Menthol sensation type of pain

[synes89]

Has anybody ever found a way to manage the menthol sensation in their eyes? I found the best description of that is if you lick your finger and hold it up to the wind.. it's that feeling except in your eyes, and it's actually quite painful. Is there a way to reduce this (without having to wear goggles)?

[odydnas]

Goggles are a definite must, to shield your eyes from the air that starts the menthol sensation going. It seems as if the menthol sensation is caused by MGD/blepharitis (is that what you have?), so I would really work on unclogging my glands and getting the oils going...although that is easier said that done. Another thing I've noticed that helps is that RPG lenses reduces the menthol sensation IF you can tolerate having a lens in your eyes. Maybe you can look into a type of RPG lens such as sclerals.

[synes89]

The thing is that I have a normal TBUT.. 10+ seconds.. which doesn't make ANY sense to me if my tears evaporate quickly.. and yet this is the biggest symptom that I have..

[odydnas]

TBUT isn't a very accurate test, and your TBUT can fluctuate from moment to moment. Mine does from a TBUT of 2-10, and my TBUT taken at the moment doesn't always correlate with the severity of my pain. One of the most frustrating thing about DE is that symptoms don't always match clinical signs. So did you doc mention your glands are looking clogged or if you have MGD at all? Because even when my TBUt is close to a 10, my doc tells me that my glands are still very clogged up.

[synes89]

yeah actually, my doc told me I have slight blepharitis. I still don't really understand how to open up the glands and do the massages.. I never notice a difference..

[bernmee]

Those goggles are so important, really they are. Give them a whirl and the difference they make in terms of eye pain will make you wonder why you ever cared how they look. They don't stop the pain but they stop the wind and dust etc from making it worse.

And I agree with Odynas, results from tests don't often reflect the level of pain you may experience.

Bernadette

[Stanza]

results from tests don't often reflect the level of pain you may experience.

Nope I was told recently that my corneas look fine, they don't feel fine but of course that is why I can't get anywhere with doctors. Luckily the person that told me this last understands that clinically what you can see as 'good' doesn't mean the person is pain free!

[liz56]

Sometimes, just holding a cool, wet washcloth over my eyes helps, but other times, my eyes "act up," and when they get cranky, there is no hope. I put in Dwelle, and they still hurt. I wish I could get to the bottom of that issue, but I think it has something to do with they cycling of my epithelial basement membrane dystrophy.

I found something that helps when I am at work and do not want water from the public restroom, etc. It's called "palming," and I learned about from a video that I ordered from Netflix, called "Yoga for the Eyes." (Yoganut's posts about a great book, called _Relearning to See_ led me to it for the "Bates method" of vision correction, which I do not have the time to dedicate myself to, sadly.) Anyway, what one does is rest ones elbows on a table, while sitting comfortably, and place one's hands over the eye sockets, so that there is contact with the heel of the hand and the cheekbone. Then, one massages the areas under the eye sockets and above with the hand, while the palm serves as a "bubble" over the eyelids. It's calming, and it really helps my eyes to feel better during those 14-hour days at work.

Here's a link, if you're curious:

http://www.seeing.org/techniques/palming.htm

--Liz

[synes89]

Yea, well I've done this without knowing it as palming.. and it helps temporarily, but it doesn't help the issue.
Also, the Bates method is known as a scam and that it doesn't work. At least that's what I heard. I've tried it a bit, but it's too time consuming for something that hardly even works.
Thanks for the replies though! Also, I've noticed that my eyes are tremendously better the next day when I drink 7+ glasses of water that day. Do any one of you experience this and might know the reason to this? None of my eye docs were able to tell me a straightforward reason to why this helps..

[sanna]

that my eyes are tremendously better the next day when I drink 7+ glasses of water that day. Do any one of you experience this and might know the reason to this? None of my eye docs were able to tell me a straightforward reason to why this helps..

Donīt you think that could have something to do with not having enough tears ? Maybe the veins in your eyes is what causing it, blocking the lacrimal gland (where the tears comes from, i think?) or something? and when you drink a lot of water it kind of presses some tears out... I do not know... (i have the same problem as you)

[Lucy]

I learned "palming" years ago (before many of you were born) and it can be very soothing to the eyes, dry or not.
It was during a yoga class that I was taught "palming." It had nothing to do with dry eyes or Lasik.

This had nothing to do with the "Bates Method" which as far as I care is a scam. If there was a way to correct your vision, I'd have already been there instead of the dreaded Lasik. Lucy

PS. No one needs to tell me Bates is on the level, I don't care.

[liz56]

Correction

Hi, Everyone.

It has been brought to my attention that it may have appeared that I advocated "the Bates method," and I don't.

I never used it.

Personally, I did think that the book _Relearning to See_ that yoganut posted about made good sense about the muscles in the eyes, but I certainly do not intend to advocate for it. The "Yoga for the Eyes" video that I watched, which included the technique for "palming," is a technique that has helped me. That's all.

It's obviously been adopted by people who do yoga and who practice the Bates method, and, probably others. It's free, and I thought that since I used it after spending a lot of time at work, it might help others.

Again, I do not advocate the Bates method, because I don't use it. It is just the way that I got to the "Yoga for the Eyes" video that taught me about palming. Sorry to have offended.

--Liz

[andreapandrea3]

I find that the more stressed I get (usually I'm stressing about my eyes), the worse this awful menthol feeling gets. When I am especially stressed out or worrying, it's almost constant. When I start to relax, it starts to lessen gradually also.
I usually grab some preservative-free drops, and try to shelter my eyes from any wind/bright lights. Oh, and I yawn--that seems to be the only way I can make tears and that offers some relief. These aren't very scientific answers...but they're my way of trying to cope.

[cristiandryeyes]

It's a very unpleasant feeling, I have to wear sunglasses like 100% of the time otherwise I am forced to look down and continuously blink.