Redness

[Tridnod]

I don't know how many of you guys that suffer from severe redness in the eyes but i do. Altough i can't keep my eyes open longer then 5-6 sec i don't feel that much burning in my daily life. Sometimes when i'm up late and i look myself in the mirror and i look like a zombie, almost shocked beacuse i haven't felt anything special in my eyes.

[SusieD]

Are you sure the redness is not down to allergy or infection? You dont use the anti-red drops or anything do you.

I know how you feel though - my eyes are often red, mind you I feel an awful lot of irritation with mine though so I know (as much as I can) whats causing it.

[Joey]

You may also have "conjunctivochalasis". Do a search on google. An amniotic membrane transplant surgery seems to be the only fix for that.

[Eyeproblems]

I suffer from bad redness. Unfortunately I cannot treat it yet, because my eye doctor diagnosed me with glaucoma over christmas.

He tried a few things to lower pressure, worked for my right eye, and now I see great with my glasses. Before I could barely see the projector in university, it got bad. It was due to steroid eye drops I was perscribed and was unaware of the effects until a year and a half later I came on here, and rushed to my eye doctor. My left eye still has to high pressure, but I am going to calgary in 2 weeks to get some laser thing done, hope it works so then we can start treating redness. My left eye the bad one is typically more red. One doctor said I have chronic dry eye on the left eye.

I really dont know how to cope with it, because typically my eyes are fine, they get red when using computer, no computer, my eyes are pretty much clear. It sucks because as a university student, not using a computer makes my eyes really red, and I have not found a solution.

I know the feeling about no irritation but red eyes, I have both, sometimes irritation and sometime not, and they will still be red.

I like you would love to find help for this, I dont know what else to do, until my pressure goes down in the left eye, my eye doctor doesnt want to perscribe anything, but he insits he can bring the redness down when the pressure is fixed.

[Joey]

You need to start looking into an eye condition called, "conjunctivochalasis". I am telling you, I was at my wits end trying to figure out why my eyes were always dry and red. And then I went to Dr. Tseng in Miami, and he confirmed that I had it. You get it from excessive dryness. I am only 31 years old, so it does effect younger people too.

Let me know if you need any help with researching this.

-Joey

[Lucy]

To Eyeproblems--

In the meantime, you may want to consider a pair of "vanity eyeglasses." Or as they say, fashion glasses. I notice glasses with a slight tint and that can be very helpful in ******g your red eyes until you find a cure. They are often mixed in with sunglasses. This is for looks only. It won't help your eyes, but may help you cope better.

[Eyeproblems]

Thanks for the suggestion.

After the past few days experimenting, my eyes were 90 percent better if I avoid the computer. Redness is dramatically less. As mentioned avoiding computers is not an option. Besides avoiding the computer, the only time I found my eyes red like that was getting smoke from a camp fire in my eyes.

What appears to be happening is when I use the computer, I dont know if its lack of blinking, or just monitors in general, what happens is my eyes after 25-30 minutes will get irritated, I get the white stringy discharge which causes the discomfort and redness, when I get the discharge out my eyes feel better again. If I could get rid of the discharge I think my eyes would be alot better. Unfortunately I think the discharge is a result from me not blinking and my eyes getting dry.

I wish I could find a way to battle the dryness when using computers, in university, there is no way around avoiding computers with my courses.

[neil0502]

Other than the usual advice -- be sure to blink more -- which is simply easier said than done ... have you tried placing a humidifier in the immediate area where your computer is located??

It may help. Also, do you increase your frequency of using lube/rewetting drops while you're using the computer? Maybe you can use/buy a program that pops up a periodic reminder (even as often as every 15 minutes??) to let you know to take a break and use drops.

Good luck!

[jcorbett]

Have you tried lowering your monitor? Instead of looking straight ahead, you would be looking down so that your eyes are half closed. This is supposed to induce you to blink more and it also exposes less of your eye which leads to less drying of the eye.

[Eyeproblems]

Tried the humidafier, didnt help to much. Had it blowing on my face even.

Interesting about monitor positioning, I will give it a try!

I think I got it wrong, it is not computer monitors, its reading. I just studied for a good 3 hours reading a book, its as bad as it is when I use computers. These two incidents are what seem to cause my red eyes they are linked by reading. Every few weeks I will have no homework, and my eyes will be fine, I will go out and avoid computers or reading and all will be good. When I do either though such as study or use the computer for a few hours, they turn red and soar.

Whats odd is in school settings I dont seem to be affected as much when reading and using computers, maybe its the setting that reminds me to blink more, and I often turn away or get distracted because people are always around.

In my room alone though (at home or at university residence) it is always the worst, using computers and studying.

If I can get this monitor positioning lower to help, I am going to have to consider buying a higher computer chair so I look down more.

And next time I try to read a book, I will do the same.

I probably put drops in every 30 minutes, thats when they always start to hurt, drops help a bit, but eventually they will get so red or soar, the drops wont do much. Usually the only remedy then is sleep, and staying away from the pc or reading for some hours.

My right eye is never usually as bad and i can generally get it to stay white, the left eye that still has glaucoma with high pressure is still the worst, I dont know if the glaucoma is contributing, I just got sent to a special eye doctor next weekend in calgary, drops were not working so we are looking at doing another procedure as soon as possible. A freind actually mentioned something to me she was learning in psychology class, about inflamation being linked to glaucoma or damage to the optic never, I forget what it is called, I will have to ask her. Since the glaucoma eye is always worse, I am always wondering if it has something to do with the redness.

[Rebecca Petris]

I think I got it wrong, it is not computer monitors, its reading.

Not surprising. Same for me. It's about the duration of focusing without blinking. Some people find their eyes become irritated very rapidly driving long distances, for the same reason.

Sorry if I'm being repetitive (haven't checked prior threads) but have you tried protective eyewear (moisture chamber glasses, Panoptx or similar) while reading or on the computer?

Since the glaucoma eye is always worse, I am always wondering if it has something to do with the redness.

It's not unusual to have a "worst" eye even for no obvious reason. However I'm wondering if you might have a sensitivity to, say, a preservative in the drop, which could be making the eye more vulnerable by destabilizing the tear film just a little more?

Do you know whether you have a very fast tear break-up time (TBUT)?

[Eyeproblems]

Hmmm the only problem would be these glasses will probably be expensive to get a perscription, and then who knows how much they will help.

I really should purchase a spare pair of glasses first, mine always seem to break every 2 years, and I am walking around blind for a few days.