Punctal plug insertion and/or lacrimal irrigation - what did this FEEL LIKE to you?

[Maddy83]

I am very keen to hear other people's experiences having either of these procedures done. I suspect I'm extra sensitive to feeling certain things, so it would really help to compare my experience with other people's.

I had punctal plugs inserted a few years ago (SmartPlugs), and it was painful and a really awful experience for me. Most people seem to describe it as mostly painless. I was given anaesthetic drops in my eyes beforehand and that may have help with the discomfort of having my puncta dilated, but I could FEEL EVERYTHING inside my intracanalicular ducts as the plugs were inserted and pushed down. I nearly fainted, barely made it through my first insertion. I felt nauseous and was as white as a sheet I had to lay on the floor for 10 minutes in her office before I was ready to try the other eye.

I may have to get my plugs removed soon due to complications, and getting them flushed out is one of the options. If getting the plugs was super painful, how will irrigation feel for me?

[Guest]

When I had them removed they just used a tweezer to pick them out. Over in about 5 seconds and I felt no pain. But also when I had mine put in all I felt was the plug going in which was odd but in no way painful.

[hopeful_hiker]

Did not feel much due to anaesthetic during insertion. The plug fell out so when I came back, the doc put it back in without anaesthetic and I felt tickling but not much besides that.

One plug got lost by itself eventually, the second one was taken out with tweezers. Kind of unpleasant, yes. The most painful moment was when the doc thought I still had the second plug and tried to poke it but just touched the puncta instead with this metal tool/tweezer. That was super unpleasant.

[Maddy83]

Realised I forgot to post back on here. I didn't end up getting the irrigation like I expected. I had canaliculitis, all swollen and inflamed around my left lower punctal plug, so the doc removed the plug in a different way. He made a small incision with a scalpel near my puncta and used pressure to push the plug up and out, along with a stone. I was really scared and nervous, but after numbing eyedrops and an anaesthetic injection, I didn't feel a thing! Apart from going into shock and nearly fainting immediately afterwards (my body reacts like that a lot) it was totally fine.

[farmgirl]

Note to self....in the future ALWAYS get umbrella type plugs, NEVER intercanular type.