Night time dryness - Eye & Vision Message Board

Kim57 · 09-20-2003, 08:18 PM

Hi All....new here. Just stumbled onto this site. And WOW. I was looking to find something on dry eyes on the web, and thought I'd stop in. I had Lasik surgery over a year ago, and have had very good results. I seem to have more floaters now than I did before the surgery and still have the dry eyes at night. Actually I started having night-time dryness 2 months prior to surgery. I have no itchiness or burning...just cant get my eyelids to pry open first thing in the morning. I read somewhere that some peoples eyes do not close completely when they are sleeping and causes their eyes to dry out. I have thought about taping my eyes shut some night just to find out if this would help!!LOL I keep a bottle of Thera-Tears in my night stand to put in before I get up. And I've tried those nasty gels you put in before going to sleep...YUK! Any suggestions to this? Thanks!

purple2067 · 09-21-2003, 12:39 PM

You have probably been told this before, so I am not going to yell at you.

If you had ANY sort of dryness prior to lasik surgery, you were not a candidate for the surgery and should not have had it. Lasik can cause severe dry eyes in some people. Did you tell your doctor about the dryness that you were experiencing prior to having the surgery?

Which p.m. ointments have you used? Some are better than others and won't run down your face as much. The thicker ones will stay in your eyes better and not leak out. The one I liked the best was Tears Naturale PM Lubricant Eye Ointment.

If you don't like any of those, the only other thing I can suggest is to use a warm compress when you wake up in the morning to clear away any crud from your eyelids. (is that why you can't open your eyes? Or are they just too dry to open?) Keep the bottle of tears where you can reach it and put a drop in the corner of each eye before you open them. The best thing really is to use one of the ointments at night though, because you don't want to get so dry that you scratch your cornea during the night. Taping your eyelids shut is not a bad idea, but if your problem isn't caused by your eyelids being open when you sleep, then it won't help. But that is one way to find out if that is the problem.

Good luck,
Elyse

Kim57 · 09-22-2003, 11:35 AM

Purple...yes I did tell them before I had the surgery done, and it was not bad enough not to have the surgery. They take many tests before you have the surgery to make sure you are a good canidate. I had one of the leading doctors in the field in the Cincinnati area do it, therefor I am sure they would'nt have done it if it meant I wouldnt have a good outcome. Night time dryness is only a very minor problem. I would have the surgery all over again if I had to. I was around 20-400 before, and now I am 20-20 in one eye and 20-15 in the other. Yes I still have to wear reading glasses, but to what I had before....i'll take it.

purple2067 · 09-22-2003, 02:58 PM

Wow, that's a big vision improvement! I'd probably have had it done too!

Now the thing is just to experiment with the different eye ointments and drops until you find what works for you. Also, this might sound stupid but just make sure that you are not sleeping with any sort of fans on in the room. Sleeping with a warm mist humidifier on might also help with the dryness.