Punctal Plugs

[REDEYESFORYEARS]

I suffer from Dry Eye. My Schrimers scores are 5 and 6. I have been using the restasis for about 3 months and have not really noticed a difference. My right eye is worse that the left. The doctor plugged the lower lid, however I cannot tell much of a difference. The irritation is coming from the upper lid. I look in my right eye and can see tears along the lower portion. If I plug the upper lid and unplug the lower would that help? Also based on the Schirmers score would this be considered mild/moderate or servere dry eye?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

1. You should not wear contacts.
2. Read the article on this page I wrote General Information on Dry eyes.
3. Restasis is the answer for 90% of the moderate to severe cases.
4. Remember there are two sides to "dry eyes" like two sides to a coin. One side eye dry as bone other side eye runs water all the time. Restasis helps both

JCJ MD

[pepperbrook]

I've had servere dry eye for 15yrs and also a stye for 15yrs and no one has ever offered me anything. my eyes are so dry that eye drops do not work and my contacts use to dry in  my eyes and crying was the only way to get them out and to cry i had to go watch sad stuff. i cry a lot,m because i am a cry baby, is this why i have such dry eyes, but it started when i 1st started wearing contacts 15yrs ago

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Hang in there with Restasis. Improvement often occurs up to 6 months. The lower opening carries 75% of the tears so usually only the lower is plugged. Doing the top without the bottom doesn't make sense. That Schirmer score would be moderate dry eyes.

JCH MD