where to do laser surgery against red veins

[Maya]

Hey everybody,

I am desperate ! I cannot live like this anylonger, Iīm constantly depressed because of these huge red veins in my eyes. They never go away, they just swell even more during the day and then those spots where the veins are, really hurt. I cannot do anything, and I even avoid doing anything, because, whenever I think about doing something or going somewhere, I immediately draw back, because I know how bad I will feel when my eyes will start burning like hell and how I will just want to run away and hide because of how I look.

I avoid going out, I avoid people, I just hide.
This has been going on for more than two years now, and I donīt know why I should have to live a life like this. I donīt want to. Things just donīt change, and everything I get from doctors is the dry eye diagnosis and the tipp to use moisturizing drops.

I once found a "laser specialist" who promised that he would coagulate my veins, and after that, everything would be gone. I told him, I just care about the real big ones, I wanted those to go away. So, after several laser sessions ( where he lasered some very small veins) the big veins were still there and he suddenly told me, that he will not laser those because they are scleral veins, that they were always there . I just never realized.. (how I hate that, when eye doctors try telling me they were always there..as if I am stupid, or have a perception disorder..) and if he would coagulate them, they will only appear again, because in my case itīs caused by my genetic vulnerability..

What an idiot ! I explained to him that I used these bloody whitening drops and befor using them I had no veins at all, I just used them in the beginning after long nights , after drinking alcohol etc, just because I wanted some slight irritations to disappear from time to time.
I got dependend on these drops, I didnīt realize that the reason my eyes were suddenly getting more and more red were these drops in fact.
After about half a year of daily use of these devilish drops I was left with these big ugly veins and pain all over my eyes. I finally realized what was going on and immediately threw those drops away. But too late.

So here I am, more desperate and fed up with life than ever. I donīt have any future plans, Iīm just embarrased and disturbed, why is there no one to help ?

Iīm making a last attempt. Iīve reading some posts from other red eye sufferers, and it seems there are some laser specialists out there in the world that offer laser treatment for red veins in the eyes.
I just donīt know where they are.

So please, anybody here in this forum who can provide a link, an adress, anything about an eye doctor that performs this kind of laser surgery, please let me know about !

I donīt want every tiny vein in my eyes to disappear, I just have some big veins coming from the sclera in the middle of the exposed nasal parts of my eyes. They are really prominent and they really hurt, I guess itīs because they constantly trigger nerves in the surrounding tissue, but I donīt know.

Please, anybody who can help, let me know !

Thank you so much,
Maya

[stephgurl1986]

I know how you feel. I have red blood vessels all over my left eye. They were even there before th dry eye started but since the eye is dry they fill up with blood so that I have a horrible pain and I look awful.
A dry eye specialist in a university hospital offered me to cut them away because we are sure that they won't return (or at least not to that extent). He says there is nothing that can go wrong and I can go home the next day. I hope I can trust him but he is a very well known doctor here in Germany.

[Francesco]

Hi,
Maya ....sorry about that....i have similar problems...the corners of my eyes are always red ...since i was 14-15 years old...now i'm 23....i'm constantly using tinted glasses ......that's sad......
anyway if i remember there is Dr. C. Stephen Foster at the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institute (MERSI) that does something for the blood vessels....a laser surgery i guess..
you can write him and ask if you want....

www.mersi.us

keep all the red eye sufferers updated please!

[dnew85]

Bloodshot Eyes

I am right there with ya'll. I live in east Texas and I am a LASIK dry eye sufferer. My problem is not so much the discomfort of dry eye but I too suffer from intolerable redness/bloodshot eyes on the exposed nasal side of both eyes. Looking back I should have seen the signs of dryness from contact lense wear. This is something that is a definite burden affecting all aspects of our lives. There are many things I used to do before dry eye but now my eyes irritate me and look so bad that it is all that I can do to get out of bed and do a job that I really love. I feel that LASIK has stolen 1+ years of my life so far and it has had a negative impact on my performance as a daddy and a husband.
I do have a few questions: You mentioned that you had the small veins on your conjunctiva removed (lasered) but the large veins in the sclera (white underneath conjunctiva) would have to stay. The next poster had them cut out. I have noticed that nearly all of my irritation is in the exposed nasal conjunctiva. I do have prominent scleral veins but I assumed that most people have at least a few. Who/What type of Dr. did your procedures? Where can I find someone to see if that would be a possibility for me? What type of results did you have? I would pay nearly anything to get the bloodvessels ZAPPED AWAY.

