SLK questions

[Cindy103]

I'm so happy to have found this web site. I've been diagnosed with SLK and also have extremely dry eyes. I've been to three ophthamologists, who've tried a number of different drops and medicine with no success. I have controlled my environment to reduce exposure to light and air flow wherever it is under my control. I use warm compresses and eyelid scrubs. I have four ductal plugs and still my dry eye scores are 4 and 5 at five minutes. My eyes hurt so bad every day and it's very frustrating not to find any relief.

I've been tested for all the medical conditions that can be associated with this, and everything comes up negative. I'm hoping someone can answer some questions for me.

Does SLK cause the dry eyes or do the dry eyes cause SLK? My doctor hesitates to excise the SLK because he fears it will just recur due to the extremely dry eyes. Has anyone had their SLK excised and it eliminated their symptoms? Tried drops that made a big difference? Have any ideas?

thanks
Cindy

[Amy09]

hey cindy! i also have slk and dry eye, so i understand what you are going through. my doctor said that the slk caused the dry eye because when my eyes became swollen due to the slk it did damage to my tear ducts. i would say that the first thing you should do to treat your slk properly is find a good opthalmologist who is not only familiar with slk, but has experience treating patients who have had it. i had to go to probably about 5 opthalmologists before i found one. the doctor i finally ended up with was able to do cauterization (minor surgery) on the tops of my eyes to get rid of the all the damage that had developed from slk. it was the best thing i ever could have had done for my eyes- it helped swelling, inflammation and irritation. i also had botox injections in my eyelids to decrease a lot of the swelling that had developed from the slk. i still have a lot of pain, but my eyes and eyelids are somewhat better, and now i just have to take prescription eye drops every day. also a lot of the slk i had is treated (for now) i still have a lot of problems with dry eye though. slk is a frustrating thing because it can never be completely cured- i'm always afraid is going to magically appear again. like you, i was tested for all the medical conditions that cause it and all of them came back negative. good luck cindy and keep us updated!

[Cindy103]

Amy,
Thank you for your response. I've struggled to find anyone else dealing with this problem and info on the internet is very limited.

I'm so reluctant to undergo any more eye surgery after the disastrous results of Lasik. The doc who did my Lasik wanted to do the cauterization, but did not suggest any medical testing or other treatments first, so I didn't go back to him. I like my current doc, but he does not do any surgery. How did you find a doctor experienced in dealing with SLK?

You said your eyes were still dry. Can you give me an idea of how helpful the surgery was? I'm using three different prescription drops plus using preservative free Refresh constantly and my eyes are still so dry and painful - they hurt just to blink. Were you on that kind of treatment before and did it improve after the surgery?

thanks
Cindy