Schirmer test numbers

[sparrow]

just got back from the eye doc, my Schirmer test numbers are 8 and 9 when they should be 20-25. The doc wants to put in the punctal plugs next week. My question is, how much of an improvement can I expect? Will my numbers be in the teens?

[SusieD]

Who said they should be 20-25? I thought anything above 15 was considered to be normal?

As regards plugs - I dont think you can get an accurate schrimers score with plugs in can you? Plugs will only increase the amount of time your tears stay in your eyes before they either drain away or evaporate. Plugs have no effect on tear production.

[Lucy]

just got back from the eye doc, my Schirmer test numbers are 8 and 9 when they should be 20-25. The doc wants to put in the punctal plugs next week. My question is, how much of an improvement can I expect? Will my numbers be in the teens?

Hi Sparrow. As Susie said "who said they should be between 20-25?" This would probably be an ideal number. There is nothing cut and dried about this
"dry eye" business. Pun intended. Different amounts are cited as "normal, low etc." Sometimes you see anything under 10 as low. Actually I'd say 8 and 9 were not really low. Someone else might disagree (or agree.)

Someone with 8 or 9 might not feel dry. Someone else may feel horrible with that reading. It is not a concise measurement, to be sure. As far as an accurate number, that may be hard to get as you mentioned. With anesthetic or without? Either, both and so forth.

The Schirmer's reading do help us with an indication of our dryness, but are not the end all! If your doc puts in punctal plugs, you may not get an "improvement in number" at all. You may feel better and your numbers may not change. Still, others with Schirmers in the teens may feel dry.

Use the readings as an indicator, but "how you feel" is really more important than what the number says. If your doc thinks plugs may help, you certainly can try them. Do not look for the numbers to be your whole indicators. Good luck and may you be feeling better soon.

Schirmer's tests can also be a false indicator with reflex tearing at times. The last Schirmer's test I took was at a University Hospital and under pretty tight control. They did use anesthetic, they did time it exactly. The readings were 1mm and 2mm. My eyes felt accordingly and I believe that's what they were (schirmer's result). My local doc put in a strip while I was wearing a hard contact lens and I came up with a #8 reading. (This would not make sense to anyone to explain why he did it.) Obviously, that reading had the schirmer strip between a solid surface (hard contact lens) and my eyelid. I don't think that test meant a lot about how my eyes really were. Sorry for rambling.

[kitty]

I have never had a Shirmer test. The day I was diagnosed, I had bad reflex tearing. My doc did a flouresciene stain to view the volume of my real tears, which turned out to be very low. My understanding is that plugs simply help you retain what tears you do make, for a longer period of time.

[sparrow]

Thanks for the info

Thank you folks for responding....I really don't know much about plugs or Schirmer numbers so this is good info for me. I'm just really bothered by the dryness when wearing my contacts so if plugs will help with that, then I guess that would be a good thing. I don't feel so bad about my "numbers" now that you've explained a bit more to me.

Thanks