Dry eye and blurry vision

[green eyes2]

Last night I got less sleep than usual. When I woke up this morning the vision in my left eye was really blurry for about 15 minutes. The blurriness resolved and I put in my sclerals lenses. My vision continued to get somewhat blurry in my left eye for the rest of the day while wearing the lens. My left eye also feels "sticky."

I have a lower plug in my left eye and the right eye has no plugs. I am now thinking the blurriness I experience in my left eye and with the left scleral lens is due to having the plug keeping in such poor quality tears..it can't be due to extreme dryness since my Schirmer is 12 in the left eye and only a 5 in the right. Anyone else experience this type of blurriness and/or a "sticky sensation" with dry eyes? Is it due to lack of mucin or oil..maybe both? Any ideas? I'm thinking I should get the plug irrigated out.

[GeorgeT]

I do

Green Eyes,
I used to have blurry eyes until two weeks ago when I started to clean my eyelids with baby shampoo, followed by lid massage. I also have the "sticky" sensation but I can cope with it.
You may want to try it.

Good Luck!!

George

[indrep]

Without a refraction at the moment you are having the blurry vision it would be difficult to say what was causing it.

Tears are the first step in the refraction of light into your eye. A 12 is normal, on the low side but normal. With only one puncta closed your lacrimal system is draining tears enough not to worry about "bad" tears staying on the cornea. If you had a bad night your cornea could have dried enough that is swollen in different areas causing you to have some astigmatism that is changing your refraction. Your eye could just be tired and lyour crystalline lens muscles, zonules, are not causing your lens to accommodate.

I wished I had better information but without the exam at teh time of the blurriness it would be difficult to pinpoint the issue. If it goes away with rest I wouldn't be too worried.

[Rebecca Petris]

I occasionally have "blur days" in my left eye where the vision fluctuates a bit and overall is blurrier than usual even with the sclerals. I've just kinda put it down to the routine ups & downs. Usually goes away within a day.

[green eyes2]

Thank you for your replies. It makes me feel better to know that I am not the only one experiencing this, though I wish no one had to.

I have made an appt to have the Smartplug irrigated out next week. I hope I am making the right decision. All I know is based on my experience with my scleral lenses over the past two months is that my left one gets blurry quite often while the right one seems fine. I mentioned to Dr. Rosenthal that my left lens gets blurry and asked if it could be because of the plug. He said he should have thought of that and yes. He also told me the plug was keeping in a low-grade inflammation. So, does anyone understand how plugs keep in a low-grade inflammation? If I get the plug irrigated does the low-grade inflammation then subside? I don't really understand this.

Rebecca: Would using ThermoEyes or hot compresses help with this blurriness? Which is better to use Thermoeyes or just plain Tranquileyes? I'm thinking about ordering a pair. Also what do you use to lubricate you scleral lenses when you get blur? I have tried TheraTears and others and they just cloud up my vision more. The only thing that works is the saline I use to fill the lenses, which is definitely not convenient to use.

[Rebecca Petris]

Good luck with the Smartplug irrigation! Hope it helps.

Rebecca: Would using ThermoEyes or hot compresses help with this blurriness?

Dunno - depends what's causing it. I know I've had some flare-ups in that left eye where the only thing that settled it back down was the ol' rice baggy. Hm, interesting, I never actually connected it with the vision (it was more of a comfort issue to me) but that may well be what was going on. It's worth a try as long as you don't overdo it.

Which is better to use Thermoeyes or just plain Tranquileyes?

Totally depends on your needs. I think of ThermoEyes as Tranquileyes on steroids - a boost when you're going through a rough period or just want to FEEL GOOD with an intensive treatment.

My personal approach is kinda 'less-is-more':
a) Normally I use tranquileyes with no moisture
b) if I find that's not adequate I start moistening it
c) if that's not enough then I add heat (either step up the rice baggy or use the thermoeyes - though in general I'm too lazy to do the boiling thing).

But there's a good argument for going the other way - maxing out, then as you see improvement start eliminating anything you don't need. Hard to know what's working for whom, really, but the thermoeyes travel kits are far and away the best seller at this point.

Also what do you use to lubricate you scleral lenses when you get blur?

NutraTear. It's the only thing that works for me on gas permeable surfaces at all. I sometimes use saline if I don't have a bottle of NT handy, but it tends to make me feel "dry". Funny, 95% of the time NT gives me literally instant clarity, but occasionally it will cloud me up a little. That's usually very late in the day, or sometimes while driving. If I get to that point, then I have to take out the lenses, scrub them and refill them to get the vision back.

[indrep]

Green eye,
I'm sorry you are having to deal with this.

Inflammation is a result of DES or Ocular Surface Disease. There is a company that pushes a product that supposedly reduces inflammation on the eye and solves DES. Unfortunately this is not true. If inflammation was really the source of DES then a good dose of steroids would eliminate the inflammation and the DES would never return. Like my wifes Arthritis, prednisone makes her great for a couple weeks and then the underlying disease comes back when the prednisone is gone. This company is spending millions of dollars promoting the tears cause inflammation and some docs buy into it. The question I ask docs is "If tears are bad why don't we remove the tear glands? Or put patients on a med that stops tear production?" This usually brings around the response that tears are needed for refraction purposes, nutrition to the eye, cleansing of the cornea, etc.

DES is a complicated problem that unfortunately is treated late in the disease stages. If your scleral lenses give you more comfort and quality of life then remove the plug. Ultimately you must do what makes you the most comfortable and that your doc agrees with. I wish there were better answers, the good news is due to the vocal patients with this problem more and more attention is being given to it.