Dcr

[DryEyeFromDCR]

I had a tearing eye without pain and was referred by my ophthalmologist to a surgeon who recommended a DCR to avoid infections. I had a DCR couple of years ago and since then have been suffering with complications. Frequently, I wake up with sharp pain (on that eye) in the middle of the night (REM). In addition to this terrible pain, I have lots of tearing, photophobia and swollen eye lids on the same eye. The surgeon diagnosed me with blepharitis, and kept me on Tobradex, doxycycline, over the counter drops, gels and ointment. It did not help. Recently, the same surgeon finally diagnosed me with recurrent corneal abrasion and referred me to a corneal specialist. Corneal specialist wants to scrape my cornea and if that does not work, the wants to make holes on it (???).
I believe everything is a result of the DCR, as tearing persists and that nostril is always congested when I have these episodes of sharp pain during the night.
Any advice or suggestion?

[DCRdryeye]

Hi DCR, I have had very similar problems to you. I had a tearing eye and three occuloplastic surgeons PUSHED DCR surgery and they mentioned nothing about a hole they would drill into the skull (which is dangerous and can leak cerebrospinal fluid in some cases), I was not told my punctus would be surgically cut open and made ten times larger. Obviously, more tears are draining out of a larger hole. The lacrimal glands (tear producing glands) cannot keep up with the demand and stop producing tears. YES I believe your problems are all related to the DCR.

My personal advice is NOT to let them scrape your cornea for the abrasions you have. Rather, look into Prokera. And never even consider holes put into your eyes - you'll go blind for heavens sake.

I have both lack of tear production and MGD. I believe it's all related to the DCR surgery. It's like a domino effect. If you want more comprehensive information on alternative solutions, I have prepeared a very valuable blog on the subject, I encourage you to read it all and please feel free to make a comment about it on the site: http://www.blockedtearductsurgeryadult.com

There's another member here whom has had DCR surgery on BOTH eyes. I won't mention her name without her permission, but no doubt she'll see your blog and reply. All the very best and do keep in contact with us all.

[DryEyeFromDCR]

Thanks for the feedback. I am checking Prokera and your blog.