DRY EYES

[ScalpHelp]

Has anyone managed to successfully treat severe dry eyes and keep it under control? Please share!

Currently suffering and worried whether my vision is starting to deteriorate my eyes are constantly dry to the point that my vision is sometimes blurry as I have to constantly blink to get a clear image!

I've been getting this and I got some drops from Specsavers. Bliss

@BerriesAndPineCones which ones?

You can get over the counter treatment through the chemist if you’ve not already tried. Had this while pregnant for some bizarre reason, it drove me bananas til I spoke to my pharmacist!

Hyco San original

There are whole clinics devoted to this issue (I used to work at Moorfields Eye Hospital) and a wide range of options for managing the problem, depending on the cause of the dryness.

I don't know what you have already tried, but as well as the basic eye drops there are gels, compresses, punctal plugs etc. There is generally a solution if you keep at it!

Have you been diagnosed with Sjogren's or similar OP?
Does the blurry vision cause difficulty in reading, or watching tv OP?
Do you wear glasses?

You poor thing. Do you get enough vitamins? (Particularly A & D?) There are loads of good eyes drops and even wipes you can use but I wonder if it’s worth visiting your optician or GP?

As well as drops I was advised to up my intake of seeds & good oil - flax seed particularly. Aldi do a mix you can add to cereal. I also do stuff like putting a bowl of water on radiators & not having the heating too high to stop the air getting to dry at home. Think it all helps accumatively.

I found out that I was allergic to the stuff I was using to treat my dry eyes! The worse they felt the more I poured into them till my optometrist worked it out and confiscated the bottle. I ended up buying some silica gel filled eye pad things that you warm in the microwave and then sit with them over your eyes for 10 minutes. It help the little glands along the eyelid margins to unblock and this helps to lubricate the eye. You could do the same with hot compresses but less convenient and cools more quickly. Also gentle massaging with a cotton bud along the outer edges of the eyelashes - not the waterline - can also sometimes help to get those little oil glands pumping. At one stage, fish oil capsules were seen as helping with tear fluid, but some later study suggested there was no effect. My eyes seem to fluctuate and are sometimes quite good and other times not so good.

Also things on the skin round your eyes can actually soak into eye tissues so I am very careful not to put anything close to my eyes - no facial product goes above my cheekbones or below my eyebrows. I did see a specialist and had some tablets to take for a while and they did seem to help during a particularly bad patch. I wasn't so keen on plugging the tear ducts but it was offered and I guess if things hadn't improved I might have overcome my squeamishness about it. Apparently it's a common menopause symptom but strangely HRT is meant to make it worse!

Hycosan drops are very good. I use the red ones for very dry eyes

Clinitas 0.4% eye drops are good in my experience. Try Amazon or just google.

If you're using eyedrops long term, get the individual single use vials instead of just a bottle. The bottles contain preservative and it's better to avoid this for really long term use. Clinitas single use vials are actually resealable and usable for 12 hours (I actually use mine for up to 24 hours and haven't had any problems, but don't quote me on that).

Hycosan do an ointment for night use which is effective but causes blurry vision (being an ointment) - blurriness is normally gone or manageable by morning.

I would use these as potential stopgap solutions. But your issues sound severe and I would also seek medical advice in case there's some root problem.

I'm considering getting a plug done privately at Moorfields myself.

Just looking at your username OP, do you have scalp problems too? Sometimes dry eye can be caused by a condition called blepharitis which can be treated. There are different types - you need to see an optometrist and they can advise you. They can also refer to dry eye clinic at the local hospital who have access to other treatments not available over the counter.

Wow, thanks for all your responses! Lots to digest.

I secured an optometrist appointment earlier. My eyes are very dry to the extent that tears immediately evaporated, so barely any natural lubrication. There was lots of makeup floating around although I purposely avoided eye makeup today! She recommended I use the eye mask @Rangoon mentioned and the new Hycosan Shield alongside the night ointment.

Luckily my vision is still 20/20 (after a lot of blinking) - I had been really worried.

Was disappointing to hear that dry eyes are something I’ll always struggle with and it will probably get worse as I age interesting that you say hospitals have other options to explore as she didn’t suggest anything else

Also I have no other health issues aside from being stressed/recent sleep difficulties. My vitamin levels are normal and I don’t use glasses. The blur affects reading from a distance but eventually clears up after I blink.

My scalp was sore/irritated after using a new product but is okay now!

I use Viscotears, I've tried others but find these work the best.