Warm Compresses and Eyedrop Causing Overtearing?

[Lucky Shamrock]

OK so my eyes at the moment are really good, like 95% better than what they were like in July 2017. I only get symptoms like a slight sensitivity to bright light and wind, a bit of soreness towards the end of the day, occasional foreign body sensation that lasts about 2 mins and sometimes episodes of over tearing.

Some days are better than others. I normally have almost normal feeling eyes about 3 days a week. The rest I only have mild symptons.

My daily routine that I did for about 8 months was:

Hycosan Plus Eyedrops (frequency of use depended on how dry my eyes were that day)

Eye Mask (warm compresses)

Omega 3 Supplement (one everyday)

Vitamin D Supplement (this came in later as this was orginally to help my acne, but I have heard that it can help with eyes also)

Correcting my blinking and blinking more frequently: this was CRUCIAL as this is what got me into this mess in the first place (staring at screens and not blinking enough and blinking properly)

Lately I have been eating a lot healthier as well since this may benefit my eyes and also my skin (I mentioned I have some acne)

All this was fine and good until I reliased something. There was defintely some connection between me doing the warm compresses and my eyes feeling a little worse the day after (they feel worse in the morning). When I look in my lower lid it sometimes looks quite red. It’s not always like this but I think it has to do with the warm compresses causing some inflammation. Most of the time though the eyelids look quite pinkish and fine.

So I was thinking if I should stop doing the warm compresses? My optician told me that my glands were working fine and that I had a TBUT of 8 in one eye and 9 in the other (although this was measured in August 2017, I think they have improved greatly since then).

Another thing thats weird is my eyedrops. Most of time when I use them they’re fine and do help for 30 mins but sometimes they will irritate my eye and make them go slightly red and make them over tear (like the reaction when onions mess with ya eyes!) I feel I should stop using them completely as theycan cause quite a lot of irritation.

So overall, should I stop these treatments? I feel as though I should since they are casuing irritation and may worsen my condition.

[Rebecca Petris]

What does your doctor feel about the compresses? Sometimes they can be a bit step-forward, step-backward (loosening oils, but also causing some irritation). If the doctor wants you continue with heat, could you try modifying your method and duration? For example, use the smallest possible ones to concentrate heat over a smaller area,

Regarding drops: Maybe revisit the type of drops you're using? Drops with a high concentration of polymers can burn and irritate when dumped on an eye whose surface is really dry (happens to me too). Maybe when you'er drier, use a thinner / lower concentration drop or maybe one with a different non polymer active ingredient. This list is handy for comparing drops and finding ones with different ingredients. - Also if you tend to need a lot of drops but the drops get irritating, dry eye glasses can help cut down on the need (esp if they're used more for eye comfort than necessary lubrication)

[Lucky Shamrock]

Hi! Thanks for your advice! I went to my optician today (she's a really good one very knowledgeable on dry eye) and she said the same thing about my eyes reacting like that when they are dry.

Also, my TBUT has increased to almost normal so that's awesome! Unfortunately, my real main issue is my anxiety which makes me overthink things. Most of my eye pain now is from me tensing.

[Guest]

It took a while for me to figure out how to use a compress effectively so that I don't add additional inflammation. My work around is to use them once a week...your symptoms seem way better than mine. So I'm assuming you could cut down on the frequency and feel better.

Im still trying to find the holy grail of drops for my personal situation. So far, theratears preservative free have been the best, longest lasting drops I've used. Was using sustained ultra and loved it...but I get more foreign body sensation with it for some reason.

good luck!