>I have an eye that does not make much in the way of tears. The filter
>strip wet about 3mm in 5 minutes. I get along well with my contacts
>except when on airplane flights. Even if I leave the lense out, the eye
>gets very dry and is sore for several days. I have tried every drop,
>lubricant etc I can find. They just do not last very long. Any suggestions.
Dry eyes is a problem that doesn’t sound that serious to the average person,
but it can be very serious, and very difficult to treat successfully. For
one thing, the average patient will use lubrication until their eyes feel
better, and then stop because they feel that they are cured. They do this
despite the fact that we reinforce that they can never stop using
lubrication, although they can taper somewhat once their eyes feel
relatively normal.
But, back to your question. Through trial and error we have found that some
types of tears do work better for some patients than others. The problem
with this is that our end result might be a different drop for every
patient. The first thing I’d try is to purchase 3-4 different types of
tears, preferably the non-preserved type. Use each one ever 2-4 hours for
one week and make a mental note of which one you like the best. If this
helps, then continue with the favorite one, but try reducing the frequencey
to 3-4 times a day. If only partial relief is obtained, you might want to
discuss temporary punctal closure with your eye doctor. This is done by
blocking the small tear drainage holes in the corner of your eyes. The
plugs can be very temporary, as in collagen plugs that will disolve within a
few days, or plastic ones that will last until removed or until they fall
out. If this helps, then you might want to consider permanent closure of
the punta by cauterizing the skin. We have had some very good success in
doing this with some patients, but since it doesn’t always work well we
almost always try this with temporary closure first.
Our hot, dry climate here in Utah really aggravates the problem of dry eyes
in elderly folks, and with contact lens wearers. I would estimate that we
see as many as 4-5 people a day with dry eye symptoms, and of those we’re
able to help only a small portion reduce the irritation to a tolerable
state (and I don’t mean Utah).
Good luck, and I hope you are able to find something that works.
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