Eye Massage
I had Lasiks over 18 months ago, and still have severe dry eye and "Bit Map Disease." Someday, I will probably look into having my tear ducts lasered shut, since even the permanent plugs disappeared after about two weeks.

I have found that I did better weaning myself off the night ointments - they irritated my eyes throughout the day, feeling swollen, itchy, etc. Now I use Refresh in the morning and at night, and should but do not use them much during the day.

At 4:00 a.m., I massage my eyes gently to make sure the "sticking" is released, and then I get drops in before opening them. I have not had a rip in the epithelium in over four months, so my brain is now well-conditioned not to simply wake me up and open my eyes!! .

It used to be that if I do not use ointment at night, my eyelids would stick to my epithelium and rip it apart, causing extreme pain. My brain has trained me not to open my eyes first thing in the morning, but rather for me to gently massage them first to make sure they are able to open.

I feel my eyes have now settled to where they will always be: 20/40 and 20/100 with more astigmatism than before (more the farther out I look), and lots of starbursts around lights. For that, I wear driving glasses. There is very little astigmatism for close-up work -- so no need for glasses indoors. That's at least one positive. After hearing others' stories, I feel blessed.

I wish you well in your cause. It is a worthy one. I support your efforts for more truthful up-front advertising.

Even though Lasiks improved my visual acuity, I certainly have daily reminders that my eyes are not as healthy as they they were before the surgery.