Re: Ocular rosecea & rhino-whatever that is

[Guest guest]

Hi Marjorie,

Punctual plugs are tiny little silicone " plugs " that are inserted into your

tear ducts so that your eyes can retain moisture longer - they make it so you

don't have to use eye drops so frequently. There's a ton of info on the web

about them and I know that alot of people from here (myself included) have

benefited greatly from them. We have both an upper and lower tear duct in

each eye - usually doctors will just insert the lower ones first to see if

that makes a difference and if it doesn't then they'll do the top ones also.

It is a very quick painless process. My eyes are so much better because of

them. If for any reason the plugs irritate you you can have them removed

very easily with no problem. Maybe you can ask your eye doctor about

them; who knows, maybe you'd be able to wear contacts again! I'm not sure if

you're aware of what a TBUT (Tear Break Up Time) test is..but they put a dye

in your eye and then tell you to blink and, while looking thru a special

camera, count how many seconds it takes for a dry spot to appear on your eye

surface. From what I've heard a " normal " person's is around 19 seconds and a

person with ocular rosacea is approx. 6.9 seconds (I got this info from a

book i have). A person considered to have severe dry eyes is about a 2. My

left eye was a 1 and my right eye was a 2 before the plugs. With the plugs I

believe my left eye is a 4 and my right eye is a 6. Granted, that's still

not that good but trust me those extra seconds makes a big difference. I

used to use my drops about 10x a day - now I use them about 3; some days not

at all. Anyway I don't even notice the plugs there. It may be worth looking

in to if your eyes are really dry.

Good Luck,

Donna

[Guest guest]

Hi Marjorie,

Punctual plugs are tiny little silicone " plugs " that are inserted into your

tear ducts so that your eyes can retain moisture longer - they make it so you

don't have to use eye drops so frequently. There's a ton of info on the web

about them and I know that alot of people from here (myself included) have

benefited greatly from them. We have both an upper and lower tear duct in

each eye - usually doctors will just insert the lower ones first to see if

that makes a difference and if it doesn't then they'll do the top ones also.

It is a very quick painless process. My eyes are so much better because of

them. If for any reason the plugs irritate you you can have them removed

very easily with no problem. Maybe you can ask your eye doctor about

them; who knows, maybe you'd be able to wear contacts again! I'm not sure if

you're aware of what a TBUT (Tear Break Up Time) test is..but they put a dye

in your eye and then tell you to blink and, while looking thru a special

camera, count how many seconds it takes for a dry spot to appear on your eye

surface. From what I've heard a " normal " person's is around 19 seconds and a

person with ocular rosacea is approx. 6.9 seconds (I got this info from a

book i have). A person considered to have severe dry eyes is about a 2. My

left eye was a 1 and my right eye was a 2 before the plugs. With the plugs I

believe my left eye is a 4 and my right eye is a 6. Granted, that's still

not that good but trust me those extra seconds makes a big difference. I

used to use my drops about 10x a day - now I use them about 3; some days not

at all. Anyway I don't even notice the plugs there. It may be worth looking

in to if your eyes are really dry.

Good Luck,

Donna

[Guest guest]

Hi Marjorie,

Punctual plugs are tiny little silicone " plugs " that are inserted into your

tear ducts so that your eyes can retain moisture longer - they make it so you

don't have to use eye drops so frequently. There's a ton of info on the web

about them and I know that alot of people from here (myself included) have

benefited greatly from them. We have both an upper and lower tear duct in

each eye - usually doctors will just insert the lower ones first to see if

that makes a difference and if it doesn't then they'll do the top ones also.

It is a very quick painless process. My eyes are so much better because of

them. If for any reason the plugs irritate you you can have them removed

very easily with no problem. Maybe you can ask your eye doctor about

them; who knows, maybe you'd be able to wear contacts again! I'm not sure if

you're aware of what a TBUT (Tear Break Up Time) test is..but they put a dye

in your eye and then tell you to blink and, while looking thru a special

camera, count how many seconds it takes for a dry spot to appear on your eye

surface. From what I've heard a " normal " person's is around 19 seconds and a

person with ocular rosacea is approx. 6.9 seconds (I got this info from a

book i have). A person considered to have severe dry eyes is about a 2. My

left eye was a 1 and my right eye was a 2 before the plugs. With the plugs I

believe my left eye is a 4 and my right eye is a 6. Granted, that's still

not that good but trust me those extra seconds makes a big difference. I

used to use my drops about 10x a day - now I use them about 3; some days not

at all. Anyway I don't even notice the plugs there. It may be worth looking

in to if your eyes are really dry.

Good Luck,

Donna

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Donna, for the great explanation about plugs. An improvement

from 1 to 4 and 2 to 6 represents a three-fourfold increase in eye

moisture -- still less than half normal, but I would imagine enough

to make a real difference, just as you described.

Marjorie