Thanks, DNEW

[dnew85]

Has anyone on DEZ had this done or have any information on these types of procedures??? Thanks. DN

[Kyle]

Wow.....

Wow, you guys...after reading this I'm stunned! Especially for those of you suffering from dry eyes due to surgery already. Would you really go under the knife, or laser, again for anything!? I honestly can't imagine (after all the pain I've been in since my lasik) EVER letting someone do ANYTHING on my eyes again!!!!

I too have those bulging red veins that hurt and look like hell...mainly in my left eye tho. And yes, I clearly remember my eyes being bloodshot all the time when I wore contacts and always thinking "wow, how I'd love to have those beautiful white eyes". In fact, that's one of the reasons I did lasik to begin with! Wow, how vain was I!?

When that vein starts popping out I reach for my cold compresses. Even just running a washcloth under cold water and keeping it by my eye helps a lot. Add an ice cube and wrap it good and put it there. It does reduce the swelling and makes it feel better. To me surgery would never be an option!

My vision fluctuates like mad still (after 3 plus years) and so many of my docs keep telling me once my vision "settles" they'll be able to do lasik again to correct it. I look at them like they are crazy!! Or rather like they are mad scientists! Let them do [U]another[U] surgery just like the one that turned my life upside down to begin with. Are you fricking insane?????

Sorry guys, I would [B]seriously[B]consider alternative ways to help those veins. I only see more problems ahead if you start cutting/lasering things even more.

It's just my opinion tho.......
Take care,
Kyle

[dnew85]

Kyle,

You do make a valid and understandable point. My eyes were never crystal clear white when I wore contacs for 15 years but I could always remove them and let my eyes rest. Since LASIK my eyes have steadily deteriorated and I am assuming that the Dry Eye Syndrome has been the major contributor. To let you know where I am coming from, my eyes hurt most of the time but I would gladly accept more pain to have my eyes look at least close to normal. It is so bad that I am infuriated when I look into the mirror and I cannot look people in the eyes for more than a second or two. It is not like a couple of veins here, I am talking about the entire exposed conjunctiva on the nasal side of my eyes. The look like a downtown city road map with red veis as streets. I would allow just about anything to have them removed. LASIK has destroyed what I once was and now I can only do my best to get through each day. Sorry for the pity party. dn

[Kyle]

dnew85...

dnew85, okay, I'm just now getting back on to this site after being gone for a while, so I apologize for not knowing your story. How long has it been since you've had lasik? What are you doing now to relieve your pain/symptoms? Oh, I just looked back at your post...it looks like you had your surgery a little over a year ago. As you probably know by now, that is still relatively soon for the healing process (or at least our process, the major dry eye folks) to be over.

No need to apologize for the pity party...that's what we're here for. I have had way more than my share of pity parties on this site, so I totally understand!

I too am sometimes fascinated (for lack of a better word) at how my eyes look on a daily basis. I used to constantly stare in my magnifying mirror in amazement at how they changed on a daily basis. Most of the time "road maps"..like you said, sometimes gigantic eye ball (only one eye tho so I look like a cyclops), crustiness, bottom eye lashes falling out and almost all gone, etc..etc... I finally just stopped! It was just too much to bear.

I have actually found "forgetting" I have dry eyes works best. The Secret states "that which we focus on grows". I found this to be true in this case. The more I focused on my situation the worse it became. If I try to focus on other things it takes my mind off of my eyes...if even for a little bit.

Now, don't get me wrong, my dry eyes are a major factor in my life. Constantly going to the docs, buying medicine, using compresses. staying away from heat. etc..., but, honestly, I try to rule it now..and not let it rule me...if you can understand that.

Hey, I'm not trying to be a Pollyanna here. It sucks...majorly! I've been so close to suicide in the past 3 plus years..I marvel how I've come this far. I've been to more than 12 of the best doctors and specialists in all of LA and still nothing. The last one told me "I know I can fix you"....after about a year he told me I had made it to the number 1 position on his list of the worst eye problems he had ever seen....major dry eyes, blepharitis, GPC, corneal abrasions, fluctuating vision...and he travels the US and Dubai training people on how to treat major dry eyes!

What I guess I'm trying to say here dnew85 is this...first of all I guarantee your eyes look worse to you than they do to others. Seriously. We notice it more because we feel it more. I can't tell you how many times my friends have said to me on some of my worst eye days "well, you look great to me". Yes, our eyes are bloodshot and look strange. I just make jokes about it now. I'm an actress and audition all the time. My first line when I get in front of casting directors is "No, I'm not stoned, I have an eye condition". It usually makes them laugh and breaks the ice.

