Dry Eyes

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Get a humidifier- makes a world of difference not only on the eyes, but the skin and breathing etc,. . . .
 
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Go to an eye doctor they have now plugs that keep the tears in eye. It takes about 4 seconds to put them in. using cheap liquids is like using cheap oil you find in dollar store makes no sense lose your vision lose your life. VA has to direct you to cheapest for them or Doc. is history . You get what you pay for and you are talking about VISION> WHEW!


So being as the VA just gave me tests that at a civilian hospital would have cost in the neighborhood $20,000, I'm getting sub par care. LOL
 
Originally Posted By: ottotheclown
Go to an eye doctor they have now plugs that keep the tears in eye. It takes about 4 seconds to put them in. using cheap liquids is like using cheap oil you find in dollar store makes no sense lose your vision lose your life. VA has to direct you to cheapest for them or Doc. is history . You get what you pay for and you are talking about VISION> WHEW!


http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/punctal-plugs.htm

Punctal plugs usually are considered when non-prescription or prescription eye drops fail to relieve your dry eye condition.

http://www.aao.org/publications/eyenet/200510/oculoplastics.cfm





Clinical Update: Oculoplastics



Intracanalicular Plugs: Use With Caution



By Marianne Doran, Contributing Writer







Lacrimal plugs can be a godsend for dry eye patients whose symptoms aren't well controlled with artificial tears or ocular lubricants. But that relief can turn to misery if a plug migrates deep into the lacrimal system, blocks lacrimal outflow and causes overflow tearing or infection. Intracanalicular plugs are the primary culprits, although occasionally an external plug inadvertently may be pushed down into the canaliculus during insertion.

Although plug migration doesn't happen often, when it does it can send some patients on an uncomfortable and frustrating odyssey of multiple surgeries to retrieve the plug and repair the damage left behind. Oculoplastic surgeons are the ones who see that damage and are left to try to fix a problem that might have been avoided.

Because intracanalicular plugs are so easy to place and only a small percentage of the plugs get stuck, it's easy to just reach for them and put them in, said John W. Shore, MD, an oculoplastic surgeon with Texas Oculoplastic Consultants in Austin, Texas. But for people who do have one that becomes stuck, it's a huge problem. In some patients the tear duct is totally destroyed, and you have to resort to an artificial tear duct.

Why the Complications
Michael J. Hawes, MD, clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, described how patients end up in his office for surgical removal of a plug sometimes after consulting two or three other doctors. Patients typically start with a dry eye problem, have the device placed to get more moisture on the eye, and it works initially. But after a certain interval maybe a year later the eye becomes too wet, and tears run down their face or well up by their eye.

Hidden trouble. Several factors contribute to potential complications with intracanalicular plugs. The most obvious is that you can't see them once they are in, making it difficult to manipulate the plugs or even to locate them. Moreover, although the plugs are billed as being easily removed, that's not always the case.

The idea was that you could push the plugs in, and then if you didn't need them anymore, you could somehow push them through with a little instrument or flush them out with some hydraulic pressure generated by a syringe and a blunt-tipped needle, Dr. Shore said. The problem is that in some patients the anatomy of the inside of the tear duct prevents the plug from exiting where it is supposed to.

Plugged or unplugged? William L. White, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and ophthalmology, Children's Mercy Hospital, University of Missouri-Kansas City, noted that when you try to squirt a plug out or down into the nasolacrimal duct, you never really know if it's gone. That makes it difficult to assess a plug's efficacy and can lead to repeated plug placements. If a patient doesn't respond to one plug, some people presume it's gone downstream, and they put in another plug or two or three or four, he said. That just makes this bezoar of material that can collect in the lacrimal sac and cause dacryocystitis or lacrimal outflow infection.

These infections and the formation of scar tissue around a plug can cause obstructions and make retrieval difficult. Dr. White noted that the pathophysiology of these occlusions isn't fully understood. We think that when the plug is placed, a reservoir of stagnant tears is left in the upper portion of the canaliculus, and you have a pond for bacteria to grow in, he said. The subsequent inflammatory process makes it so that you can't irrigate or probe the device out of the nasolacrimal duct.



Mush more available, just use google.
 
Originally Posted By: GGorman04
Kuato
Yes I am over 35 and use a computer screen at work. I also noticed that my eyes seem dryer when at home. My house is extremely dry in the winter so that probably makes it worse.

Kira
I have had laser eye surgery but my wife did not and she suffers from the same issues. We both do use the computer alot during the day


Yes, my eyes were, or seemed, very dry. Not saying that eye drops aren't the fix, but try sitting further from the screen or pushing it back on your desk and see if that helps.
 
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: GGorman04
Kuato
Yes I am over 35 and use a computer screen at work. I also noticed that my eyes seem dryer when at home. My house is extremely dry in the winter so that probably makes it worse.

Kira
I have had laser eye surgery but my wife did not and she suffers from the same issues. We both do use the computer alot during the day


Yes, my eyes were, or seemed, very dry. Not saying that eye drops aren't the fix, but try sitting further from the screen or pushing it back on your desk and see if that helps.


Also, taking breaks from staring at the screen may help. Every 15 minutes or so, look out the window and focus at something far away. And make a deliberate effort to blink more frequently.

hotwheels
 
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