Dry eye resulting from injury

[Dryeyetrauma]

Just wondering if anyone else out there got their dry eye from an injury like me? It seems most people get theirs from Lasik surgery, well mine came as a young man, when an idiot hurled a tennis ball at me and damaged my cornea. So I guess I am a good "experiment vs control" case, with one good eye and one bad.

I'm new to this website and it's amazing how many treatments are out there, I've spent the last 4 years going from optometrist to opthalmologist and back again and haven't heard many suggestions from them. Initially my condition was even misdiagnosed as mydriasis (oversized pupil) after the dude dilated my pupil with drops and couldn't think of anything else to explain my photophobia.

I can also identify with the people who write about frustration at the effect the disease has on their lives. Anyone else cringe when they walk into a smoky bar? Get nasty headaches when even slightly dehydrated? Bad symptoms when on a plane? Pain when driving into the sun. What about having your photo taken - for me that is the worst, one time I was having my passport photo taken and the guy rudely told me to leave because he didn't have time to waste taking my picture when all I did was keep blinking! At times I feel like I'm about to be shot when someone pulls out a camera... graduation photos were bad... anyway I'll stop my rant there and see what anyone has to say!

Cheers,

Dry eye sufferer from Australia.

[Judy]

Welcome Dryeyetrauma!

YOU ARE DEFINITELY NOT ALONE NOW THAT YOU HAVE FOUND THIS WEBSITE! I'm not sure where my dry eye condition came from, but it could be from wearing contact lenses for so long and menapause as well. You won't have that last problem anyway! But yes, I can relate to your frustration in all the ways you have mentioned. Smoke, air conditioners, heaters, bright lights, sunlight, ceiling fans (big in Florida) are all killers! And no one really understands unless they are one of us.... I'm so sorry to hear of your situation and how it happened. Read up in here and you will find many more solutions than what the 'large pupil diagonoser' came up with! You are in my prayers and things will get better soon!

[erinlins]

Hey,

Sorry to hear about your injury. The same thing actually happened to me many years ago. I was wearing contacts so maybe they somehow protected my cornea. Anyway my pupil stayed dialated for two days. Scarry tunnel vision. However, it just went away on its own.

[Dryeyetrauma]

Thanks

Thanks for the good wishes, I hope for everyone's sake that a way of fixing this problem is discovered...

[aatkinson]

trauma also

I have developed dry eye from an injury as well. I have only had the condition for 4 months now, so I completely sympathize with those of you suffering for years. In May of 07 I poked myself in the eye with my fingernail. It scratched my cornea, which has since healed, but it left me with dry eyes. When I sleep at night, apparently, I don't close my eyes completely and that dries them out even more. When I wake up in the morning, my eyelid is stuck to the film on my eye and rips it open. The pain is terrible and it is blinding sometimes. I have recently noticed that my pupil is staying dilated when this happens and that makes it very difficult to see. I have been to the local eye foundation at least 3 times and to several other doctor's in addition to my regular eye doctor. They all have the same thing to say to me, "there is nothing we can do". They have me using Optive eye drops every hour, theratears pills twice a day, sterilid eye cleanser at night and in the morning, an otc allergy drop in the morning and at night, and a gel in my eye when i go to bed. Last time I went to the doctor, she gave me a contact bandage to wear to bed, but it would stick also and it would roll up under my eyelid at night. When she looked at my eye when she got the rolled up contact out, she noticed the inside of my eyelid was covered in allergy blisters. none of the treatments they have given me helps. I have missed at least 2 weeks of work combined since the injury and don't see any hope in sight.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hello and welcome. Very sorry to hear of your plight.

They all have the same thing to say to me, "there is nothing we can do".

There may be nothing they can do but there is plenty you can do for yourself at this point.

First, let us know where you are, maybe there's a doctor someone can recommend. Worst case, would you be willing to travel to a specialist?

Second, you're describing severe night dryness, erosions and nocturnal lagophthalmos. As a minimum, good physical/environmental protection at night should be a decent start towards getting things under better control.

