Looking for a specialist in eye pain in or near London

[Lobster]

I'm writing this on behalf of my mother, who's a bit less internet-savvy than me and is also having quite enough to keep her busy right now with an Recurring Corneal Erosion flare-up. She has had nightly pain and various problems from the RCE for years, but after a nasty experience involving bandage lenses and going to a party that was held in an outdoor marquee with lots of fan heaters, she's been in really unpleasant pain for the last few days. As she's in London, she went off to Moorfields as usual, but while they could sort out getting the bandage lens off her eye, it turns out that they can't help with the pain. (Apparently this is usual, eye surgeons just don't want to know where pain is concerned.) She's looking into pain clinics, and will go private for this if need be, but they all seem to be booked up until Christmas and she doesn't even know if they'll be any good with eye pain. Does anyone know a clinic or specialist in or near London that they can recommend?

After reading some of this site (my own reading ability is unfortunately limited due to severe ME, and after all those doctor trips my mother wasn't in a mood to do more than skim it last night), we're looking into TranquilEyes since so many people here rave about them. The thing is that last time my mother mentioned something along those lines to Moorfields, she was told, "No way, it's a breeding ground for bacteria." Rebecca, whom I spoke to last night, and Lorna at http://www.eyeeco.co.uk/, have both assured me that they're quite safe when washed correctly, but she's understandably still nervous. Are any of the UK eye doctors recommending them?

[Guest]

Lobster

Welcome to the board - I am sorry to hear about your mothers condition.

I am not surprised that your mother's pain has been dismissed by the Dr, this does not appear to be uncommon. It seems few Dr's have little empathy for the exact pain that an RCE or dry eyes in general can cause.

I suffer from RCE's after refractive eye surgery (you know the kind that is supposed to be the biggest miracle that changes your life for the better - well in my case any many others here we have a different story to tell. - end of digression.)

I still have RCE's today but they are much more manageable than ever. I found the thing that gave me greatest relief was to use a product called Genteal Gel, or Visco Tears (both are availabe in the UK - Viscotears is available in a preservative free form and is available on prescription from your local GP). I used to put some Gel in my eyes of a night and then tape them closed with a perforated clear medical tape (available from Asda pharmacy).

I did this for months to get through the worst of my erosions.

Now I use Clinitas Ultra 3 of a night and don't bother taping anymore, whilst I still get the occasional erosion from time to time, they are far more manageable and far less debilitating than they were in the early days.

I did try the bandage lens but found that I still ended up with erosions whilst using them.

I also tried the Tranquil Eyes and whilst I love them for flying, I couldn't keep them on my face of a night and found up with them generally somewhere in the bed other than on my face (I am a restless sleeper obviously). I certainly wouldn't discourage you from trying them but I would try the taping first only because it was something that worked for me and your mum may get some relief from this also.

I am in the UK and so are a few of our other members here, so any questions, please ask.

Regards

Ian