"Rice mask"

[AccutaneJay]

In an attempt to be economical, I created an eye mask to wear at night. I bought a normal black (pretty much unpadded) eye mask, only I cut open one side and inserted a small amount of uncooked rice to give it some weight and some form-fitting ability. I figured the weight and form fitting nature of the rice would help it to stay on my eyes and help keep them closed better (if there is any opening at night, which I believe there may be), and also help to protect my eyes from air and evaporation.

I wore the mask last night pretty much all night. It fell off a few times, but I would say I had it on about 75% of the night. I woke up this morning to extremely blurry vision. It is still early (about two hours after waking now), but my eyes seem to be slowly re-adjusting, although it is taking longer than I expected. Even with my glasses I still feel handicapped.

So, I'm not sure if this was such a good idea. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why my vision is so blurred by the weight or pressing of the mask against my eyes? I'm pretty certain it is not too tight, otherwise it would have been uncomfortable, and plus it slipped off a few times. Is this something people think I should continue, or should I just invest in the Tranquileyes? I'm pretty reluctant to use it again tonight for fear of the blurred vision again in the morning, and I'm not sure that doing this long-term would be such a good idea.

The blurred vision is sort of taking away from my ability to asses whether it provided any relief from a dry eye perspective. I would be interested to know if others think this is an effective method for avoiding eyelid opening at night and/or evaporation. My eyes are overall doing okay, but I think it is much to early to really tell if this is providing any relief at this time.

Thanks for everyone's time and feedback in advance!

[AccutaneJay]

This was a mistake

Okay, so yesterday over the past week I think I've improved somewhat in terms of my burning level. I would attribute this mostly to my newly adopted regular use of drops, my humidifier, and regular warm compresses in the evenings. Today was a different story, I feel like I was kicked back into last week as far as my progress was going in terms of comfort, and I believe it was the use of this stupid mask idea I schemed up. I think the weight and direct pressure from the rice mask on my eyelids pressed them onto my eyeballs and did some damage to my "ocular surface" throughout the night. I woke up with incredibly blurry vision and today @ work was just absolute torture - lots of burning

I wouldn't suggest anyone try this, that is if they didn't already think it was a bad idea over some regular swim goggles, etc.

I went out and bought a pair of regular swimming goggles that have that nice padding on them instead of the cheap plastic insulation for the eyes and I'm wearing them right now. I've always been in denial that they would provide much relief because I guess I would always think "who wears goggles during the day when their not swimming?" The answer is those who suffer from severe, chronic dry eye. The burning has gone down considerably and I'm now very comfortable not even an hour later, even working on the computer! I plan on sleeping with them going forward. If I find them to become uncomfortable, I might think about the Tranquileyes, but my goggles were a much cheaper "work-around," for now.

[Lucy]

Jay, you are correct about swim goggles providing relief. Before I had any Panoptx or other dry eye goodies, I often wore swim goggles around the house during my worst times. They really do keep the eyes moist. The trick is to find a good pair that are comfortable. Not exactly easy in a swim goggle. This is a good reminder for those in extreme discomfort and need a "quick fix and need it now." This hasn't been brought up on the board for a long time.

[kaypeeoh]

In an attempt to be economical, I created an eye mask to wear at night. I bought a normal black (pretty much unpadded) eye mask, only I cut open one side and inserted a small amount of uncooked rice to give it some weight and some form-fitting ability. I figured the weight and form fitting nature of the rice would help it to stay on my eyes and help keep them closed better (if there is any opening at night, which I believe there may be), and also help to protect my eyes from air and evaporation.

I wore the mask last night pretty much all night. It fell off a few times, but I would say I had it on about 75% of the night. I woke up this morning to extremely blurry vision. It is still early (about two hours after waking now), but my eyes seem to be slowly re-adjusting, although it is taking longer than I expected. Even with my glasses I still feel handicapped.

So, I'm not sure if this was such a good idea. Does anyone have any thoughts as to why my vision is so blurred by the weight or pressing of the mask against my eyes? I'm pretty certain it is not too tight, otherwise it would have been uncomfortable, and plus it slipped off a few times. Is this something people think I should continue, or should I just invest in the Tranquileyes? I'm pretty reluctant to use it again tonight for fear of the blurred vision again in the morning, and I'm not sure that doing this long-term would be such a good idea.

The blurred vision is sort of taking away from my ability to asses whether it provided any relief from a dry eye perspective. I would be interested to know if others think this is an effective method for avoiding eyelid opening at night and/or evaporation. My eyes are overall doing okay, but I think it is much to early to really tell if this is providing any relief at this time.

Thanks for everyone's time and feedback in advance!

A thousand years ago nearsighted chinese would sleep with a stone on each eye. During the night the eye would deform, flattening a bit. And sometimes the person would wake up with less myopia. It's the same theory as those contact lenses that one wears to bed. Do yes, it's to be expected that your vision will be different because of the pressure of the rice. But the eye reforms after a few hours.

[np1981]

Well I was advised by my doc that I should not put any pressure on my eyes overnight, as over time this can cause problems. In fact for a few weeks I was given a protective mask to ensure that there was no mechanical compression of the eyes/eyelids during sleep. Then I switched over to the Tranquileyes, which are useful because they "cup" over my eyes without touching my eyelids at all (I use them successfully without the foam inserts).