Bad experience with plugs

[Danny_]

Firstly, I'm totally for plugs. I've been quadraplugged, now only plugged on the bottom and it was a life-saver for me. If your dry-eye is due to a lack of tears more than the tears being evaporated, then plugs are a great option.

However, I had a really bad experience yesterday for the first time having a plug replaced. I've had plugs replaced about ten times in the past and never had problems.

But, the doctor couldn't get a size 5 into my bottom right. I used to get a size 6 or even 7 in it. He got another doctor to try and he really hurt me trying to get it in. They poke you in the eye to try to make it easier to get in before they try and he overdid this. Finally, they got a third doctor to try and he quickly realized that my punctua had probably shrunk and that was the reason why it wasn't going in.

Apparently, this can happen so the lesson to be learned is to make sure you get a good doctor to do it for you. If you find one, stick with that doctor. As I'm writing this, it's quite painful to look at the screen. Anyway, just sharing my experience...

[Lucy]

Danny, I've been in the same situation. My personal opinion about this is that after many pluggings, unpluggings, replugging, retrys at plugging that scar tissue forms over the punctum.

I was quadraplugged at one time, but then now I'm two puncta scarred shut, one cauterized and one plug in place. They can dilate your puncta with an instrument they have and sometimes this helps to allow the insertion of the plug. Sometimes, it's just not going in, no matter what.

Thanks for writing about this as it serves as info to others who might find themselves in this position. Lucy

[Danny_]

Thanks Lucy! I appreciate the kind words and yeah, I'm just trying to warn others that, even if you've had the plugs put in many times before, there is no guarentee that something won't go wrong the next time. I got off easy - just a day or two of pain. Hopefully, no long term damage.