My eyes are hurting bad, why?

[strobers]

I just posted a couple of days ago about how well I have been doing. I am three months post Lasik. Today around 9:00, after being on the computer for about 20 minutes or so, I suddenly got this bad ache in both of my eyes. It's like my eyes had a headache. It was very painful. It lasted all morning, went away for an hour or two, and then came back suddenly while I was in the middle of a meeting. I still have the pain.

I didn't know eyes could hurt so much. It's almost worst than dry eyes. At least when my eyes were dry I could put in drops and get some relief. I don't know how to make this go away.

I went to see my surgeon the day before yesterday and he said he does not need to see me for three months. He looked at both my eyes with his instruments and said that he couldn't see any dryness at all. Later that afternoon I had an appointment with my regular optometrist, who is very thorough, and she said that she didn't detect any dryness in my eyes either. They looked good and moist.

On top of that she checked my vision thoroughly and said that the surgeon who did my lasik, totally nailed the prescription to my eyes. My vision is perfect, although I have to wear 125? reading glasses to read.

If two doctors state there is no dryness in my eyes, why am I still experiencing intermittent dryness and then this pain? I don't know what to do.

Feedback appreciated.

S

[Rebecca Petris]

I just posted a couple of days ago about how well I have been doing. I am three months post Lasik. Today around 9:00, after being on the computer for about 20 minutes or so, I suddenly got this bad ache in both of my eyes. It's like my eyes had a headache. It was very painful. It lasted all morning, went away for an hour or two, and then came back suddenly while I was in the middle of a meeting. I still have the pain.

This makes me think of accommodative spasm (spasm of the ciliary muscle). I've known others who had some of that during recovery from LASIK. It's just a guess though. I would call your doctor and describe what happened.

I went to see my surgeon the day before yesterday and he said he does not need to see me for three months.

Well he might not think he needs to see YOU, but so long as you're experiencing pain you need to see him (or perhaps someone else - actually your regular optometrist might be a better bet). If at any point you don't feel like they're taking your concerns seriously enough, be as assertive as possible, and if all else fails, move on to another doctor. I'd suggest using the OSDI questionnaire to quantify your symptoms (print, fill it out before each appointment and ask them to put it in your record). Eye doctors like numbers and it might help start more discussion.

He looked at both my eyes with his instruments and said that he couldn't see any dryness at all. Later that afternoon I had an appointment with my regular optometrist, who is very thorough, and she said that she didn't detect any dryness in my eyes either. They looked good and moist.

There are quite a number of people here of whom that is also true. Obviously I can't say whether or not you have dry eyes, but just because your eyes don't "look" dry under the slit-lamp doesn't mean you're OK. "Dry eye" is not an accurate term - it's a generalization that encompasses pretty much anything that can go wrong with the tear film - and anything wrong with the tear film can (though it doesn't always) cause pain. - But LASIK can also have strange and pretty severe patterns of pain that aren't easily explained.

[PRK]

I’ve had pretty much the exact same thing; a dull aching, headache type pain on the top of my eye within the socket. I described it to the doctor and he couldn’t see anything. It would get so bad sometimes that I would use a frozen bag of peas on my forehead over my eye so that it would calm down the nerves. This also occurred after I was on the computer, reading or hadn’t put in drops for sometime. My left eye was draining tears fast and really not making any of it’s own tears even when I yawned. So what I concluded was since I was putting drops in the lower eyelid the top part of the eye wasn’t getting wet enough and there for a dry eye socket was causing the aching feeling. So now whenever I start to feel a little aching up there I get my drops put a bunch in the lower lid, bend over a little so my head is upside down and message the drops to the top part of my eye. I run my finger gently back and forth along the top rim of the eye socket bone and the eye while looking down and that seems to get most of the top of the eye wet. Then I look up and to the sides to help lubricate the rest of the socket.

If you really think about it gravity is against you with dry eye. If your lacrimal gland isn’t producing very many tears how are the drops you’re putting in your lower lid supposed to get to the top of your eye? Anyways that’s what I do now and I haven’t had the pain since. (2-3weeks) Maybe I’ll try to explain it more in depth later on but I need get some sleep for now.

[PRK]

I also I imagine the aching could come from a swollen lacrimal gland or a host of many other things as well. If the pain seems behind the eye it could really just be some type of headache or eye strain. Glaucoma (increased pressure within the eye) would also probably have a similar swollen aching feeling.

When I have aching the top of the eye feels sore to the touch, that’s why I think my personal case was due to dryness on top of the eye.

[LaDiva]

Just a thought: how are your allergies? Sinus problems can really make my eyes ache, and they have been aching plenty this past week! Hope you are feeling better!

[aga]

I've got a similar problem- I had dry eyes for about 18 months. Yesterday I was checked- I had 15mm and 20mm and no signs of any dryness. My doctor said -your eyes need time to recover. I hope he is right

[socratese]

sometimes damage to nerves causes OVERSENSITIVITY, and not just in the eyes. in my case it was from a combination of chemical exposure combined with a lot of computer use and not surgery damaging the eyes. Lasik severs all of the nerves and sometimes they regrow wrong and become oversensitive in your case or sometimes they just do not grow back at all.

symptoms of severe oversensitivity of corneal nerves would be extreme discomfort around any scents or fumes even perfume, cologne, or most anything with strong scent. People with neuropathy, that have been studied by Boston Foundation for Sight, have all reported sensitivity to computer use and reading. Goggles help while doing this.

Also wanted to note that this does not usually improve much over time if at all. Only known treatment are pain meds, anti convulsants, anti depressants or electric current therapy and goggles, the same treatments for other types of chronic pain except eye pain doesnt respond well.
isnt life grand? lol. take it one day at a time.