Itchy Tear Ducts

[Carole Rutherford]

David is at the moment being driven mad by itchy tear ducts. It started a few days ago and he has no idea why they are suddenly itchy? He does suffer from Hay Fever but it’s well past the season now. He is using his lubricating drops but it’s not stopping the itch. He is rubbing his eyes from the corner of the tear duct squashing the bottom eye lid down and outwards towards the opposite corner of his eye. Phew had to get that right otherwise he says you will not be able to offer him any advice . He would like to know if rubbing in this manner will affect his cornea and also any ideas about the itch?

Thanks

Carole

[Tammy Again]

just read a post on eye rubbing and the juries still oput wheter it makes any difference at all, personally I tend to be allergic to loads of things and I've come the conclusion sometimes theres nothing like a good rub, so I just do it.

I sometimes get itchy tear ducts, as I suffer from dry eyes I use wetting rops, celluvisc and systane from your description of how David rubs his if he's rubbing like you describe he's not actually putting pressure on the cornea, so just do it as a short term solution, but he'd be better trying to find out whats causing such an itch in the first place, I know the hay fever seasons over but there may be some pollen still about, plants are getting more exotic these days and there are still some flowers that bloom, speacially with this 'indian summer',

cooled but still warm boiled water compresses might help too.

I use kitchen towel or a clean flannel to clean away the gunk at the end of the day when I get itchy lid margins the hosp suggested it.

if it's just the one eye thats the prob there might be some tiny grit that's taking a while to work its way out, it will take a while but warm compresses might help. Our tears also dry up sometimes, it has been suggested to me to stimulate the tear producing glands by gently massaging the top inner corners (nearer the nose) of the eyelids (eyes open)not actually putting any pressure on the eyeball as it's above the eye that may help too.

I've also seen suggested on here to clean the eyelid margins and eyelashes with a diluted soloution of baby shampoo using a cotton bud and cooled boiled water every night, though my hosp suggetsed just water in case the shampoo hadsomat in it I had a reaction to.

but to get back to the first point its not proven that eye rubbing causes KC to worsen anyway and from your description he's rubbing the margin not the cornea anyway, though the prob with rubbing is it's (like skin) causing the inflammation to get worse but not neccessarily the KC.

good luck, I'm off now to use the hot flannel as I've been rubbing, it is late.

Good luck David hope the itch goes away soon.

Tam

[Andrew MacLean]

I occasionally get itchy tear ducts. the general consensus seems to be that the cause is a mild allergy.

This would be consistent with David's hay fever. Is there something else in his environment that may be provoking this reaction? Maybe something he has recently added to his diet?

The problem with allergies is that they are notoriously difficult to track down.

Andrew

[GarethB]

Carole

When are Davids eye itching most?

lens in or out?

Sometimes I find if lens solution has dried on my eye lashes or corner of the eye it can make them itchy. The n you itch it and casue minute abrasions on the itchy area just like if you scratch away at exzema and it makes the sensation worse. Then you enter into a visceous circle.

Tammys recomendations are good and I find it helps if I can go the day without lenses just to help my eyes recover.

For me itching now is more a sign that I have been wearing lenses for too long; how long is David wearing lenses for?

[Carole Rutherford]

Two things spring to mind. David has recently changed the saline solution that his lenses are stored in as we can not find it in the shops. What he has been using until last week was the solution that the hospital had given him. Could this be a factor?

Also we have two new baby Guniea Pigs. But they have been with us for almost a month now. We have had Guniea Pigs for 5 years now and David has always been OK - however he is not with dogs. He did however realise the other day that having held one of the babies his face neck and chin was covered in an itchy rash. It's not happening with the other pig and they are both sisters so it's a bit strange. He has not held the baby since and they are nowhere near his room or him.

It is happening more while he has the lenses in and last night it was really bad.

Carole

[GarethB]

Carole,

I think the saline being the msot recent change is the first thing to investigate.

The only slaine I can deal with are presevative free of the Bausch and Lomb pH balanced for sensitive eyes. For convenience I use the latter which is hard to get where I live, si I order in bulk with the rest of my solutions from Post Optics Their service is exceptional and if my order is placed over the internet by 2 pm, I usually have everything the next day provided it is in stock.

Regarding the guinipigs, I found I had a problem with the long haired ones! When I was a kid my brother and I had guinipigs to keep our pet rabbits company. I was fine with my guinipig, but my brothers had longer hair which trapped all the sawdust and that used to play havoc with both of us regarding asthema.

[Louise Pembroke]

I get hayfever and can get it 'out of season' too. If my eyes itch I flush out with hypromellose from the fridge. I do this before rubbing. Anyhow every day I flush out well before putting lenses in and after taking them out

[Carole Rutherford]

Hi Louise

What do you mean by 'flush out' and also what do you use to do this?

We had huge problems with David and eye drops and only found one because of the advice given here. He now uses systane and is sticking to them like glue - so would he flush out with these?

thanks

Carole

[Louise Pembroke]

Sorry I've not used Systane so I don't know what that is like. When my eyes are itchy I put a bottle of Hypromellose [artificial tear drops] in the fridge to make it really cool. Then I tilt my head back and slightly to one side and squeeze the bottle continuosly into the eye and let the fluid just run down my face. That's how I flush the eye out. If there's any pollen or debris in the eye that gets it out and cold hypromellose soothes itchiness

[Andrew MacLean]

Some saline solutions do contain preservative, others do not.

It may be worth trying again to source a preservative free solution. (I get mine in a well known supermarket chain whose name bigins with a T and ends with an O