eyelid sticking to eyeball

[HEBS]

I woke up one morning and opened my left eye but I could feel my eyelid sticking to my eyeball and all that day the eye was painful. Not massively but still something Id rather not have. I dread going to sleep now. I dont wear an eyemask I just put in Hyloforte before I go to sleep. I hae started this week to put the humidifier on and that seems to help a little bit. I think I the right eye was sticking. As yesterday at work I felt it stick and it was painfulaeven though I put the eye drops in every hour. I was taking Omega 3 capsules every day as after Ive applied the eye drops before I go to bed my eyes seem to stream with natural tears. I think the eyelids sticking is due to this but Im not sure. What else can I try? Any suggestions as to why my eyelids are sticking gratefully received. Thanks

[LaDiva]

What is your diagnosis HEBS? Sorry you are having this problem.

[HEBS]

What is your diagnosis HEBS? Sorry you are having this problem.

Ive been diagnosed with dry eyes by the consultant at the eye hospital. The right eye seems to water a lot and seems to stick a lot as well even during the day. Its not reallly painful but there is pain there. Should I stop the using the heated eye mask as well.

[LaDiva]

Hi HEBS,
I would try and get the doctor to narrow your diagnosis so you know whether you have tear deficiency, meibomian gland problems, ocular rosacea, eyelids that don't close completely, etc. I have the first three on the list, so must treat each one with a different strategy. Drops and plugs for tears, warm compresses and expression for oil problems, and doxycycline and a careful diet for rosacea. It is hard to treat dry eye if you don't have a specific diagnosis. If you have oil problems, I would certainly continue using compresses. I had problems with my eyes sticking to the lids about five years ago, and it was because I wasn't using compresses regularly, and so the oil glands were almost completely blocked. I no longer have problems like this, but use compresses three times every day. Getting punctal plugs also helped. Try some eye ointment in a tube, like Systane Ointment, or one of the others. Maybe try another brand of eyedrops as well. I keep eyedrops next to the bed, and when my eyes were very bad, used them in the morning before opening my eyes. The surface of your eye is going to be damaged if you don't find help with lubricating your eyes. I am not sure where you live, so don't know who to recommend. There is a section here http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/forum...108-Plug-a-Doc under Plug a doc with lists of doctors recommended by people on this site. If you are in the UK, I have no idea where to suggest you go, but eyes sticking to lids is a pretty big deal. I don't want to scare you, but hope you will find a pro who can help further. Sending good wishes, and hoping you feel better soon!

[HEBS]

Hi La Diva,

I was diagnosed with MGD. The right eye is watery a lot and I dont know if its excessive use of the heated eye mask. I live in the UK. I have plugs in both eyes. Ive had Doxy but for 1 month was told I cant have it for longer.

[LaDiva]

Hi HEB,
My left eye waters quite a bit. (The right eye does not, but both eyes hurt.) Even though there is plenty of moisture, the tear film is bad because the balance between the oils, mucous and tears is not right, and the quality is poor. The excess moisture doesn't relieve my eye discomfort. I doubt that the problem is the heat mask, but do not know. I would go back to see your doctor as your eye should not be sticking to the lid. This will eventually damage the surface of the cornea. Sending good wishes to you.

[HEBS]

Hi LaDiva,

Ive got an appointment for a few weeks. It is worrying me.

[LaDiva]

Will send you good thoughts HEBS. You will be OK. My experience is that the eyeball repairs itself given the right environment and opportunity.

[DryInDenver]

I woke up one morning and opened my left eye but I could feel my eyelid sticking to my eyeball and all that day the eye was painful. Not massively but still something Id rather not have. I dread going to sleep now. I dont wear an eyemask I just put in Hyloforte before I go to sleep. I hae started this week to put the humidifier on and that seems to help a little bit. I think I the right eye was sticking. As yesterday at work I felt it stick and it was painfulaeven though I put the eye drops in every hour. I was taking Omega 3 capsules every day as after Ive applied the eye drops before I go to bed my eyes seem to stream with natural tears. I think the eyelids sticking is due to this but Im not sure. What else can I try? Any suggestions as to why my eyelids are sticking gratefully received. Thanks

HEBS,

For me, eyelids sticking to my eyes at night is 100% correlated with daytime irritation and inflammation. I've become acutely aware of this over the past 8 months. I had a complication in my right eye last September that required me to stop wearing my scleral lens for a few months. My scleral lenses do a great job of protecting my eyes during the day and since getting them my night time eye problems basically vanished. Once I stopped wearing the lens the night problems returned in the one eye. Now I can wear the lens again but at a greatly reduced wear time. On most days I control the daytime inflammation just fine by wearing the lens for a few hours here and there. But my eye does get gritty, sore, dry, red, and painful if I push it too long without a lens. On those days, I'll have issues at night with my eye ball adhering to my eyelid. I've learned to anticipate this and can relieve some of the symptoms with Systane night time lubricant eye ointment (the stuff that looks and feels like Vaseline when it comes out).

My recommendation would be to try and baby your eyes as much as possible for a day or two to see if you are like me and reducing day time inflammation helps with nighttime symptoms. I'm not sure what your routine is, but you could double down on babying the eyes. For example if you don't wear moisture chambers all the time, you could spend a whole weekend wearing moisture chamber goggles even when your eyes aren't really bothering you(goggles usually work better than glasses for me - ski goggles aren't bad), avoid tv, crank the humidifiers, close your eyes and listen to an audio book, etc.

Good luck. I hope you find some relief.

[HEBS]

HEBS,

For me, eyelids sticking to my eyes at night is 100% correlated with daytime irritation and inflammation. I've become acutely aware of this over the past 8 months. I had a complication in my right eye last September that required me to stop wearing my scleral lens for a few months. My scleral lenses do a great job of protecting my eyes during the day and since getting them my night time eye problems basically vanished. Once I stopped wearing the lens the night problems returned in the one eye. Now I can wear the lens again but at a greatly reduced wear time. On most days I control the daytime inflammation just fine by wearing the lens for a few hours here and there. But my eye does get gritty, sore, dry, red, and painful if I push it too long without a lens. On those days, I'll have issues at night with my eye ball adhering to my eyelid. I've learned to anticipate this and can relieve some of the symptoms with Systane night time lubricant eye ointment (the stuff that looks and feels like Vaseline when it comes out).

My recommendation would be to try and baby your eyes as much as possible for a day or two to see if you are like me and reducing day time inflammation helps with nighttime symptoms. I'm not sure what your routine is, but you could double down on babying the eyes. For example if you don't wear moisture chambers all the time, you could spend a whole weekend wearing moisture chamber goggles even when your eyes aren't really bothering you(goggles usually work better than glasses for me - ski goggles aren't bad), avoid tv, crank the humidifiers, close your eyes and listen to an audio book, etc.

Good luck. I hope you find some relief.

Hi DryinDenver,

Thats interesting about daytime and night time correlation. Where do I get scleral lenses from? My eye consultant hasnt said anything about these? I wear the moisture chamber goggles most of the time during the day but not when I go out shopping. I will try to use the eyemask three times a day.