i got temporary plugs implanted and feel no difference

[mariposa]

it was more than a weekd ago and there is no difference.those are collagen,dossolvable plugs,supposed to last 6-8 weeks.I have to say my dry eye is not severe so I was expecting some improvement...is it typical that they didn help?Thery are only in my lower tear ducts
I also have to say I never saw them.The doctor implanted them but i didnt see them when I walked out of her office and looked closely in the mirror.are they so deep that i cant see them?

[DCRdryeye]

Hi mariposa, Did you only get temporary plugs inserted into the lower punctas? If so, you may want to try having the uppers done too. Usually you can't see them, so it's not too much to worry about. I've recently had all of my punctas plugged with "Duraplugs" which are also dissolable and feel no difference. Still very dry, so you are not alone! However, I noticed the same plugs accumulated some tears when I was on restasis for the 4th month. So I've recently started restasis again and believe the combination of restasis and plugs are more effective than either one on their own.

[farmgirl]

I had uppers only, they didn't help. Then I had lowers only, they didn't help. Now I have both uppers and lowers and bingo - what a difference. I have gone from burning with drops every 20 min to alleviate it to pretty much only my restasis and eye serum drops. I started with temporaries and now have the uppers cauterized and removable silicone plugs on the lowers. I am happy I tried both at once.

[mariposa]

Hey
I feel a slight difference but I dont really know the cause of it because
a-I started taking steroid drops Dexa-free to get rid of my corneal spots after keratoconjunctivitis (for the x-th time this year).you think steroid drops reduce the dryness?
b-the temperatures in my country lowered recently,fall has come
c-maybe the lower tear duct plugs needed their time to work and worked ?

Anyway,it is a slight difference but my dry eye has become acceptable.I only need aritifial tears no more than 4-5 times a day when blinking frequently.

I dont want to plug both lower and upper tear ducts because the doctor said this way they change the "homeosthatis" in the eye raidcally and you get addicted to having those plugs.I dont want to wear them for the rest of my life.

[patientpatrick]

I too got temp plugs with minimal improvement. I was quadra-plugged and have been on restasis for 2 months now. Some other members on this forum have stated that the silicone ones do a much better job at occluding tears, so I'm off to talking to another MD about trying that.

[dryeye4ever]

i regret getting my plugs. Sillicone ones seem better though. I dont like plugs as it hasnt made any different in reducing pain