Dry Eyes Support Group
Dry eyes is an eye disease caused by decreased tear production or increased tear film evaporation. Symptoms include burning and a sandy-gritty eye irritation that gets worse as the day goes on. The symptoms are often caused by a loss of water from the tears that results in tears that are too "salty" or hypertonic.
I am 1 month post op and cant find any support groups for prk complications, i have severe dry eye and have had punctal plugs put in, am on eye drops & restasis. the only relief i get is the few days its been humid and that just makes it barely tolerable. Ice packs do wonders for all of the 5 minutes they last. but summer is quickly coming to an end and i am so scared. I have no appetite, have had several panic attacks, and i am trying to hold it together for my son and husband. I seriously think i just ruined my whole quality of life for my vanity. I feel so lonely like i have no one to talk to, this is so scary and the dr keeps saying im healing fine & the dry eye will go back to the way it was before my surgery.
Here's what you need to do: get some thermal eye compresses online. You heat them up in the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds and reheat it as necessary. Do 10 minutes of this in the morning and 10 minutes at night.
2. Wear sunglasses outside that encase your eye area. You can get them in the drugstore. They will prevent the wind from drying your eyes out.
You will have to put eyedrops in every five minutes or so until the condition starts improving. As you only got surgery your prognosis sounds good. I got botox and permanently damaged the area. Surgery seems to be less long-lasting in nerve damage, however. The nerves should be able to eventually reconnect.
Here's what I have found most helpful: Systane hydration UD. I get the little vials that are preservative-free. They are really the best. There are ways of re-using the vial so you actually get a fair amount of use out of a vial. Not sure if they are available in the states--they aren't available in Canada, I have to order mine from a New Zealand online pharmacy.
Systane Ultra works well in combination with Refresh tears, if you are not able to get hold of the above eyedrops right away.
Also, if you can purchase a Crane (brand) humidifier for your house that helps.. I also take a portable humidifier (I think it's called Swiss air) that I bought online. By doing that I was able to raise my moisture level up at least 4 points. The Schirmer test measures tear evaporation. Ideal/normal is 15. When I had mine measured a year after the botox injury it was at a 4.5. A lady that I met on an online forum devoted to discussing cosmetic procedures and their possible side effects had a botox injury so bad that her tear evaporation was at a 0. She has since improved (the date of our injuries was about the same time--about 6 years ago).
Currently she is doing a therapy where oil is expressed from the meibomian glands with a special kind of forcep designed for this--she has found this procedure quite effective, even though it has mixed reviews amongst ophthalmologists. Her own opthamologist showed her how to do it and she now does it on her own.
Keep your wits about you and stay strong. This is a major set-back and most people, including medical personal, don't understand the extent to which it is. If you do these things it will set you onto the road to recovery much sooner.
I am not too keen on the Restasis. I tried that therapy and it didn't help at all, and one of the side effects is cancer.
Take care,
You will get through this.