Plugs

[angt]

I have plugs in all 4 ducts. My eyes are a little better. I am scared of infection. I already had one but the doc said it was allergies and gave me some meds and it did clear up. Even with the plugs I still have eye pain. They water more in the morning then the evening by then they get pretty dry. I heard that it can slow tear production but the doctor that put them in said maybe some day I could have them out if things start working again he said I was still in the early stages of lasik that was in November now its January. I had the lasik in March 09. I have also been told to give the plugs time to work. So I am hearing different comments on plugs. Can anyone give me some advice. Should I keep them or remove them. I hardly use drop through out the day with them in and without them I was using drops every 1/2 hour. I am thinking of seeing Dr. Hector in FL in March. Does anyone have anything to say about him? Would it be worth the trip I have seen 6 different docs here in MN and they all say different things and I get a lot of I don't knows. Hope to hear from ya. Thanks

[Guest]

My feeling is if you were using drops every 1/2 hour without plugs, and now WITH plugs you hardly use drops, then keep the plugs!

I was using drops every half hour when I was around your amount of time post-LASIK, but my surgeon refused to treat me with anything other than artificial tears ( and after much begging on my part, blephamide drops to be used every third bedtime only) ...after 4 years of constant inflammation and red eyes, my eyes are not doing very well... I suspect that my eyes would have been better off if they had treated my dryness more agressively back then...

[Sammy B.]

Totally agree with SAAG here.

If your eyes feel ANY MORE TOLERABLE with the plugs then keep them. Do not worry about when/if a reduction in tear production would/could occur. Try to stay the current course you're on for at least a month or two.

If you try too many things at once or stop a treatment too early, you're not really giving that treatment enough time to find out if it works. I know we all want IMMEDIATE relief but sometimes it's not going to be immediate, especially with dry eye and ESPECIALLY if you have dry spots on your corneas - they will not heal overnight. Patience is key.

One suggestion would be that you should probably wash your eyes out twice a day with some saline solution, since the ducts are plugged they aren't allowed to do their "thing," which is washing away the bad stuff. Run that by your eye doc of course but since you're not really dropping during the day, you may need to at least be rinsing here and there.

Finally, I see Dr. Hector in Bradenton. He's great. Not to mention the fact that he's an 'ocular surface specialist.' He knows all about this dry eye board and is open to trying homeopathic things too. Go see him if you'll be in the area. He really helped to put my mind at ease. I thought I had gigantic problems and he said, "You really don't, you need to stay on your regimen and you'll improve. And even if you don't, never fear, there are a bunch of things in the pipeline for cases like yours (post-LASIK)." I needed to hear that.

- Rose