Has anyone had this gross thing happen?

[rkralman]

Hi, I am new here! I have had dry eyes for many years and for the past 10 months I have tried various plugs. I have had 4 temp plugs in my right eye and 8 permanent ones. My eye doctor and I have used the Smart Plug twice. I was very excited to try this, but much to my dismay, they did not last long in my eye. We assumed they fell out or flushed out on their own. Now here is the kicker! My tear duct started itching really bad and swelling with some redness, even after weeks with no plug in the eye. I was referred to an opthamologist who numbed my eye and squeezed the duct really hard and two plugs squirted out along with a bunch of pus! EEEWWWWW!! We thought we had them all when lo and behold, a week later I felt my eye start itching and burning again so I took a deep breath and squeezed HARD on the punctum, and ANOTHER gel plug came out, along with a bunch of black particles and pus!! My gosh! It was so gross! I was on a Tobradex for a week to get out the inflammation and infection and the doctor seems to think I have at least one more plug stuck in there due to continuous pus drainage. I am trying to get this infection cleared up and then I am having this duct permanently closed with surgery. I am NOT putting one more plug in my eye. Be very careful! These plugs sometimes get lost and lodged in the punctum and can cause major problems. The doctor has explained the material that the Smart Plug is made of is causing a reaction in me. My eye is trying to reject it but all of these plugs have been lodged in there all of this time and now it is a mess to get cleared up! I have to wait three more weeks to get the infection cleared up and then he is going to irrigate it and let it heal some more. Hopefully in about 4-6 weeks I can get this duct permanently closed. I can't believe I am so excited about getting the surgery done but I am so tired of my life being planned aroung my eye problems. Dry eye really does reduce the quality of life in a person. I am very tired of dealing with my eye problems and hope that the surgery will take my daily focus off of my eyes and on to more important things! I currenlty use Aquify drops (love these drops) to get through the worst part and am just taking it a day at a time. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Thanks!

[spaniel]

I cannot thank you enough for this post. Even if your experience is not shared by many others, I think your doc should report this to the FDA .I say this because this is where people look to find out real problems with newer products. They are then obligated to look into the issue further. I also believe that the individual can make a report. Again thanks.

[Rebecca Petris]

I cannot thank you enough for this post. Even if your experience is not shared by many others, I think your doc should report this to the FDA .I say this because this is where people look to find out real problems with newer products. They are then obligated to look into the issue further. I also believe that the individual can make a report. Again thanks.

Agree 100%.

Here is a link to the MedWatch report form: http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/F...0_fillable.pdf

And here is a link to the page it can be reached from, which also has links to instructions etc:
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/mdr/mdr-forms.html

[Cindy]

Holy patooty! Man oh man. Hi rkralman...geez. What an uncomfortable mess for you! I'm glad it's getting resolved but I gotta say it's just plain shocking! It's never happened to me but I do have a plug that's imbedded in the canal and every so often it itches me. An opthalmologist tried to flush it out but it wouldn't budge.

I just can't imagine packing plugs in one after the other as happened to you. Thanks for letting us know and for your note of caution. It's important to be aware:

These plugs sometimes get lost and lodged in the punctum and can cause major problems.

[Kyle]

Oh my gosh!!! That is horrible! Just when I think I have it bad I read something like this and I know it could be worse. I am so, so sorry for you, but so happy that you seem to be on the path to getting things straight.
I too have a plug lodged in my left bottom canal. My eye bleeds occassionally from it and yes, itches from it too. Every doctor I've been to see says I'll need surgery to get it out, but none of them seems too keen on actually doing the surgery. They just tell me to leave it alone until it's absolutely necessary to do something about it. I too have a raised area in the bottom of my left eye near the corner. That's interesting that you could push on that area and pop the plug out. I wonder if that's possible for me. I'm going to ask Dr. Sall next time I see him. I bet it took guts to push on that area by yourself though that last time, huh?
Good luck on moving forward with things and hopefully it will be better and fixed really, really soon.
Take care.

[untkicker29]

I have heard that plugs migrating down the drainage canal is very very rare, but it seems like from the people's experience on here that happens more often than "very very rare"

I have been battling the decision to try punctal plugs solely because of this possible side effect.

[jcorbett]

I remember reading about some plug that dissolves on its own in about 6 months to a year. After reading about all these problems, I think that a longer lasting dissolvable plug might be the way to go.
Has anyone ever had a plug that has a cap on it get imbedded in their eye? Is it only the smart plugs that are causing these problems?

