redness from wiping eyes

[angela641]

I wipe my eyes constantly with a kleenex or a damp cloth, depends where i am and if im busy.. I also have to constantly go in front of a mirror to wipe out slimy stringy crap so i can see... all of this auses my eyes to get sore, raw, and red... so when ppl look at me they think i been crying or havent slept in weeks... how can i prevent this, and get rid of it?

[Rebecca Petris]

I wipe my eyes constantly with a kleenex or a damp cloth, depends where i am and if im busy.. I also have to constantly go in front of a mirror to wipe out slimy stringy crap so i can see... all of this auses my eyes to get sore, raw, and red... so when ppl look at me they think i been crying or havent slept in weeks... how can i prevent this, and get rid of it?

Hi there,

What are you wiping your eyes for? Is it because your eyes are watering a lot?

In any case the more you're touching your eyes with anything, the more irritated they are going to get. Of course the most important thing is to have a good diagnosis and be treating what's going on. In the meantime one suggestion I have... if I go through a phase where I feel I want to touch my eyes a lot, I try to do saline rinses instead. What I'll do is pour a bit of unpreserved sterile saline while holding a cloth under my eyes to catch it. That way I avoid introducing even more irritating material to my eyes.

Slimy stringy stuff... Possibly what you're doing is what's called 'mucus fishing'. It's usually best to try to do as little of this as possible as it can make the problem worse.

[angela641]

Wiping my eyes, b/c all they do is water, literally every few sconds.. so i must wipe them to see.

I was diagnosed by 1 eye dr with severe dry eyes and was told theres nothing that can be done for me.

If i dont wipe the stringy mucus stuff out of my eyes, how will i see? it blurrs my vision =( you say wiping it out make itworse, but if u dont wipe it out, u cant see... im lost...

[Rebecca Petris]

Believe me, I'm not trying to question or be critical, just trying to understand. I'm so sorry about what you're going through - went back and looked at some of the older posts to remind myself of the situation. You've been through a lot with this

Are you still plugged?

Boy, THAT much watering almost sounds like blocked ducts possibly?? I don't know that much about it but it does seem unusual to have that much constant watering just from surface irritation even with severe dry eye? If it is exclusively surface related, and you've tried all the usual treatments, you may want to look into sclerals?

[Lucy]

This sounds different, but when I had ephiphora when I was working especially, I'd have to BLOT my eyes constantly. The overflow is embarrasing and annoying, but mine was just the watery stuff and I was able to gently blot my eyes. Many, many blots, but still gentle. The mucus is something additional and sounds very troublesome.

Good luck in seeking help.

[DrG]

Wiping my eyes, b/c all they do is water, literally every few sconds.. so i must wipe them to see.

I was diagnosed by 1 eye dr with severe dry eyes and was told theres nothing that can be done for me.

If i dont wipe the stringy mucus stuff out of my eyes, how will i see? it blurrs my vision =( you say wiping it out make itworse, but if u dont wipe it out, u cant see... im lost...

The term "mucus fishing" describes exactly what appears to be going on here. Mucus fishing involves using the fingers, tissue paper, cotton swabs, etc. to "fish" for mucus strands inside the eye. By "inside the eye" I mean past the eyelid margin. The eye is lined with a sensitive layer of non-keratinized tissue, called the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva contains the little glands that secrete clear mucus. It also contains mast cells which release histamine when disturbed. This causes inflammation and further increases the output of mucus, as well as the sensation of something in the eye. The end result is a vicious cycle that only gets worse.

As Rebecca has suggested, there are other more effective ways of dealing with dryness and excess mucus production, as well as certain medications to help you to resist the compulsive urge to touch your eyes. If, however, the discharge is not clear, but contains pus, then you have an infection and need to be treated with antibiotics.