help

[royucker]

I have trouble with red, dry eyes but they run or water all the time. If I understand this correctly, one of the problems is that we produce two different types of tears. One type is comprised of three basic parts including an oil of some sort, meant to keep the eye lubricated and moist while the other type produced as reactionary, like when you cry, have something in the eye or because of an injury.
My doc says that the tears I am producing as lubrication evaporate very quickly and the "watery" tears I am producing are a reaction to the dry eye condition but instead of helping they compound the problem much like when one has chapped lips and licks them which promotes more chapping.
Has anyone here ever heard of putting so type of oil or oily substance in the eye to help the condition?
D

[Rebecca Petris]

There are lubricant drops with lipids, and there are some compounded products like castor oil drops. There's also a technique of applying ointment near the eye to let a small amount migrate in.

However I think there's kind of a fairly general consensus out there that oil-deficient dry eye isn't usually resolved simply by topically applying lipids. If possible the root source of the problem (MGD/blepharitis) needs to be addressed to improve the tear film.

[royucker]

I have been seeing the doc about this since March, he has not proclaimed a diagnoses other than dry eye, it was his opinion that it was a "classic alergic reaction" but we have not been able to find the source now he seem to be somewhat stumped. Should he be doing any particular test for MGD/blepharitis?
D

[Teri]

Oh, boy.

I agree with Rebecca that you probably want to steer clear of oily eye drops, at least in the long-term.

There is a ton of info on this site pertaining to blepharitis and MGD. The most basic test your doctor can do is to express your meibomian glands and see what comes out.

If there's anything other than a nice, clear, oily substance freely coming out, you have a problem.... (Others, please correct me if I'm wrong!)

It sounds to me like you need to find a new doctor. If it's been since March and you're not getting any relief or improvement, time to move on. Dry eye/blepharitis/MGD seems to be an area that most ophthalmologists are not well-versed in.

Good luck with this.
Teri