One Dry Eye

[shan_PA]

I searched the archive but did not see another question similar to mine. After Lasik surgery I had the typical dry eyes and now have a mild (was worse) case of flaky eyelashes. One thing I have noticed is that my left eye seems to be over the dryness but the right is not. In fact, the right seems to have trouble holding its tears and constantly feels wet (like someone throwing seawater in my face). Is it possible for one eye to become dry and the other to recover?

[shan_PA]

Saw the doctor today and he noted that all of the glands in the eye lid area were clogged. He noted that this could have led to dryness which caused this problem.  

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

I'm a bit confused since you said your right eye has trouble holding its tears and constantly feels wet.  You could have a problem with the tear overflow system. In other words you could have a loose eyelid or a problem with the nasolacrimal duct which causes tears to overflow onto your cheek rather than through the nasolacrimal duct into your nose.  It is also possible that you had punctum plugs inserted to block this system (when your dry eyes were acting up) and now you might want to have the plugs removed, if you ever had them placed.  Talk to your ophthalmologist to see why one eye is different than the other and then the proper treatment can be taken.

MJK MD