Recurrent corneal erosion

Well done to Lumecare for providing excellent focused information and products for an English audience.  I was beginning to be highly alarmed by some of the US websites. 

For the past 3 months I have had a blocked meibomian gland due to a previous cyst.  The cyst died down but has left a small lump in there.  I'm OK in the day but in the middle of the night it feels as if someone is attacking my eye with a sharpened screwdriver.  Very painful and distressing.  The tears pour down my face and my eyeball goes into spasm, only recovering after between 30 minutes and 2 hours.  From information I can glean, I've concluded that this is due to the combination of a dry eye and  the aftereffects of an attack on my eyeball by a sharp yucca plant leaf 20 years ago.  My eyelid sticks to the cornea and because of the weakness in the cornea, a sharp movement of the eyeball (e.g. when I wake) rips the top layer of the cornea.

For the last month I've been using the Lumecare eye mask a couple of times a day to keep the gland clear and the Lumecare Gel 2 or 3 times a night, as required.  I've also purchased a Tranquileyes mask, just soaking the pads in warm distilled water, which keeps my eyes closed and stops me opening them too fast.  It's dark too so I have a less disturbed sleep.

This combination has reduced the incidents of extreme pain  to perhaps 3 times a week, rather than once or twice a night.  I've been hoping that if I could protect the cornea it would re-strengthen itself; but I now believe that I'm going to have to try to sort the blocked gland out and plan to press my GP for a referral.  He's talked about the potential for a minor operation to remove the remains of the cyst.

Does anyone else have experience of any of this, please?

hi yes I had all your symptoms,and had the operation for cornea errosion,small particles were removed from my cornea and rubbed down,it was very painful for two days,I was told it would be for four days,it did help the sticking of the eyelids to my eyes on waking,but I still have the problem of of eyes swollen and dry /sticking in the morning and waking up in the night with the pains you mentioned,this has been going on since last August,I have now been put on atntibiotics for three monthes,as they say I have an infection in my eyelids right eye being the worst,it causes much problems in my every day life as I work shifts,and the mornings and klate at night are the worst,and whilist watching tv,ive now been refered to the Moore field eye hospital 17th Jun,so will let you know of the outcome,or maybe the antibiotics will do the trick,please let me know if you find a cure before then thank you Romy  

My GP has now referred me to an opthalmologist to have the remains of my cyst removed. He thinks it will be about a month.  I don't fancy the procedure but I'm hoping that it will unblock my meibomian gland and sort my problem.
 A couple of other points about the different things I've tried so far.  The Lumecare eye bag unblocks the gland every day without fail.  It's just brilliant.  Lumecare gel is definitely the only one which seems to keep my eyes safe all night. I did try Lacri-lube which is supposed to be longer lasting but it seemed to miss patches of my eyeball.  Tranquileyes goggles keep my eyes closed and moist which is surprisingly reassuring.  I hadn't realised how many times I must wake and open my eyes involuntarily, which was causing excruciating pain.  The goggle stop this. There's now a website for people wanting to buy these in the UK.  http://www.eyeeco.co.uk/products.html  And on waking I squeeze the Lumecare eye drops into the corner of my eye and let them moisten my eyeball before I actually open my eye. I haven't had a bad incident for a week now albeit that my bad eye is full of blood and I look as if someone's punched me.  But it doesn't hurt.
I am lucky though.  It's only one eye and I don't have any problems in the day time at all.  One upside - choosing to wear no make-up for 3 months has proved to me that I was allergic to mascara - my eyes feel so much better without it.

Hi Caroline yes went to Moorefield,who now say Ive got cysts on my right cornea,but no sign of the Blepharitis,so maybe the antibiotics are working,I must say the pain in the night is not so bad,and only waking up for more drops once or twice,so much better sleep  now,I have another hospital appointment at Moore field Monday 13th so hopefuly by then they have improved more as do not fancy the lazer reatment they think may be the next step.im putting the steriod drops in night and moring as prescribed,and I also got a prepaid nhs service card for £28,.50 as a cheaper option then keep shelling out £7.60, each time im prescribed another treatment,will update when see hosp Monday,hope your are improving now, Romy Sarjant 

Hi Romy

Good to hear from you and it sounds a little more bearable for you now, which is great news!

I've been keeping the night-time pain at bay now consistently for several weeks with the gel and goggles; but about a week ago I suddenly noticed that the lump in my eyelid had considerably diminished.  So for the last 2 nights I've tried sleeping with no precautions and amazingly have had no problems so far.

I actually made it to the opthalmology consultant for the first time this afternoon.  The opthalmologist examined me and could only just detect the lump and no sign of recent damage to the eye.  He said that the cyst and leftover material may have spontaneously disappeared after 4.5 months, leaving me with a normally functioning meibomian gland again.  However he has put me on antibiotic drops (Fucithalmic) to be used every night.  He said to do it for 6 weeks, stop for a week and then resume for a further 6 weeks, though I notice it's only supposed to be used for a month before it goes off.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed because my next option was an incision in the back of the eyelid which I really don't fancy at all.  I'll keep you posted.  Good luck!

Caroline

Glad youe eye seems to have improved,yes im still taking the tabs only one month to go,and i was thinking of going with out the drops for a night or two to see if any different,as they do seem to be improving,and dont really want to have to put drops in my eyes for the rest of my natural life,may try tonight,have appointment agin monday at Moore field so will keep you informed,take care  Romy

5 days and nights without eye mask, gel or goggles and my cornea remains in good health.  I'm just using one blob of the antibiotic gel before I go to sleep.  I've also noticed that my eye is suddenly moist from time to time during the day which I imagine is my meibomian gland spluttering into action after 5 months of being blocked.  So for those of you with this problem - it may indeed spontaneously sort itself out, albeit after a not inconsiderable period which would be very painful without the things I've described as being a help above.  Most worrying is that my GP didn't suggest any of them so unless I'd had access to this website and other stuff on the web, I'd have been in despair.

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