As for the pain, gosh...that is the worst isn't it? How do we get through the bad times? This website has been a GODSEND to me! The people understanding me and, unfortunately, walking in my shoes has helped me a lot. The tips that are on this site are unbelievable! Most of us know more than all the docs we see...trust me. Please, please take the time to read and then re-read all the posts on how everyone gets through their worse days. Use what other people use, experiment and soon you will find your own way to cope.

I see that you are a Dad and a husband. I hope they are supportive and understand. I'm sure that helps too.

Okay, enough of my pep talk, trust me dnew85, I DO (and almost all of us here) really understand and sympathize with you. When this all happened to me at the beginning someone said to me "you can choose to go on...or not to go on"...I chose to go on.

Oh, one last thing....you wrote "LASIK has destroyed what I once was"....although I understand what you mean by that..you can NOT let this beat you! You have to beat it!! If you had cancer would you roll over and die? I don't think so. You'd go to doctors and do what they said...whether it was chemo, radiation, whatever. The same applies here. Don't let this kill the person you once were. If you give up now it will have been way too soon. One of my doctors, an eye specialist that works in a training hospital for dry eyes (so he knows the newest & latest things coming up), once told me that there would be a cure for dry eyes "in my lifetime". Now, does that mean tomorrow, next week, next month, next year....who knows. I just keep focusing on that statement and hoping that this is the day in my lifetime the cure is found.

Hang in there, ok?

Take care,
Kyle

[Maya]

doctors..

Thank you everyone who replied..

Dnew, Iīm living in Germany too, I think Stephgurl (thank you so much for reminding me ! Please let me know if you had any procedure how it turned out) means Dr. Cursiefen, I heard about him too, and I will make an appointment with him quite soon, he is the Chefdoctor in the University hospital Erlangen. Well, I guess, youīre from the US, so itīs very experience just to see a doctor and ask (and as we all have experienced so many times just get send home without anything), but maybe you could send him a mail and some pictures. I will let you know what he told me, so I hope that will help you.

The other doc I went too, well, I donīt really know if I should write who this was, because he seemed so much interested in making his money, promiing things in the beginning and when there was not much for him to earn anymore he suddenly said that he wonīt remove the veins I was actually seeing him (and spend so much money) all the time for. And if you too have deeper veins, originating from the sclera, he wonīt do them anyway, because he will tell you they will come back as they came for no reason.. (you can tell the difference if you use a cotton swap or your figers, gently pushing your lids against your eye ball and moving them (sorry , donīt know how to describe it better, but I think you get the point), then the veins on the conjunctiva will also move, the scleral ones remain static.
With whitening drops, conjunctival veins will clear, scleral ones wonīt. But itīs not necessary to use that stuff just to test, stay away from these drops like it is the pest !

Kyle, I really know what you mean, and everything you wrote is much appreciated.
But I really suffer from not having any life anymore, just a constant depression, where everything is just dull and grey, and I cannot go on like this without even trying to make it better. Youīre right, giving anything your thoughts, your energy, just makes it grow and makes it stronger, the good and the bad things alike, and I really try not to give my problem more energy to make me even weaker ( I avoid mirrors, force myself not to look into anythig reflecting my eyes, I even installed orange-like lights in my bathroom, so this cancels the red in my eyes out and I donīt get too scared every morning to go out and go on with University. But I really cannot avoid other people, their looks and their comments. And I cannot avoid when the veins start swelling, which happens as soon as I step out the door.. And when all this happens it makes me wanna run back home and just hide..

You seem to know how it is and I can only admire you that you cope with it so well, but Iīm not getting anywhere over it, Iīm just getting weakened by this condition each day; thatīs why I wrote I donīt know how much longer I can live like this, if I hadnīt such a wonderful partner and family, I dont know where I would be now.

I really would like to avoid laser surgery if possible, but Iīve tried all the natural remedies (capsules, sports, different diets ect) , I spend thousands of Euros for this and that , I bought soo many moisturizing drops, then I thought time will cure it, but no, itīs all the same, and Iīm just plain desperate !

I know, you cannot understand why we still would do almost any procedure that offers relief from this, but itīs just because weīre at a point where we have tried almost anything and this might be our last resort.

Thank you,
Maya

Ps: Francesco, thank you very much too, Iīll write them an e-mail.

[stephgurl1986]

@maya: just send dr Cursiefen an email, he will reply within 2-3 days. I've seen him last July and I emailed him last week about the operation and he replyed that I should tell him when I want to come. The procedure is done quickly and I can go home the next day. I'm seeing Dr. Latkany in May so I'll wait what he says but I'm sure I'll get rid of my blood vessels this summer.
Let me know when you see him.

