Dry eyes

[tasha1944]

My husband suffers terribly with dry eyes. He uses Hylo Forte and Poly Visc which help, but at the end of the day his eyes are very sore. Our Eye Specialist is advertising a new treatment (at least for the east coast of Australia) called Lipiflow. I was wondering if anyone has tried this and has it been successful? It costs $600 with no guarantees and I am not able to claim it through my private health insurance., so I would like to know if it helps for PSP.

Many thanks. I have found this site to be an amazing help as I don’t know of anyone in our area with PSP. We spend quite a bit of time at ED with Johns numerous falls and we haven’t discovered any doctors who have ever heard of this disease. We feel very alone.

[Dianajeanann]

In the US it costs $500 per eye and it is not covered by insurance. And it does not work! Of course the doctor wanted me to try it again. No way!

[tasha1944 in reply to Dianajeanann]

Thank you so much for your prompt reply - I will cancel John’s appointment. I don’t know what I would do without this site.

[Hidden]

The dry eye is due to his not fully closing his eyes while sleeping. The lower part of the cornea is drying out. Do his eyes tear a lot?

The treatment I used with Larry was an eye ointment at night. It is mostly petroleum jelly with a little mineral oil in it. Comes in a very small tube. A small dab in each eye at night. Pull the lower lid open and squeeze a bit in. About an eighth of an inch.

Also hot compresses on the eyes to help sooth them. This can be done at night and in the morning. In the day if you feel like it.

[AJK2001]

My Mum had a similar problem. Eventually we were able to get a referral to a cornea specialist, who said the tear film was disrupted, so everytime Mum blinked it was like scraping an emery board across the eye surface and if left untreated could have caused an ulcerated cornea, so maybe worth getting it checked out that is not the problem. The opthalmolgist hadn't picked this up. The treatment was a course of antibiotics and a strict regime of eye drops (Hyloforte) every 4 hours, Clinitas gel (twice a day) and an ointment at night as Jeff suggested. Also daily use of an eyebag - this gives moist warmth and melts the oils that can build up in the eye lid and also cause irritation, followed by bathing with a solution specially for Blepharitis treatment. This didn't solve the issue completely but made Mum's eyes a lot more comfortable than they were.

[Hidden in reply to AJK2001]

So thorough. Now she knows what to do.

[racinlady in reply to Hidden]

I agree.

Pat

[easterncedar]

I second everything above, but also add as a suggestion fish oil capsules, to be taken orally, which were recommended to me by my ophthalmologist. (Not as a PSP patient.) I believe they help. Dry eyes can be so distressing.

[tasha1944 in reply to easterncedar]

Thank you for your reply, we will try the fish oil capsules

[easterncedar]

I hope they help. I also really like warm compresses. Whether they work or not, they are restful and soothing. Recommended by my doctor as well.