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Hi! I'm 22 , and I've had dry eyes for more than a year.
Story
In the beginning I had light sensitivity and very dry eyes. I kept putting in bottled eye drops, and just got more hard dry eye discharge crusting around my eyelids and floating in my eye. It was really painful and light hurt. It got to the point where I went to the bathroom and turned off the lights.
Anyways I've gone to 2 doctors:
The first doctor I saw just told me to do what I've been doing already (use bottled eye drops) and add restasis 2 times a day. It didn't help much, and his recommendation of laser surgery didn't leave a good impression.
The second doctor I saw told me my eyes were sensitive and diagnosed with moderate dry eyes, with no cure.
I was advised to:
1) use deposable preservative-free eye drops
2) GenTeal Lubricant Eye Ointment Night-Time at night
3) Clean my eye lids with a q-tip dips in diluted Johnson Johnson Baby Shampoo (1 part shampoo and 10 parts water) morning and night
4) Heat compress with washcloth for 15 minutes morning and night after
5) Continue using restasis 2 times a day
What actually happened
I am really thankful that I was diagnosed as sensitive. The preservative-free eye drops have been a great relief.
The GenTeal Eye Ointment has made life bearable. I'm actually using daytime eye ointment, instead of nighttime. Does it make a difference?
Cleaning my eye lids is where I have problems...
I still have debris floating around my eye and my eye is so dry I have to reapply eye drops/gel right after.
For the past year I've been cleaning the eye waterline and tear duct, in an attempt to get rid of the painful harden eye discharge that floats around. Not only can I not get rid of the eye crust in my eye this way, I end up spraying my eye with a lot of water to get rid of the shampoo and eye crust. Eye Crust still floating in my eye. I know its totally wrong!!!
I've also been diluting the baby shampoo by inverting the bottle and running it under the tap. I don't know if this is diluting it too much, but the shampoo stings my eye, especially when I need to put in eye drops afterwards.
Luckily, I went back a 2nd second time this year to the same doctor. She told me the q-tip was used to clean around the roots of the eyelashes to get rid of the gunk stuck in between the eyelashes and definitely not touch the eye. Finally understood what I was suppose to be doing...
Still, trying to clean the base of eyelashes, didn't really get rid of all the stuff in my eye and I don't know if I end up cleaning closer to my waterline, so I spray water in my open eye to get rid of the shampoo and debris. Am I suppose to do that ? I'm basically really scared of the baby shampoo staying in my eye, not because it hurts immediately, but because it hurts when it put I eye drops/ gel or restatis. I also alway wait until one type of eye medication is absorbed before putting in the other. Is this necessary so make sure the medication doesn't mix?
Since the cleaning process so drying, I only clean with q tips in the morning.
I lie down with a hot wet rag for heat compress. I've tried thermalon, but it seems to weigh down on my eyes. Both options hurt with hard eye crust floating in my eye, but more with thermalon. The heat compress also leaves my eyes even dryer and really oily. Sometimes my eye feels like it splits in the back and my eye is done for the day.
I've just tried the heat compress again,but not put in eye gel like usual. It's not so oily as before, but its still dry around the edges of my eyes. I'm indoors right now, so I have no idea how it would be outside. Are we suppose to wait indoors for the heat compress to work? I've yet to get eyewear protection (Yes.. I'm slow). I'll always afraid by eyes splitting, so I have always put in eye gel right after eye compress. And still it's so drying, I often just do it before bed.
Anyways, if you've read the whole thing thanks. Even though my doctor told be my dry eyes are natural, part me feels guilty for this condition because I often use the computer until my eyes are too tired look at the screen.
Should I go back my 2nd doctor? I really want to know more. I don't actually know what kind of dry eyes I have . Her diagonsis has helped a lot, but she didn't seem too eager to explain things or see me again until my next prescription ( didn't seem to react when I talk about still have light sensitivity issues at night). Although, on my part, I said I was okay. I honestly thought was okay then, despite being absolutely miserable in the wind and at night, because it was a major improvement from the beginning, but after thinking about it a lot...it's really not.