[Rebecca Petris]

Since LASIK my eyes have steadily deteriorated and I am assuming that the Dry Eye Syndrome has been the major contributor.

dnew,
I'm with Kyle. What if you're going out of the frying pan and into the fire here. It just kills me to see that happen with lasik patients especially. The thing with the redness is that if there is ANY DOUBT WHATSOEVER as to what's caused it and if it's getting any worse, then even suppose a surgery temporarily improves things what's to prevent a recurrence? I know that sounds ironic because if you knew exactly what was causing it and could address it, it'd be moot, but equally, if you don't know what's causing it I'd worry about essentially 'patching' the problem. I've seen a lot of people over the years with lasik induced problems making things worse because they made decisions about surgeries at a time when they simply felt desperate.

[faithlies]

I'm with Rebecca and Kyle on this too.

You must be feeling so desperate , but why put yourself through surgery -- particularly those of you who have already had such a bad experience with Lasik?

I'd have tried just about anything a couple of weeks ago for my dry eye, and I don't think it's even that bad compared to many people on here.

I worked out last night that I've spent upwards of Ģ40 ($80) this month alone on prescriptions, drops, gels, Clarymist spray, parking at the hospital. I'll try anything!

I'm hoping my dry eyes are environmental and caused by my office and something can be done about that. I worked from home this afternoon and I think that's something I'll be doing more often.

Good luck, but please look into other options before resorting to more surgery out of desperation, it could put you even further back or cause even worse problems

[stephgurl1986]

I understand that a lot of you fear surgery...I feel so, too. But the doctor who offered me to cut away the red blood vessels (which were there long before the dry eye started) is a very well-know eye doctor in a university hospital here...I would really like to trust him with this...I hope I can

[Kyle]

Okay...at least consider this....

Maya and Stephgurl,
I read what you both said and I completely understand, but will you at least consider getting a second opinion before getting this procedure done? I'm not a doctor, but I have to agree 100% with Rebecca on her comments. This could 1) maybe only temporarily cure the situation or 2) make it worse. At least get a second opinion or even a 3rd.

Stephgurl, you said the doctor is "a very well-know eye doctor in a university hospital"...well, weren't most of our lasik docs? I know mine was....and because of him my life has turned upside down! Doctors don't always know best.

Maya, you wrote "You seem to know how it is and I can only admire you that you cope with it so well, but Iīm not getting anywhere over it, Iīm just getting weakened by this condition each day; thatīs why I wrote I donīt know how much longer I can live like this". First of all, my heart breaks for you when I read this. I DO know how it is...most of us on this website can totally understand! It sucks...royally!!! But honey, that's why we are here! I would not and could not have gotten through the past 3 years without this website! I searched books in the library, went to every doctor I could find in LA, flew to Virginia to my family doc, looked everywhere I could for answers...and found most of them here! Without Rebecca, Diana, Shells, Lucy, Holmes, and so many others on this site (forgive me if I've forgotten you) I doubt I would be here today! What can we do to help you? Have you read the other posts about how others deal with their pain, depression, red eyes, etc...?

Here's the thing...when I first got on this site I still thought I was the only one going through the worst of it. I thought nobody else could possibly understand what I was going through. I would log on to this site at night with much apprehension, but slowly I began to realize that these people here totally understood. No one else in my life could...not my friends, not my family, but all these folks do. If anyone can help, WE can! When you get down read the different posts here, then maybe re-read them. Post your own too. Do you want to scream....scream! Cuss...cuss! (oops Rebecca..we can do this right?) Send personal e-mails to people..do it! Anything we can do to help...I promise any of us will...just let us know what you need, ok?

I see you live in Germany...hmmm...how much is a phone call to Germany. I was actually born in Frankfurt. Do I get a discount?

Okay, that's my lecture & pep talk for tonight. Will either of you at least consider a second (or third) opinion before going under the knife (or laser) again? Maybe a doctor on this site can weigh in with his advice too???

Take care and best of luck to you both,
Kyle

[stephgurl1986]

Thanks Kyle for your nice words...Yes, I will try to get a second/third opinion. That's why I'll see Dr. Latkany in May....you know it isn't so easy to get another opinion because most of the doctors I've been to have no idea about my condition. This surgery is my last hope to be able to look normal again, my eyes are just so blooshot, it is horrible...I just want this soooooooo much, I try to believe that Dr. Cursiefen can be trusted....I just want and need to trust him...