How do you deal with dry eyes?

I have dry eyes that result in filamentary keratitis in one eye. I have tried lots of things. Punctal plugs worked really well for me for quite a few years. But now, due to aging, they don’t stay in. What seems to be the most effective right now are the following things:

- using a preservative free eye ointment (like Systane Nighttime) before bed EVERY single night. Don’t ever skip a night

- warm compress twice a day for ten minutes (I use a fabric bag filled with flax seed. But you can buy them. Some people have suggested the Bruder mask I think )

- preservative free eye drops (Retaine MGD, Oasis Tears Plus, Refresh Optive Mega-3)through the day EVERY day (don’t slack off).

-Wrap around goggles when exposing eyes to dry and or moving air (in the car with the heater or air conditioning on, riding a bike, outside if it is windy or dusty ). I wear glasses so I got a pair of prescription wrap around goggles (Wiley x brand) from my optician.

So doing these few things HABITUALLY every single day has helped quite a bit.

Good luck and keep trying things !!

I suffered terribly with dry eyes most of my adult life. About 10 years ago in the autumn it Became unbearable, I looked like a vampire and tears were running down my cheeks 24 seven (if you have dry eyes you probably understand the irony that dry eyes produce tears to try to compensate but it only makes it worse). I went to a specialist who plugged my tear ducts, which took a matter of seconds and was totally painless and everything changed overnight and I have never had problems since then. I do use natural tears daily during the winter, but I often forget and I have never ever had a problem since having my tear ducts plugged

Hi with your blocked tear duct before your surgery did your eyes ever feel like they didn’t want to open, it’s my left eye and upon waking up in the morning my eye felt like it didn’t want to open so I would rub my eyelid gently with my index finger and it opens pretty fast it’s just blurry and scares me but about 3-4 minutes it’s fine for the day. It almost feels like it is very tired, heavy, lazy. I was wondering if it was a nerve that goes to my eye was making it feel that way. When I do wake up of a morning there is not any crusting or matter like it is with pinkeye. Mud specialist wants me to have DCV surgery we’re he goes and cuts a place between my nose and eye and take part of my bone to open up a passageway so it would drain. I’m scheduled for surgery but they said you can’t sneeze my 6 weeks and I sneeze a lot during the days because of sinuses and allergies. I’d like to know if your eyes had that feeling of a morning of not wanting to open either. I asked my specialist and he just changed the subject to something else, he was nice but just forgot my question. If you don’t mind could you tell me what your symptoms were? I’m using Thera Tear drops right now that preservative free. Thank you for any suggestions or anything that you went through and still are, I’d appreciate it.
Teresa

I do have that fereling of not wanting to oprn my left eye. To combat it, I squeeze it tight, then put drops in. It helps somewhat.

I've had dry eyes for forty years. Somewhere along the way, I listened to the opthalmologist and tried a plug in one eye only. It just caused more pain and didnt make things better at all.
Restasis caused a lot of burning for me. It takes about two to three months to know if Restasis is being effective. It is sometimes recommended to use a steroid drop for two weeks prior to starting Restasis and then for the first week of using it to reduce stinging.
Opthalmologist are now prescribing Xiidra. I did fill the prescription but never did start it. My opthalmologist also prescribed a steroid to be used for the first few weeks of starting the Xiidra drops.
I have for now decided to just keep using Refresh Celluvisc drops and DuoLube nighttime ointment.
With Covid19 still pretty active where I live, I did not want to have new problems with Xiidra and have to see a doctor. There are people on this blog who have had success with Xiidra.

My eye dr today prescribed Restasis. My pharmacy called as soon as they got the prescription to warn me of the cost for the prescription. Medicare+ a supplement +Part D and I would pay $501 out of pocket! No! I cancelled that and ordered an eye gel from Amazon. At least for under $10. I will know right away if it helps.