Story
In the beginning I had light sensitivity and very dry eyes. I kept putting in bottled eye drops, and just got more hard dry eye discharge crusting around my eyelids and floating in my eye. It was really painful and light hurt. It got to the point where I went to the bathroom and turned off the lights.
Anyways I've gone to 2 doctors:
The first doctor I saw just told me to do what I've been doing already (use bottled eye drops) and add restasis 2 times a day. It didn't help much, and his recommendation of laser surgery didn't leave a good impression.
The second doctor I saw told me my eyes were sensitive and diagnosed with moderate dry eyes, with no cure.
I was advised to:
1) use deposable preservative-free eye drops
2) GenTeal Lubricant Eye Ointment Night-Time at night
3) Clean my eye lids with a q-tip dips in diluted Johnson Johnson Baby Shampoo (1 part shampoo and 10 parts water) morning and night
4) Heat compress with washcloth for 15 minutes morning and night after
5) Continue using restasis 2 times a day
What actually happened
I am really thankful that I was diagnosed as sensitive. The preservative-free eye drops have been a great relief.
The GenTeal Eye Ointment has made life bearable. I'm actually using daytime eye ointment, instead of nighttime. Does it make a difference?
Cleaning my eye lids is where I have problems...
I still have debris floating around my eye and my eye is so dry I have to reapply eye drops/gel right after.
For the past year I've been cleaning the eye waterline and tear duct, in an attempt to get rid of the painful harden eye discharge that floats around. Not only can I not get rid of the eye crust in my eye this way, I end up spraying my eye with a lot of water to get rid of the shampoo and eye crust. Eye Crust still floating in my eye. I know its totally wrong!!!
I've also been diluting the baby shampoo by inverting the bottle and running it under the tap. I don't know if this is diluting it too much, but the shampoo stings my eye, especially when I need to put in eye drops afterwards.
Luckily, I went back a 2nd second time this year to the same doctor. She told me the q-tip was used to clean around the roots of the eyelashes to get rid of the gunk stuck in between the eyelashes and definitely not touch the eye. Finally understood what I was suppose to be doing...
Still, trying to clean the base of eyelashes, didn't really get rid of all the stuff in my eye and I don't know if I end up cleaning closer to my waterline, so I spray water in my open eye to get rid of the shampoo and debris. Am I suppose to do that ? I'm basically really scared of the baby shampoo staying in my eye, not because it hurts immediately, but because it hurts when it put I eye drops/ gel or restatis. I also alway wait until one type of eye medication is absorbed before putting in the other. Is this necessary so make sure the medication doesn't mix?
Since the cleaning process so drying, I only clean with q tips in the morning.
I lie down with a hot wet rag for heat compress. I've tried thermalon, but it seems to weigh down on my eyes. Both options hurt with hard eye crust floating in my eye, but more with thermalon. The heat compress also leaves my eyes even dryer and really oily. Sometimes my eye feels like it splits in the back and my eye is done for the day.
I've just tried the heat compress again,but not put in eye gel like usual. It's not so oily as before, but its still dry around the edges of my eyes. I'm indoors right now, so I have no idea how it would be outside. Are we suppose to wait indoors for the heat compress to work? I've yet to get eyewear protection (Yes.. I'm slow). I'll always afraid by eyes splitting, so I have always put in eye gel right after eye compress. And still it's so drying, I often just do it before bed.
Anyways, if you've read the whole thing thanks. Even though my doctor told be my dry eyes are natural, part me feels guilty for this condition because I often use the computer until my eyes are too tired look at the screen.
Should I go back my 2nd doctor? I really want to know more. I don't actually know what kind of dry eyes I have . Her diagonsis has helped a lot, but she didn't seem too eager to explain things or see me again until my next prescription ( didn't seem to react when I talk about still have light sensitivity issues at night). Although, on my part, I said I was okay. I honestly thought was okay then, despite being absolutely miserable in the wind and at night, because it was a major improvement from the beginning, but after thinking about it a lot...it's really not.
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