Eyes will not open in the morning.

[Janet S]

My Hospital Consultant suggesed that "Blepharits " may be the cause of my dry eyes, but I do not have any inflammation around my lashes or red irritable lid margins or itchyness. My main problem is dry eyes and I am unable to open my eyes after I have been sleeping.

I have spoken to many people with a dry eye problem but nobody else seems to have the problem of not being able to open their eyes after sleeping. Also after I have been reading or watching TV my eyes go very dry and start to close and I then find it very difficult to keep them open while I apply my gel.

Does anyone else have this same problem of not being able to open their eyes after sleeping. I hope someone will be able to come up with some suggestions for me. I have had this problem now for over twelve months. It started in my right eye. That lasted for about six months but now it has gone to both eyes.

[Cindy]

hi Janet,

Try applying (gently squirting) some drops along your lashline before you try opening your eyes. Let it seep in a little to moisten your eyes. I suspect your lids are sticking to your eyes. It takes a little practice to do this but keep a bottle of drops next to your bed and soon you will learn to grab them and use them before opening your eyes. I'm the lazy sort and just keep a glass of plain old water on my nightstand, dip my finger in and moisten my lashline. Just enough to ease my eyes open and instill drops.

[Gaye]

Eyes that won't open in the morning

When I first realized I had a dry eye problem, this happened to me every morning. It was horrible! My eyes were always terribly sore and my vision was so bad, I thought I must be going blind. My eyelids actually stuck to my eyeballs and I would tear the epithelium when I opened them. Then I would have pain for days as they healed. I was at my eye doctor weekly and he never figured out what was happening, until he referred me to a specialist. Now, I use GenTeal at night and put drops in first thing even before opening my eyes completely (and dumped the bad eye doctor). This has helped a lot. Though sometimes, I know I am not closing my right eye completely at night and that eye is always more of a problem in the morning. Not sure how to prevent that.

Keep the drops at your bedside like Cindy suggested. My first choice in the morning is Systane then NutraTear throughout the day.

[jcorbett]

Not closing eye completely

Gaye - I think there was a big discussion about that on D'eyealogues. Some people used a special kind of tape and actually taped their eye shut at night. Others bought a nightime sleep mask - I think in the beauty section - and used that. Perhaps you could find that thread??

[Rebecca Petris]

Gaye - I think there was a big discussion about that on D'eyealogues. Some people used a special kind of tape and actually taped their eye shut at night. Others bought a nightime sleep mask - I think in the beauty section - and used that. Perhaps you could find that thread??

Here is the D'Eyealogues thread (it's long, but it's a good one).

I used seran wrap during pregnancy, and occasionally since then.

[dianat]

To get through the night I keep a humidifier running all night (even in summer!) and I wear a sleep mask. I know the mask helps keep my eyes shut. I tried taping for a while, but it was pretty awful. I ripped out a lot of lashes and had trouble when I needed to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom or to tend to my kids. In addition, when my eyes have been at their worst, I've literally set an alarm and instilled my choice of drops in my eyes...sometimes as often as three times a night. It always helped my morning go better.

[Gaye]

Keeping eyes closed at night

Thanks for all the good suggestions. I will look for a sleep mask - taping seems like it could be a problem - hate to lose the few eye lashes I have left!

[Lucy]

Plus

you will get little red spots over your cheekbone from ripping the tape off. I taped my lids shut awhile back when I was having more than the usual trouble.

One day I noticed this "rash" across my cheeks. Well, duh.........it wasn't a rash, it was irritated skin from pulling off the tape. What can I say? Years of dry eyes makes one ditty sometimes.

[Gaye]

Not closing eyes at night

Do you think eye doctors have special 'eyelid' tape?

[Rebecca Petris]

Do you think eye doctors have special 'eyelid' tape?

If they do, I hope it's better than the one the laser clinic gave me years ago to tape the eye guard in place the first days after surgery. It was dreadful, left my cheeks feeling irritated and sticky for days, couldn't get the darned stuff off.

[Gaye]

Eyelid tape

Ouch! Think I will just get the eye mask!

[dianat]

I easily found at a drugstore a medical tape that was...I don't know the terminology it stated...but a "minimal stick" type tape. It actually worked pretty well and I don't recall residual glue on my skin. I did, however, lose some brow and lash. It did prevent me from having to have my eyebrows waxed, which was convenient...

[Gaye]

To Diana re: Eyes not closing at night

That's funny! Now where do you suppose one could go for eyelash implants?

[dianat]

That sounds as frightening as LASIK. Recently someone tried to talk me into permanent eyeliner since I can no longer wear makeup. Upon discussing the procedure, I realized it was as crazy a notion as crummy LASIK. No more unnecessary eye procedures for me, thanks! Learn to like those bald eyelids...pretend you're starting a new fad.

[Gaye]

To Diana - re: permanent eyeliner

I was actually stupid enough to do that a few years ago and often wonder if that had something to to with my dry eye problem. It has been many years and it has since faded away, but you have to wonder - needles that close to the oil glands?