UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

It has been 5 months to cxl surgery in my right eye. It was a lot blurry for nearly 1 month after the surgery. After that it starts improving and I was feeling good until end of January when I start feeling that my KC is progressing. I cannot exactly remember my vision before the cxl but I think ghosting has slightly increased.

I have a meeting with my doctor on Tuesday but I have some questions in my mind. I have read on internet that there are fluctuation in vision after the cxl. What kind of fluctuations are these and how long do they persist?

Is it the case that cxl stops just after the surgery (cxl) or it takes time and in mean time KC progresses?

Does contact lenses helps in permanent flattening of cornea or it just for the time being?

Thanks in advance!!!

Vision can fluctuate up to 12 months after CXL (and longer if you've experienced any hazing like I have) in fact the cornea actually gets thinner before it repairs itself, so scans just a few months after CXL can be worrying! Prescriptions will probably change, I got some new contacts in December which were absolutely brilliant vision wise but I can feel they're going out now slightly, as I have to squint a bit to get perfect vision again (well, not perfect, but you know what I mean)

Contacts will unfortunately never have any any effect on the flattening of the cornea, however you might find CXL reduces your astigmatism as a positive side effect, which it has with me.

Thank you Cripps for your experience. Can you tell me specifically what kind of fluctuations you noticed during recovery time ?

It's nothing I've noticed day to day... it's just as I said, mainly prescription changes. But where I have the corneal haze I've noticed over a very long amount of time the awful light reflections have been changing and warping slightly. The right hand bit of my reflections were circular but now they're more of a straight line. All very strange, just hope it actually decreases eventually!

Hi

I had CXL two years ago and experienced the same thing as you are stating. My light sensitivity and ghosting were worse in the first 6 months following the CXL however by my 1 year check up things had started to stabilise in the right eye. My left eye took longer to stabilise and i have had 3 new sets of glasses within the two years due to this (cant wear lenses). My vision has returned to what it was post op in both eyes 2 years on [although my right eye is progressing...]. Stick with it and fingers crossed it all sorts itself out. x

Thanks for that information, it's good to hear about what happens after the initial 12 month period as there seems to be very little data out there!

Did you actually experience corneal hazing?

Only in my right eye which is worse anyway and does sod all! But the symptoms have gone now

How long did that take? I'm just starting to see improvements in my hazed eye, but the light reflections haven't gone down a bit have heard this can happen to normal post-CXL procedures so worried it'll stick!

A fair while unfortunately... I was referred to see some other consultant (really long name i cant remember!) to look at other causes. It was in the September it started clearing so must have been... 14-15 months... I struggled with light reflection/sensitivity before CXL as well and im still sensitive. Fingers crossed for you. SO frustrating.

A fair while unfortunately... I was referred to see some other consultant (really long name i cant remember!) to look at other causes. It was in the September it started clearing so must have been... 14-15 months... I struggled with light reflection/sensitivity before CXL as well and im still sensitive. Fingers crossed for you. SO frustrating.