[Rebecca Petris]

Is it only the smart plugs that are causing these problems?

It's not just the SmartPlugs (though we've sure been seeing a lot of those lately it seems like). There are silicone intracanalicular plugs that have resulted in similar situations. - Like the patient I mentioned who had several plugs embedded that were believed to have worked themselves out (but hadn't) and who was then cauterized, leading to some very serious problems.

[jcorbett]

Rebecca - the intracanalicular plugs that you are talking about....are those plugs without the little cap on top?
I guess I should have worded my question differently.
Are the plugs causing problems the ones without the little cap on top? My plug has that little cap on top. My doc tells me she doesn't think those can slip into the canal, but I wonder.......

[untkicker29]

If anyone can find out any information about the dissolvable plugs that last up to 6 months, I would love to ask my doctor about them and maybe give those a shot. I have yet to try any plugs because I do not want an added eye problem along with dry eyes.

Why aren't all doctors moving to these dissolvable plugs? There would be no adverse risk to using them.

[rkralman]

Good idea about reporting this!

Hi Rebecca! I never thought about reporting this or having my doctor report this but it makes sense. The companies need to know that people are experiencing negative results from these plugs. I will follow up on this and see what happens and report what I find out. Should be interesting!

Agree 100%.

Here is a link to the MedWatch report form: http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/SAFETY/F...0_fillable.pdf

And here is a link to the page it can be reached from, which also has links to instructions etc:
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/mdr/mdr-forms.html

[rkralman]

Putting the squeeze on the plug!

Hi Kyle! You are right...squeezing a plug out of the punctum is somewhat comparable to delivering a 10 pound baby! Ha! It hurts like the dickens! My opthamologist was both horrified and impressed that I got up the nerve to squeeze it out! He had numbed my eye and squeeezed out 2 lodged plugs, and then when my eye started itching again a few days later, I just knew there was another one in there, so I took a deep breath, lubed it up with Aquify saline solution and Aquify drops, and squeezed the tar out of the punctum until one more popped out! It hurt SO much but I was relieved to get another lodged plug out. I am not recommending anyone do this, mind you, I just felt that I needed to get it out so this is what I chose to do. I would recommend you leave it to the experts to do the squeezing as it is very painful without a numbing agent! I'll keep you updated on what happens in the follow up! Thanks for the encouraging words!

[rkralman]

Problem with capped plug also

I also had a plug lodged in the eye that had a cap on it. I have no idea how it went inside the punctum, but it did. It may have something to do with the plug being too small (incorrectly measured) and then just disappearing inside the punctum. I just thought they fell out the ususal way although I had not seen them. I also had two plugs protrude out from the punctum so severely that it scratched my eye so I just grabbed the plug and pulled it out myself to stop the agony! The thing is, when plugs are correctly inserted, they can work miracles. I have had much relief from the original plug in my left eye. It was immediate relief and has not budged nor given me any problems since the day it was inserted. It is a plug with a cap on it and it is doing great! My right eye is the one that is giving me all of the grief!

I remember reading about some plug that dissolves on its own in about 6 months to a year. After reading about all these problems, I think that a longer lasting dissolvable plug might be the way to go.
Has anyone ever had a plug that has a cap on it get imbedded in their eye? Is it only the smart plugs that are causing these problems?

[rkralman]

Lost plugs are fairly common

Lost plugs are not as uncommon as one may think. Some opthamologists do not insert them in any patients due to these complications. I have had wonderful results from punctal plugs when properly measured and fitted. If you have severe dry eye, I would give the temp plugs a try just to see if they make a difference. If you get relief, you can discuss permanent options with your doctor. Good luck!

I have heard that plugs migrating down the drainage canal is very very rare, but it seems like from the people's experience on here that happens more often than "very very rare"

I have been battling the decision to try punctal plugs solely because of this possible side effect.

[Kyle]

Wow, that just totally grosses me out. I do applaud your bravery in doing it yourself though, yet I agree with you it's best to do it under a doctors care.
I know how you feel too. Right now my eyes are so sandy and gritty I just want to rake my fingernails straight down over my eyes and pull out whatever is there. When I tell my friends that they look at me like I am crazy, but only those of us who have had to endure that feeling of something constantly being in our eye know the extremes we will go to to eliminate that feeling forever!
Good luck!