Silicone plugs got pushed in too deep!

[Dinerdulcinea]

Hello!

I am new here. I have had dry eyes and blepharitis for over a year and have had plugs since September-ish because my dry eye got worse.

I have the silicone ones that look like golf tees.

My Dr. (who is not an idiot---all the research I have read seems to support many of his opinions about cauterization and plugs that fit inside the puntus) has tried some different sizes on me and basically said the last time I was there that this current plug was my ONLY option because the infection rate in other plug types is much higher and cauterization is not something he will do one someone my age (I am 34) because my eyes may change.

I appreciate what he is saying and have been trying to make them work. I have tried every size he has ---the smaller size pops out and this one (the next size up) is too big. Problem is that they get squeezed out a bit so they are poking up and scratching my eye pretty much all day long, almost every day...unless I push them back in a bit.

I used to just gently push them back into place with the pad of my finger, but they would pop back up again anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes after I did that.

So I started using pointy tweezers or a thumbtack point or whatever I could get to push them in a little better. This would yield success/relief for anywhere between 15 minutes or a half hour to a several hours.

Well, my eyes were reallllly bad yesterday and I had already done that several times. When I got home I pushed them in again and they went ALL THE WAY IN! I can't even see them, much less get them back out. Why yesterday, of all days, they went too deep after doing the same thing for months, I don't know.

The eye Dr.'s office griped at me, saying I am not really supposed to push them back in, but I ask you, if this is my ONLY option, what else am I supposed to do to make it workable? I already have a hard enough time with dry eye at work WITH the plugs AND Restasis twice a day, I certainly can't go without some kind of plug-like-thing. Going without means I essentially can't work since I spend all day on the computer.

I am going to see him tomorrow.

Has this kind of thing happened to anyone else?

Oh, and how soon would I be likely to get an infection from pushing the plugs that aren't supposed to GO that deep inside down inside? I wasn't sure how much of an "immediate emergency" this is (if it is).

Thanks for your thoughts. I am quite frustrated.

[kitty]

Can you tell us what brand of plugs you have? I have Herrick intracanalicular plugs. They are silicone and look life golf tees. They are supposed to go deep inside, below the surface of the punctum. You really should be careful trying to position them yourself. Not only are you at risk for infection but you could cause your tear duct to tear or rupture, resulting in scarring and future problems that might be difficult to correct.

[Dinerdulcinea]

Thanks

Thanks for your reply, kitty.

I did manage to get in to see the eye Dr. I don't know what kind of plugs they are as far as brand is concerned. Alas! He said they look fine though and plans to leave them in. I asked him about infection and he said these particular ones are not really much of a risk at all and I may never have a problem with them even though they are pushed in. I am just relieved. YAAAY!

Thanks!!

[Danny_]

Thanks for your reply, kitty.

I did manage to get in to see the eye Dr. I don't know what kind of plugs they are as far as brand is concerned. Alas! He said they look fine though and plans to leave them in. I asked him about infection and he said these particular ones are not really much of a risk at all and I may never have a problem with them even though they are pushed in. I am just relieved. YAAAY!

Thanks!!

I've gone down the plugs road and while they did work, they led to other problems for me. I'm trying lacriserts right now and will let you know how I do. However, so far, I can tentatively say that had I known about the lacriserts before the plugs, I would have gone for them first and maybe, the plugs after. I still have two plugs in the bottom punctua.