Severe Dry Eyes and Cataracts

[yleeweasel]

Hi - I'm a newbie

A brief history about myself:
I had a hysterectomy in my early thirties and about 10 years ago I developed severe dry eyes. My right eye is particularly bad. I wear glasses and have never been able to tolerate contact lenses. I have had all my tear ducts cauterized. I live in Arizona where it is extremely dry. In the summer we live in constant airconditioning and under fans which adds to the problem. My eyes are always red and sore. I use all the usual eye lubricant drops as well as take Omega 3's and Hydroeye and recently my doctor suggested BioTears capsules. But nothing seems to help much.

I recently saw my doctor and he said I am developing cataracts and should have them removed. He wants to remove the one in my right eye first. I asked him about the healing process with the dry eye complication but he said there would be no problem.

I would appreciate feedback from anyone with dry eyes who has had cataract surgery.

[Rebecca Petris]

Hi there and welcome!

But nothing seems to help much.

I'd suggest checking out our main site (dryeyezone.com) for some suggestions about additional treatment strategies. This thread has links to several of the most popular pages.

I recently saw my doctor and he said I am developing cataracts and should have them removed. He wants to remove the one in my right eye first. I asked him about the healing process with the dry eye complication but he said there would be no problem.

I think you are right to be thinking ahead about this. Dry eye is not very common after cataract surgery, but it certainly does happen. If you're struggling with dry eye now, you might want to think about holding off on the cat removal until you've got the surface issues under better control.

[Lucy]

I've had lasik surgery and cataract surgery and have dry eyes. I also have Sjogrens disease. What Rebecca says is important. Since you already have dry eyes, you should try and get that under control.

The incision for an iol is very small, but it still is a cut and it may not happen often, things happen. I had/have pain in my left eye before cataract surgery and it was made worse by the cat surgery. This does not mean you will have similar outcome. Wait on the cat surgery as long as you can and take care of the dry eye problem. Good luck. The cat surgery is a breeze. Lucy

[gz9gjg]

Hello yleeweasel,

I suggest you ask your surgeon exactly how he plans to do the cataract surgery.

Most do it with a small slit to the side of your visual field, and very few dry eye problems result.

However, some surgeons do a much larger cut, more like LASIK, and that cuts most of the corneal nerves. That is very likely to cause dry eye.

Good luck,

Lynne
Phoenix, AZ