Cooling effect?

[Julie1]

I thought I'd post to see if anyone else experiences this sensation.

I have lower plugs and upper flow controller plugs. I've been noticing more in the last week that my eyes will drip when I am outside or at home, but I feel a cooling sensation in my eyes the minute I enter my office building, mall, or some other commercial building. I also experience burning throughout the day. It feels like I am sticking a wet finger in the wind and all the moisture is quickly evaporating from my finger. It's not a comfortable feeling. I find myself reaching for the drops frequently throughout the day even though drops do little to help. It's been very hot here the last few days, and the a/c is cranked up to the max. I'm sure that has something to do with it. I have little to no overflow at work but often have to blot the corners of my eyes outside of work.

Is anyone else experiencing this? What do you do to deal with it?

[kitty]

I have three plugs. I would not say I have a cooling sensation. My eyes burn from the second I walk into my AC filled office and for hours after I leave. I do seem to blot less at work than I do outside of work. The drops help my psyche more than my eyes! I have thought of bringing in a humidifier to see if that helps. AC zaps all of the humidity from the air.

[Richard_R]

Julie1,

This is probably because you are experiencing the cooling effect of increased liquid evaporation from the surface of your eye. Air conditioned air is typically drier so the exposed water on your eyes evaporates faster and therefore feels cooler.

This is the same effect we feel when we sweat. In a drier climate, sweat evaporates fast and keeps you cool, but in a humid climate, you sweat, but the water doesn't evaporate as quickly and therefore you don't get the cooling effect.

This sounds to me like outer lipid layer (oil) of your tears is not sufficient to protect against excessive evaporation. This in typical with MGD (Meibomian gland disfunction) which I suffer from too. This is all just my supposition, I'm not a doctor.

Richard.

I thought I'd post to see if anyone else experiences this sensation.

I have lower plugs and upper flow controller plugs. I've been noticing more in the last week that my eyes will drip when I am outside or at home, but I feel a cooling sensation in my eyes the minute I enter my office building, mall, or some other commercial building. I also experience burning throughout the day. It feels like I am sticking a wet finger in the wind and all the moisture is quickly evaporating from my finger. It's not a comfortable feeling. I find myself reaching for the drops frequently throughout the day even though drops do little to help. It's been very hot here the last few days, and the a/c is cranked up to the max. I'm sure that has something to do with it. I have little to no overflow at work but often have to blot the corners of my eyes outside of work.

Is anyone else experiencing this? What do you do to deal with it?

[bassfan]

This is exactly the same feeling my eyes have all the time. I agree with everything Richard said.

Back before I really knew much about dry eyes, and I first started going to eye docs for it...I used this analogy.
"You know when you get out of a swimming pool and its cold and windy out...you get really cold. Well thats what my eyes feel like."

I never realized how true it is and I really hit the nail on the head before I even knew what the heck an MG was.

[dianat]

Julie,

I experience this cooling or menthol effect as well. It's one of the reasons I won't go out without goggles. I do also believe it's a result of a bit of tear overflow from the plugs/cautery and a lack of oil. If I dip my finger in olive oil and held it in the wind, I wouldn't sense the air like I would if I dipped in water.

D

[GeorgeT]

Julie,

I have experienced the cooling effect (like ice on the eye) before my rosacea onset. This happened in places like malls where AC is blasting. At that time I was experiencing reflex tearing. Now having 4 plugs am blotting in high humidity places (at home humidity is 70%) and I am getting dry in less humid areas.
I think that a moisture chamber will help very much.This will be my next step.
How do you cope with night dryness?

All best,

George

[Rebecca Petris]

I get the same thing, and that's why I wear Panoptx/Wiley type glasses.

[bassfan]

I get the same thing, and that's why I wear Panoptx/Wiley type glasses.

I've had my script Wiley-x Bricks for a couple weeks now and for some reason they dont seem to be helping me. While they certainly do block wind, it almost seems like they make my eyes worse sometimes when im driving. I was thinking maybe the the foam gasket is holding my eyelids open just a bit...causing me to blink less. Either that or something on the lens/foam is irritating my eyes.

Its kind of frustrating because they sure weren't cheap. I still haven't given up on them though. The funny thing is that when I wear ski goggles (snowboarding), it helps me a lot. Even when I wear regular wrap around sunglasses, it helps a lot in the wind.

[Rebecca Petris]

Yikes, sorry to hear that. So frustrating when you have to do Rx - big investment, and no way to know how it will pay off. I wish there were something we could just use to convert any pair of glasses or sunglasses. (Anybody got any bright ideas about this? The optical companies won't... much bigger $ to be made in specialty eyewear.)

For me, Panoptx has distinctly better dry eye protection than Wiley - esp. in a hard environment like driving where there's air conditioning AND low blink rate. But I can't stand having my side vision cut off so much while driving and the Wileys are working well for me in that regard - better than anything else I've tried at any rate. The frames do ride lower under the brow than Panoptx though.

