Punctual Plugs? (Vs Lipiflow/IPL)

[Glucoa]

For myself, punctal plugs greatly improve my overall eye comfort and increase the time between when I feel the need to put in more eye drops. When I have all four puncta plugged, I tend to occasionally have tears run down the side of my nose, but the nuisance is sure better than feeling extra dry all the time.

My upper left plug actually fell out a few weeks ago and I ended up getting a minor corneal abrasion a few days after during the night. The difference with and without the plugs is pretty noticeable for myself.

And yes, if you still feel the plugs scratching your eye when you blink after having them in for a day or two, you should go back to your eye doctor to have them push them in farther or swap out the plugs for a different brand or size that better fits with your puncta.

[farmgirl]

I am aqueous deficient and have MGD so plugs were a lifesaver for me, I will never be without to the point that I had the uppers cauterized permanently. Obviously I have inflammation that is part and parcel of the syndrome but the plugs have never, to my knowledge, created a problem for me. There is such a thing as toxic tears and it is related to inflammation as discussed in this article. However for me it comes down to symptoms and I can tell you that I am much worse without plugs than with, toxic tears or no.

If you feel better leave them in, if you don't take them out, bearing in mind that 2 didn't cut it for me I needed all 4 plugged to feel the difference.

https://www.healio.com/optometry/cor...e-inflammation

[PRK]

I agree with farmgirl. I didn’'t notice much of a difference with just the lower 2 plugs it took 4 to feel a difference. After that my eyes were more on the wet side but it was much more manageable than dry eye. Getting plugs is a lot like buying a pair of shoes, you need a pair that fit you. Otherwise it’'s like saying I tried on some shoes and they were uncomfortable so shoes don’'t work for me.

I tried 3 different plug sizes before I ended up the ones I have now. The plugs I had that were too large were scratchy and would fall out after a few weeks or months. You want the smallest plug that will fit in your punctum since the cap will sit lower, not rub against the eye and eventually fall out.

http://forum.dryeyezone.com/forum/dr...gs-have-helped