back from the eye doctor
turns out i have a few problems. my eyes have always been very dry, so dry that i couldn't wear contacts 'cause they would stick to the inside of my eyelids when i blinked and would shift around. nope, fake tears, eyedrops, etc do not help at all
so i have 3 problems, all can be treated, two of which are a result of my having such dry eyes. i compeletely forgot what the doctor said the stuff was called, but here goes the explanation
1 - the transparent rubber cement-like substance on the surface of my eye is a fluid-filled sac of some kind that my eye developed as protection from me rubbing my eyes constantly due to the dryness. i was prescribed a 14-day supply of eyedrops. the doctor warned me that the drops sting when they are applied, but that i should stick to them. if the eyedrops don't work, they will have to stick a needle in and drain the fluid out. he said he preferred non-invasive first. i agree!
2 - the things that some friends thought were styes are something else completely. they also were caused by my rubbing my eyes so much. the fact that my eyes are not moist enough wash out all the dust and grime meant that when i rubbed my eyes, i rubbed the grit into a couple of glands and they were blocked. he gave me a couple of sterile eye scrubs and said i should wipe my eyelids with them. he also said not to buy the scrubs from the store as they were glorified sterile pads with diluted johnson&johnson baby shampoo on them.
3 - apparently my dry eyes are happening for a reason. it seems that when i blink, instead of the fluid just hanging around, it drains through the bottom tear duct into my throat - which totally explains the reason why i'm clearing my throat al the time! it was nice to have a solid explanation. the solution is a $500 procedure to put little "plugs" in the bottom tear ducts to force the moisture to stay in my eyes and stop draining down throat! who knew!
i'm gonna do it. if you have hung around me enough, you might have been irritated by my constant throat clearing. it sure as hell irritates me!
eta: i remembered i had a pamphlet about the tear duct thing. the tiny implants are called "punctal occluders". here's a page with a picture and description
so i have 3 problems, all can be treated, two of which are a result of my having such dry eyes. i compeletely forgot what the doctor said the stuff was called, but here goes the explanation
1 - the transparent rubber cement-like substance on the surface of my eye is a fluid-filled sac of some kind that my eye developed as protection from me rubbing my eyes constantly due to the dryness. i was prescribed a 14-day supply of eyedrops. the doctor warned me that the drops sting when they are applied, but that i should stick to them. if the eyedrops don't work, they will have to stick a needle in and drain the fluid out. he said he preferred non-invasive first. i agree!
2 - the things that some friends thought were styes are something else completely. they also were caused by my rubbing my eyes so much. the fact that my eyes are not moist enough wash out all the dust and grime meant that when i rubbed my eyes, i rubbed the grit into a couple of glands and they were blocked. he gave me a couple of sterile eye scrubs and said i should wipe my eyelids with them. he also said not to buy the scrubs from the store as they were glorified sterile pads with diluted johnson&johnson baby shampoo on them.
3 - apparently my dry eyes are happening for a reason. it seems that when i blink, instead of the fluid just hanging around, it drains through the bottom tear duct into my throat - which totally explains the reason why i'm clearing my throat al the time! it was nice to have a solid explanation. the solution is a $500 procedure to put little "plugs" in the bottom tear ducts to force the moisture to stay in my eyes and stop draining down throat! who knew!
i'm gonna do it. if you have hung around me enough, you might have been irritated by my constant throat clearing. it sure as hell irritates me!
eta: i remembered i had a pamphlet about the tear duct thing. the tiny implants are called "punctal occluders". here's a page with a picture and description