Guest guest Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 <<Has anyone found the tear duct plugs to be helpful?>> Hi Kay, Having Sjogrens, I have serious dry eye problems. My Opthamologist plugged both my top and bottom ducts in each eye. He tried the temporary ones but they fell out. So, he put permanent ones in (it hurts a LOT!!!) and I've done a lot better, but still have problems. I had this done about 4 or 5 years ago. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has Dry Eye Syndrome or Sjogrens. Good luck! Dawn in MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 To Kay Braddock I've dealt with severe dry eyes for almost 20 years. Eventually I was diagnosed with secondary sjogren's. Dry eyes are not a minor problem. I went through eleven opthamologists before I met my present opthalmologist and corneal disease specialist that showed me how to cope much better than I had been able to do. And recently we all received an e-mail from TyBJK21 which referred us to WWW.uveitis.org. This is the center which Dr. runs( I believe he's head of Harvard Medical Ophamology Dept.), and who is considered one of the best doctors in the country. He's famous. Anyway, I even saw him back in 1987. If you want, I'll be happy to tell you the ritual I go through each day at least twice a day with hot compresses, massaging the lower eye lid glands, and how I constantly use only preservative artificial tears and only preservative free eye ointment at bedtime. This procedure was a Godsend to me. It helps enormously to cope. If you want, I'll write to you as to how I do everything to make my eyes tolerable and not drive me insane. These eye problems are not to be wrote off as minor. They can almost break you down mentally. So, if you or anyone else wants me to write, just write to me at www..Brazil@.... Bill Brazil/Boston-NH area Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Kay, my sister was prescribed Restasis for dry eyes. Many autoimmune diseases and some of our drugs can cause dry eyes. _RESTASIS® Prescription Eye Drops for Dry Eye_ (http://www.restasis.com/default2.htm) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 I have Sjogren's and have had a lot of problems with dry eye. About 8 or so years ago, I had a corneal erosion from dryness and after that I had my tear ducts top and bottom cauterized (that /really /hurts and left me with pretty impressive shiners :-) ). I go to a different doctor now and when the bottom ones opened again he put plugs in which have stayed. I have had a lot of success with the plugs/cauterization. I also take Evosec for dryness of the mouth and esophagus that made it hard to talk and swallow. It helped that but at the same time, my eyes also were better. It isn't listed to use it that way but it worked for me! Dry eyes aren't minor, even the relatively small erosion I had was extremely painful. Bill, I'd love to know the routine you are using, it sounds very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 just wondering exactly what these " plugs " are that people are having put into their eyes. can someone explain please? james Meg Minnich <mjminn@...> wrote: I have Sjogren's and have had a lot of problems with dry eye. About 8 or so years ago, I had a corneal erosion from dryness and after that I had my tear ducts top and bottom cauterized (that /really /hurts and left me with pretty impressive shiners :-) ). I go to a different doctor now and when the bottom ones opened again he put plugs in --------------------------------- Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs.Try it free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2006 Report Share Posted July 9, 2006 - The plugs are teeny little plastic tear drop shape things (isn't that technical?) that can be inserted into the tear duct to block it so that the tears stay in your eye instead of running out. They are so small that the doctor couldn't find it in the container and had to hunt for about 5 minutes! It only takes a minute to put them in and doesn't hurt at all. I think they are a great innovation! Meg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 10, 2006 Report Share Posted July 10, 2006 << just wondering exactly what these " plugs " are that people are having put into their eyes. can someone explain please??? Hi , If someone else has answered this, please forgive me as I have lost my emails. They are tiny " plugs " that the doc sticks into your tear ducts. There are temporary ones (I had problems with them as they were always falling out, so I got perm. ones) and permanent ones. They help your eyes to stay moist. To me it seems by plugging them it'd have the opposite effect, but it doesn't! I highly recommend having them if your Opthamologist suggests it! Also, years ago I used Lacricerts in my eyes. They are small pieces of " plastic " that looks like rice and you put them in your eyes in the morning. They sort of 'melt' throughout the day and keep your eyes moist. If I remember correctly, they were pretty expensive...I think for 60 of them it cost around $50.00 and that was around 15 years ago. They worked great except they made your eyes blurry at times. Take care, Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.