[Lucy]

The younger folks should be glad your investment on the Panoptx or Wiley's do not include the price of progressive bifocals! You really won't know expensive until then. Of course, not every one requiring bifocals wants progressive, but I do. That automatically makes any pair of glasses, or Panoptx @$500. Sometimes age has some advantages, sometimes not.
Lenses for progressives are about $185-200.

I just bought a pair of regular every day RX glasses w/progressive bifocals and I CAN'T FIND THEM. Since I have other glasses, plus switch to Panoptx frequently, I'm always taking glasses off and putting them on. I'm having a mini-nervous breakdown right now.
Lucy

[Eli]

Quoted: I wish there were something we could just use to convert any pair of glasses or sunglasses. (Anybody got any bright ideas about this? The optical companies won't... much bigger $ to be made in specialty eyewear.)

No doubt. Perhaps a really quick fix would be to see if you could procure some sheets of that TranquilEyes foam from EyeEco and some strips of their adhesive. I have noticed that on some sunglasses (not typically with wire frames) there is just enough frame material to glue in a strip of foam around the perimeter of the lens. This would be even even easier on a frame like the Oakley "M" style where the entire sunglass (except the arms) is basically the lens. This gives you a nice, smooth, flat surface on which to adhere the foam.
See: http://oakley.com/pd/4316
If Suzanne at EyeEco would be willing to sell just the uncut foam, that would be awesome!

Also see the following for new Rx "safety" eyewear with gaskets:
http://209.200.67.149/aosafetysrx.co...ugheyewear.pdf

Lastly, does it not bother anyone that nearly every article on DES treatment modalities lists "moisture chamber glasses" as a management strategy? The authors neglect to mention however, that with the exception of some wind proof sunglasses, this eyewear must be custom fabricated and is not readily available to most patients. I'm thrilled that the future holds new pharmaceutical treatments for us. In the meantime, here is a fairly simple yet highly effective tool for symptom relief that has received very little attention over the years. I wonder why? Perhaps the increasing awareness of DES will help illuminate the the true size of this nearly ignored market. Elegantly engineered "dry eye wear" could literally give certain people their lives back, and help millions of others to enjoy it more.
I hope SeeFit gets it right.

[calli66]

I'm having a mini-nervous breakdown right now.
Lucy

Oh man, sorry to hear that. I wouldn't have nerve enough to get a progressive in a Panoptyx---chancy. I bought some of those stick-on plus segments from Walgreen's ($10) and trimmed them to fit in the bottom of my Pan's. They're still too big; I've got to trim more, but they're functional. At least I don't have to take them off and put on reading glasses to see close.

But the humidity's been higher here, and I'm runnin' the good old New Mexico "swamp cooler," which brings the indoor humidity up to 50%. Now, if I could just get rid of all my eye gunk, then maybe I could see.

Hope you find your glasses soon!

Calli

[Rojzen]

A clear fitover that just might become the myopic's onion goggle

Yes, for that disabling menthol sensation, we badly need an off-the-shelf fix, to replace the hugely expensive and delicate custom moisture chambers. . .and we badly need a solution that serves not only the 20/20 crowd, but also those with severe myopia and combination refractions. Yes, those SeeFits had better come to market soon!

Along these lines, today I received one of the most promising products I've encountered so far, in this directon, and I hope to upload a photo of me wearing it next week. . .It is a pair of Solar Shield Lites with CLEAR polycarbonate lenses, something I've been looking for for years. . .Ocusoft sells them, but sells them only in size Large. Frames are clear, frosty plastic. . .

When worn over regular glasses, at least for me: Air seal is almost as good as with my custom moisture chambers; vision is crisp and clear; there is no tugging on the eyelids, as with some goggles that end up popping our lids open (when we want to minimize aperture, with DES); and the look is not too dorky. . .I don't think any of us would settle for this look permanently, but it is a look that could definitely serve one in a pinch, and for a few days at a time. . .such as when SeeFits are in the shop. . .

The Solar Shield Lites are a basic, bottom-of-the-line model, widely available, but so far, I can find clear lenses for them only via Ocusoft. . .which, btw, is selling the pair for only $10.00, even as Lites sold elsewhere, with dark lenses, run as high as $39.00.

Anyway, I love the new bargain, and I think the clear fitover Lites could become the equivalent of our lovely onion goggle, for people with significant refraction Rx needs. . .

[Rojzen]

Correction: Solar Shield Square Lites - clear

Oops. . .Those fitovers I raved about just above are called Solar Shield Square Lites-Clear. . .Prettier Solar Shields, which are less Square, just don't seem to come in Clear. . .but possibly I've just missed them. .or some other fitover company makes a Clear lens product that would do just as well as the Square Lites. . .