Dry eye irritation: It doesn't sound much... - Macular Society

Macular Society

5,092 members2,528 posts

Dry eye irritation

ANGIEIRISH profile image
20 Replies

It doesn't sound much, does it, dry-eye irritation, but it's making my life an absolute misery. For two days now I haven't been able to read - my great pleasure in life - as the irritation is so bad compounded by the glare as well. Wearing dark glasses indoors is a sort of help but it's not enough and despite putting in drops every couple of hours or so, nothing seems to help. I had a period of about a week recently when everything was fine but for the past week it has been really bad. I use Theoloz duo drops (Evolve if I'm out somewhere as the bottle is a handier size to use when not at home). I can use the computer for about a half an hour at a time and view television for about the same time. Any ideas?

Written by
ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
20 Replies
springcross profile image
springcross

Hi AngieIrish. I have dry eye in my wet AMD eye, made worse by retinal detachment op and vitrectomy, then fifteen months later, a cataract op and also overuse of iodine pre injections. I've used many makes of drops including the Thealoz duo and stopped using them because I didn't feel they helped and I've gone back to much cheaper drops called Vizulize Dry Eye Drops Long Lasting Relief. It isn't always that long lasting but can be used whenever needed (two drops per eye) which can be better I feel rather than waiting around for a certain amount of time in between. I found the more expensive drops (most of them) could only be used four times a day and didn't give me much relief at all. Another thing I find useful is a heated eye mask which I bought on Amazon but you can buy them from other places. It really is quite good and much more effective than a hot flannel my optometrist at my eye clinic told me to use, as that goes cold much too quickly. The one I use is heated via a three pin wall plug with a usb port or the usb port in my laptop. It can help to increase the production of tears and keep the eye lubricated. I also massage my eyes when I use it to distribute oils in the eye. I hope this will be a little help to you as it really is quite an unpleasant conditon I feel. Good luck.

Rainyda profile image
Rainyda in reply to springcross

Thx for info!

tallyho profile image
tallyho

Dry eyes are horrid I had them so bd that I got corneal abrasions after injections. I agree the heated eye masks are very good I had punctual plugs inserted in the end and that had been a game changer for me.

ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH in reply to tallyho

May I ask what punctual plug are? I've never heard of them. I've also got calcium deposits on one of my eyes, I had this on the other eye and they were removed by laser a few years ago but it's not done in my area so means a day-long trek to a hospital in another town/city.

tallyho profile image
tallyho in reply to ANGIEIRISH

aao.org/eye-health/diseases...

Here is some information as said they were great for my eyes.

ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH in reply to tallyho

Thank you. It makes for interesting reading and I'll have a word with my consultant about these. I am a bit unsure though, reading of the side-effects, but no harm in discussing it with him anyway.

Rainyda profile image
Rainyda in reply to tallyho

Interesting...thank you!

Whitegoose profile image
Whitegoose

Hi Angieirish! Make sure your drops are preservative free, I had the same problem, my doctor changed them from non preservative ones. Also I wear yellow tint prescription glasses all the time, they don’t look much different from normal ones. I hope your irritation gets better soon.

ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH in reply to Whitegoose

I do use preservative-free eye drops and yellow tine prescription glasses all the time. I recently had some electrical stimulus treatment to drain the lymph glands (to help with my tinnitus) and the mild irritation I had, disappeared for about two weeks in what seemed a miracle, only to return with a vengeance! Related? Who knows.

D_omeara profile image
D_omeara

Use hylo night eye ointment at night. It’s really good stuff.Also, use thealoz duo eye gel instead of the drops during the day. It’s far better than the drops.

The injections cause the dry eye.

Rainyda profile image
Rainyda in reply to D_omeara

Good to know, thank you!

doubleorbust profile image
doubleorbust

I saw a consultant privately as I had double vision, wet AMD i one eye and dry in the other and dry eyes so I wanted to know what would be the most important to tackle. He said the dry eyes and he was right. He said it was due to blepharoitis (my eylids are often quite red) . Treatment was to massage the eyelids twice a day, preferably after warming them with a heat pad. The heat helps soften the oil which can harden in the tear ducts and can then be easier to remove by rubbing with a pad soaked in Blephasol. He started off this treatment by prescribing Maxitrol, (I think), which is an ointment with a steroid in it. I took that for three weeks which reduced the inflamation. I was doing the heat treatment and massage at the same time as using this ointment, and at the end of three or four weeks the problem had gone, although I continued the treatment. He also said to use Hycosan Extra drops 4 times a day and Hycosan ointment at bedtime. The drops are preservative-free. So now I wouldn't say I'm cured of the dry eye. But it is completely controlled with this regime.

ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH in reply to doubleorbust

All good information here and thank you for sharing this. I shall try the treatment, apart from the Maxitrol which, as it contains steroids, I'd prefer not to use. Thanks again for taking the time to explain all this. It's a great help.

mil253443 profile image
mil253443

Hi! I have allergy and dry eyes. I have found the Systane Gel drops before bed and Alcon Pataday daytime makes a major difference.

ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH in reply to mil253443

Eeryone seems to agree that the eye ointment is good, provided it's the preservative free one, so I shall go down that road. Thank you for contributing your thoughts to this post, I do appreciate it.

whiskbroom profile image
whiskbroom

I agree with Whitegoose about using drops that are preservative-free. I was miserable with itchiness, redness, etc. etc. My ophthalmologist said that my eyes were reacting to the preservatives in Systane (which my optometrist had recommended). I changed to Systane with no preservatives and that did it. It's amazing to me that many health practitioners recommend various eye drops, yet they rarely note the possible effect of the preservatives. I hope this change is helpful for you.

Hallas24 profile image
Hallas24

Hi I had very dry eyes and on the dry eye website it recommended acupuncture. I went to a Chinese clinic and had about three lots of acupuncture. I haven’t had a problem since!

ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH in reply to Hallas24

Thank you, that is something i shall look into. I've just had a few sessions of lymphatic drainage around the eyes which was supposed to help but it didn't. At the moment I'll try anything!

Hallas24 profile image
Hallas24

I went to an acupuncturist, but he wasn’t very good. Then went to a Chinese clinic. Would highly recommend.

ANGIEIRISH profile image
ANGIEIRISH in reply to Hallas24

There is a Chinese clinic in a nearby town so I'll check that out. Thank you.

You may also like...

Dry eye

macular and I'm really suffering with severe dry eye I'm using drops through out the day but they...

dry eyes

anyone else find themselves suffering from tired and dry eyes? If so, any ideas to help? I just...

Sensitivity to light, dry eyes and calcium deposits

with large print books, computer work drastically reduced, evening TV viewing much curtailed, and...

Long life dry eye drops

just discovered preservative free Hyco san drops for dry eyes. The good news is that they are...

Eye pain after Lucentis injection

prednisone eye drops. It is a comfort to read about others with the same reaction. I do use ice as...