Postby rosemary johnson » Sun 11 Jun 2006 2:36 pm
Sorry to hear of your problems.
There is some info about hydrops on this sight - try hunting for it from the home page.
I think - John? - we could do with a FAQ or several about hydrops..... or is there one by now?
A hydrops is where a membrane in the back of the cornea splits and lets fluid through from one part of the eye into another. This causes waterlogging - sogginess - in the part of the eye the fluid has got into, which results in the foggy vision, and can cause greater or lesser pain.
I don't know about minute pupils - unless the pain causes a light-sensitivity reaction which cloes the pupil, maybe).
I've had 4 hydrops now and survived them all, so if that is what it is, don't panic.
obviously, I can't tell by email whether it really is a hydrops or not - can only echo other people's advice to get it checked by the experts.
What to do about a hydrops?
Well, opinions vary about this. SOme medics will hand out all sorts of drugs - steroids, saline drops to try to remove the misplaced fluid by osmosis, antibiotics "just in case", and more.
Others, including the ones I've seen, reckon all these don't do any good, may do harm, and the strong saline will sting, and that the only thing that will do any good is time to heal.
It can take 4-6 weeks to heal (depending how big the split is) and then may be a bit sensitive for a few more months.
SOmetimes they heal over very well and you can go on as before unaffected. Sometimes there is a lot of scarring where the split heals, and in severe cases, the medics may suggest a graft (conrneal transplant). Of course, it's up to you to decide how much the scarring affects you and whether you want to go this route.
Medics (and others) inexperienced in dealing with hydrops may try to suggest immediate emergency transplants - DON'T be shanghai'd into doing this without serious thought, as others, experienced with hydrops, reckon transplants done while the tissues are still ruptured and the waterlogging fluid not yet drained will not "take" as well as they might once the hydrops has healed over and the fluid drained.
OK, so that's hydrops.
Maybe it isn't hydrops, or may be something with a hydrops, or......
Please go and get it checked out and the diagnosis confirmed (or not).
If the pain is driving you crazy, try paracetamol or ibuprofen.
(The medics may prescribe analgesic eye drops/ointment - the ones I've seen have *only* offered this, reckoning others are no help/counterproductive - but I found the paracetamol/Neurofen at least as good and far cheaper.
Good luck! - I hope yours isn't too serious, whatever it is, and will soon heal over and heal well!
Rosemary
for the past couple of days i have been experiencing a real discomfort in my eyes. I came home from work yesterday, took out the lenses and well I couldn't see! It was like a fog had appeared around my eyes and i couldn't focus. I thought I was just tired so thought nothing really of it until i got up this morning and tried to put my lenses in - my left eye (my good eye) was red and bloodshot and my pupil was like a pinpoint! Tiny compared to the right.
