Artificial Tears Cause Burning

[tperk100]

I asked my Opthamologist for a more specific description of my condition. Here is his response.

Mr. Perkins your specific subcategory diagnosis is keratitis sicca. Meaning your tear gland is not making the same amount and consistency of tears it did when you were younger. The tear gland also makes tears in a more erratic fashion with aging. The consistency of tears is important because your tears are not just water, they are composed of many minerals and mucoid material which promotes sliding of the lid over the eyeball. In addition your lower eyelids are starting to retract or fall down exposing the eyes to more air movement which increases evaporation and dryness of the eyes.

Googling for more info I stumbled over this

lacrisert.com

Anyone had experience with this?

[Hokucat]

Lacriserts did not work for me, and when I asked my eye doctor if I could try them she said most her patients had not had much success with them but let me try them anyways. But everyone is different...I've read a few posts in this forum in the last few years of people who said Lacriserts helps them. So maybe at some point it's worth it to try it and see for yourself. My tear film was virtually non-existent when I tried it, so that's likely why it didn't help me since the tiny hard insert (the lacrisert) you put under your inner lid is supposed to soften and expand when combined with your own tear film to moisturize the eye over several hours. It worked a little bit when I added a few drops of artificial tears periodically, but the relief was not enough and it often just ended up as an ineffective expanded clear blob under my eyelid I had to remove with a cotton swab.

[TARYN]

t perk it sounds like your doctor gave a pretty thorough diagnosis but he wasn't able to provide you with a treatment plan that would make your eyes more comfortable. Did you ask him if you had a smooth ocular surface? That ended up being my problem. My conjunctiva was not smooth and when I blinked my eyelid couldn't spread my tears evenly and couldn't lubricate the ocular surface and I ended up with burning and redness and inflammation.The AMT (amniotic membrane transplantation) surgery gave me clear comfortable eyes.

[tperk100]

tperk I used to spend too much time on maintenance too with not enough results. If your local doctors can't help you get the relief you want and you are spending too much time daily on your eyes, I suggest traveling to see a dry eye specialist .. That is what I had to do.

Seeing one Friday 3/20.

[How]

I asked my Opthamologist for a more specific description of my condition. Here is his response.

Mr. Perkins your specific subcategory diagnosis is keratitis sicca. Meaning your tear gland is not making the same amount and consistency of tears it did when you were younger. The tear gland also makes tears in a more erratic fashion with aging. The consistency of tears is important because your tears are not just water, they are composed of many minerals and mucoid material which promotes sliding of the lid over the eyeball. In addition your lower eyelids are starting to retract or fall down exposing the eyes to more air movement which increases evaporation and dryness of the eyes.

Hey thanks for posting this, I hadn't heard of keratitis sicca before. I hope your dry eye specialist appointment goes well.

[tperk100]

Still working on this. Appointment with Dry Eye Spec postponed due to Corona.

[PDITTY28]

I asked my Opthamologist for a more specific description of my condition. Here is his response.

Mr. Perkins your specific subcategory diagnosis is keratitis sicca. Meaning your tear gland is not making the same amount and consistency of tears it did when you were younger. The tear gland also makes tears in a more erratic fashion with aging. The consistency of tears is important because your tears are not just water, they are composed of many minerals and mucoid material which promotes sliding of the lid over the eyeball. In addition your lower eyelids are starting to retract or fall down exposing the eyes to more air movement which increases evaporation and dryness of the eyes.

Googling for more info I stumbled over this

lacrisert.com

Anyone had experience with this?

Lacrisert is a slow release artificial tear insert. If otc artificial tears haven't helped, all the insert does is provide less labor of constantly dropping them in your eyes. If your eyes are bothering you a lot through out the day, IMO, you will need to step up therapy. In many cases the end result of Dry eyes is inflammation. If you're noticing your eyes are in pain throughout the day, there is a good chance your eyes are inflamed. Tears don't address inflammation, they lubricate your eyes temporarily. Many tears have preservatives in them that can make your Dry Eye worse. The most important thing you need to tell your Doctor is your patient history. Explain how severe your symptoms are and how frequent you take artificial tears and how many different tears you've been on for how long. In doing so, your doctor most likely will be more aggressive in treating you. In my opinion, and I'm not a doctor, if your eyes are feeling shitty, inflammation is the culprit.