get infected, it's the left side; if my ear hurts, it's the left one; if glands are swollen, it's on my left side; I have vascular problems, only in my left leg; when I'm tired or feeling like "allergy eyes" it's always worse in my left eye, the vision will look a bit "smeary" with colors bleeding past their borders.
A BIG thank you to Gabby Jazzypants for that explanation of how our brain is involved in vision--I have not known that but it sure does make sense now!!! Before my decompression, I'd have periods of "wavy" vision that would scare me half to death. But NONE of that since surgery. I attribute it to the pressure and the Cerebro-Spinal Fluid pressing on my optic nerve (but I'm no doctor).
Corrinart Paintaings, I wish you all the best with your Chiari and with your vision. Best of luck if you decide to go forward with the Lasik. I don't regret it. Even with dry eyes and slight trouble with starbursts with bright lights, I have so much more freedom now and love not being tied to contacts and/or glasses!
Ya I’m going to go for it. I have had all the same eye issues as you Lindola. I’m hoping that without wearing glasses and contacts that my eyes won’t constantly be tired, which then makes me tired all the time as well! I know being run down is part of Chiari but if I can get rid of the eye strain I believe it’ll help a bit.