External DCR surgery questions

[Sunflower]

I've a blocked tear duct, and have had tears running down my face for 5 months. I'm scheduled for an external DCR under general anesthesia. I have glaucoma. I also have an extreme sensitivity both physical and phobic (early childhood years of eye treatments and associated trauma) to anyone touching my eyellids. I hope someone might be able to answer a few questions and offer some reassurance. I'm quite anxious!

The stent loops through the punctums. When you woke up, was this uncomfortable, scary? Were you panicked at the feeling, or got used to it soon? Was it uncomfortable to move your eye or open/close your eyes?

Was there much pain? How long did the pain last?

Was the swelling and bruising dramatic? How soon did that subside for you?

Thank you for any encouragement you can offer. I'm most scared about the feeling of having the stent in the corner of my eye. I'm hoping for the stent to feel like no big deal-- but for someone like myself, it sounds scary.
Thank you for any well-wishes and encouragement!

[DCRdryeye]

Hi Sunflower,
If you notice my username here... I had a dry eye induced from DCR surgery. Whilst the stent they use is not uncomfortable (you bearly notice it's there), it's not a procedure I recommend to anyone. I did not have an external DCR, I had the less invasive endoscopic DCR. Why are you being offered external DCR? and did you know there are simple office procedures that does not involve a general anaesthesia to cure you!!... Look up my previous posts for full descriptions.

I hope you decide against DCR. On the other hand, if you decide to go ahead with it, please keep us up to date with your progress.

[Sunflower]

Thank you very much for your reply! I am so very sorry that you had a troubling result from your DCR. I wish you solutions that bring you relief, and a sense of wellness. Very unfair-seeming that you did the best you could to find an answer, and ended up with dry eye instead. I am wishing you better health in the future regarding your dry eye.

I cannot thank you enough for your reassurance regarding the stent!

The doctor determined that my blockage is complete, rather than partial, in his office. Even if it had been a partial blockage, due to a physical condition with eyelids, my ducts cannot be flushed in office.

The doc no longer does the endoscoping DCR, and many of his colleagues are discontinuing it as well, he said, due to lower success rate than the external.

The DCR seems drastic, no question. While I am reading that most people are satisfied with it and the success rate is high, still it's surgery, and no 2 bodies heal alike, so I do worry for good reason.

I have spent 5 months massaging, hot compresses, acupuncture 2X/week, (there are acu points to open the duct passages) etc. and yet I still wake every morning with lids crusted closed due to goopy tears, and tears stream down my face during the day, have had 2 dangerous eye infections.(I have glaucoma, and the infections can spike the eye pressure)

I'm hoping for successful DCR, smooth recovery and healing, and healthy eyes after the DCR. Still anxious, though!

[DCRdryeye]

Hi Sunflower, thank-you for the nice words. I'm still concerned for you about deciding to go with DCR. Did you know there are other methods to unblock the nasolacrimal duct such as using the Lacricath, here is the link - http://www.questmedical.com/products...lacricath.aspx

You are certainly very courageous by deciding to go with DCR. If you go for it, I wish you the very best outcome. Please keep us informed about your progress. Check in regularly.

[Mawsky]

Hi Sunflower I had this surgery several years ago, my ducts were completely closed too. The dr. Also tried the snip proceedure in office with no success, I recovered from the surgery rather well, I had a black eye/bruising on one side only, the stents were not even noticed, I could not feel them at all. After surgery I used a antibiotic ointment in the corners of my eyes at bedtime, but other than that no other treatment was needed. I was very happy with the results at the time, as having tears always filling your eyes was a problem, making sight difficult, and alway needing to have tissue to dab. I would take that problem back now for sure! I have no tears now! When I cry no tears roll down my face, and what everyone else takes for granted I may never experience again. I can not say for sure that the DCR was what caused this, but I do think it took years to develop, I believe my eyes were just becoming drier and drier
over time, and for some reason now (inflammation?) I can no longer produce tears.
The same doctor who did my surgery has offered to stitch my punctum's closed, to see
if any improvement, and if so than permanently reclosing them. I wish you the best of luck, it's hard to know what to do, my suggestion to you would be to have your tear levels checked to see if you may have any form of dry eye before going ahead with it.

[DCRdryeye]

What a blast of fresh sunlight!! Thank-you Mawsky for popping in and sharing my concerns!! These ophthalmologists jump in too quickly and butcher the eye. Sunflower, I have a suggestion for you. I only wish I had done this before my dreadful DCR operation...WATCH A VIDEO CLIP OF A DCR PROCEDURE!! As you hear the loud drilling through the skull - you may think twice (no wonder they put you under a general anaesthetic). Check youtube out.

I find it strange that your doctor is not performing endoscoptic DCR because of it's poor success rate. I suggest you see someone else because nothing could be further from the truth. Endoscopic DCR has a large success rate and it's taking over External DCR. It is more complicated to perform than external DCR and often an otolayrngologist needs to assist, so perhaps this is why your surgeon doesn't like to do it? I'm encouraging you to seek other opinions and shop around. It's YOUR body, and our health is not always in their hands. It's up to us.