Here are some resources:
Night protection forum
Night protection tips
Night protection tools

Highly recommend showing any items you consider e.g. Tranquileyes or sleep masks to your doctors and discussing it with them.

Allergy BLISTERS? Goodness. I wish I knew more about allergies. Makes me wonder though if something you are taking is actually making things worse, or if there is something in your environment that is. What allergy drop are you on, and what gel?

I don't know about the pupil thing....

[aatkinson]

I am in Birmingham Alabama. I use the refresh pm gel and I think it's called Zaditor allergy drops. I have been reading all morning in different areas on your site. This a wonderful place. I have been taking notes and comparing stories so I can plan to talk to my doctor about some of these treatments. Thank you so much for all of the work you put into this. It's amazing.

[Rebecca Petris]

Couple of other thoughts for when you talk to your doctor -

1) Muro ointment. You sound like you've got RCEs which are common after a corneal injury like that and Muro can often be helpful. Or, you may want to try our Dwelle drops... many people with RCEs have found them helpful.

2) Acular (or similar) drops maybe for the pain when you get a recurrence?

3) Any possibliity those 'allergy blisters' are GPC?

[bostonlover]

They have me using Optive eye drops every hour, ...

Just wanted to point out to you to make sure this is a preservative free drop they are having you use this often. I didn't think they made Optive in the preservative free formula. I can tell you from personal experience and there is also a lot of science to back it up that it is absolutely detrimental to the surface of the eye to use anything with a preservative this often (even so called "disappearing" or PF in the eye preservatives). Some say more than 4 times in a day. I would definitely switch to something like Theratears PF vials.

Good luck in your quest to get relief!

[aatkinson]

Thank you both so much for the information. I have taken lots of notes the last couple of days. I have a lot of information to take to my doctor to discuss.

I don't know if the Optive is preservative free or not, but it is something I will certainly check on right away. I have had one doctor tell me to be sure to use preservative free drops and I just assumed my regular doctor was keeping up with his advice.

Rebecca, I don't know if the blisters are GPC or not, but I will speak to my dr about it. As for the muro and the Acular, are those by prescription or can I buy them over the counter? I know on the occassions I have visited the Eye Foundation Emergency room, they have carefully guarded the numbing drops. They say it's not good to keep they eye numb because it hinders the healing process. I forget the exact wording he used for that though.

Also, just wanted to share something with everyone. Last night I went home thinking about everything I have read on this website. I didn't have time to do any shopping for anything to help with my eyes, so I improvised last night. When I got ready for bed, I went through my normal routine of washing with the sterilid, applying the drops and the refresh pm ointment. Then I wet a washcloth with warm water and placed it over my eye. I secured it with a woman's elastic headband. It stayed in place all night and I didn't have the ripping feeling this morning when I woke up. I'm sure I looked rediculous, but it worked so I didn't care.

[Rebecca Petris]

I don't know if the Optive is preservative free or not

Optive is preserved. I shared your post with a doctor who also wondered whether you might be having issues with the preservative. Of course all preservatives are not equal. BAK is known to be very toxic and unsuitable for regular use, others vary and may depend more on frequency of application. In practice dry eye management can be a balancing act between benefits and risks, for example, the benefits of topical allergy meds for some people will clearly outweigh the drawbacks of the preservatives (and thankfully we're increasingly seeing more PF versions of things... but far too slowly). Likewise... personally I despise sodium perborate BUT I have to acknowledge how much Genteal Gel has helped a lot of people get through the night safely.

As for the muro and the Acular, are those by prescription or can I buy them over the counter? I know on the occassions I have visited the Eye Foundation Emergency room, they have carefully guarded the numbing drops. They say it's not good to keep they eye numb because it hinders the healing process.

Muro is an OTC hypertonic ointment. Acular is a prescription-only non-steroidal antiinflammatory - another similar one is called Xibrom. Numbing drops are a big, big no-no for dry eye... absolutely counterproductive.

Then I wet a washcloth with warm water and placed it over my eye. I secured it with a woman's elastic headband. It stayed in place all night and I didn't have the ripping feeling this morning when I woke up.

Great job improvising and glad to hear it helped. I'm convinced a physical barrier is a real must in these situations.