Weeping eye

[Jim_Rogers]

Since my drive back from Kansas City, MO my right eye has been weeping tears. Sometimes more than other times.
After a while, I had a bad evening/night with it, so I decided to go to an eye doctor and see what was wrong.
At first, I thought that maybe I had an eye infection. At the job site in Kansas City, he was sanding some oak timbers with a belt sander. That put a lot of dust into the air in his garage, where we were working.
These oak timbers came from oak logs that he got from a tree service. I was concerned that these trees were taken down due to some oak blite or oak wilt disease.
And that fungus got into my eye causing an infection or the weeping issue.
However, the eye doctor said that if I had an eye infection that it would clear itself up in less than 2 weeks.
And it had be at least 5 weeks or more since that trip to MO.

He suggested an eye drop for inflammation.

I went to my pharmacy to get the drops and they said it was not covered by insurance and that the co pay was over $250. 

I asked them to contact the doctor to see there was something else I could use. 

After the second visit to the pharmacy, when I asked the pharmacist if there was something else over the counter I could use, she said no. 
I asked again if they could contact the eye doctor for something else.

Yesterday, I had my follow up visit with the eye doctor and he said that they never contacted him about another eye drop. I was a little pithed off about that.

He then suggested that I tried some over the counter eye drops. And mentioned a brand and I said I had seen that brand before. 

He further explained that the tears are being caused by dry eye and that the gland that makes the tears doesn't have a regulator to stop making them if your eye is dry.

He said that I had dry eye and that an eye drop lubricate would help me.

If he had told me that I had dry eye, the first time I was there, I would have understood that was the reason I needed a lubricant.

But without understanding why my eye was watering, I didn't see why adding a lubricant to a watering eye would help it. It didn't seem to make sense to me. If your eye is watering from over making tears why does adding a lubricant help? Seemed like adding liquid to an over watering eye, didn't make sense to me.

I am using an eye drop now and we'll see if things get better, with time.

Jim Rogers

[Stephen1]

This is an interesting dilemma Jim, I had the same thing over the last 2 years on and off. My brother had his eye specialist flush out his tear ducts, and the problem cleared up for a while. I went the eye DR and a just out school Dr examined my eyes, all was good except I had 'dry eyes', take this simple eye drop, not a very expensive one. I told her what happened with my brother and she just gave me the deer in the headlight look. Take these drops is what I was told. I did for a whole bottle and it stayed the same.
Cathy my partner , who likes the holistic approach gave me 'Rose Water' and a small eye makeup wipe cotton pad, I would soak the pad, wipe my eyes twice a day, making sure lots squeezed into my eyes, and lo and behold I don't have that problem anymore. It seems that ash sawdust or resawing Kiln dried wood also, is my culprit. I use better glasses when sawing that now.(Rose water is an anti fungal, anti Viral and anti Bacterial) not harmful in any way. Simple.

[stanmillnc]

I have problems with dry eyes, especially overnight. Have had many corneal scrapes and abrasions over the years that have mostly healed, as the eye has an amazing ability to heal itself, but it's easy to reopen the scars. Sawdust irritates my eyes and with lots of exposure there, I need to use eye lubricant at night or I wake up with dry irritated eyes, or micro-scratches in my cornea that are uncomfortable and annoying. This also causes excessive eye watering at times. The obvious solution for me has been to better protect my eyes and I have switched to goggles as opposed to safety glasses whenever there is high exposure risk. The product that has helped me most is over the counter eye gel lubricant, sold at Walmart, Pharmacies, etc. The gel works much better than the drops for me, but it can only really be used when sleeping as it will cause blurred vision. Just a small ribbon before going to sleep does the trick - hope this helps your condition.

[Magicman]

I always wear wraparound safety glasses when sawing or chainsawing but even then a gust of wind can cause me some misery.  I always use lubricant eye drops in the morning and evening. 

Thanks Jim for sharing your experience.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I hope they get you fixed back up real soon.

   Almost every summer I have eye infections from sawing, weedeating and sweat getting in my eyes. It is less of a problem in the cooler months.

   My daughter in Charlotte did a video call 2 nights ago and our 6 y/o GS had a bad case of pink eye which seems to be rampant in the school right now down there. I had flashbacks to when we lived in Beaufort SC when I was stationed there. The kids were always fighting pinkeye and the sandflies were a big factor getting in their eyes and causing contamination. I remember our daughter when she was about 2 got up one morning and was walking down the hall with both eyes glued shut from it. A warm wet washcloth quickly opened them but it was a hard thing to see with a toddler like that.

[Jim_Rogers]

Thanks for all your comments and advice.

Jim Rogers

[Woodside Kai]

I had this weeping eye thing once. It lasted nearly a full year. I tried drops, eye doc had me try to massage my tear ducts a few times a day. Nothing worked until I did a 600 mile motorcycle trip through the desert. It ran so much I had to stop every 50 miles to remove another giant blob of dried up tears. But it flushed out whatever was in there and have never had a problem since.   

Sounds like a good reason for a motorcycle trip?

[Ed_K]

 I have it real bad. Dr.gave me 2 different kinds of liquid eye drops that has oil in it. And 1 that I use at night that is a grease like stanmillnc does.  They all work for awhile then start watering again.  I'm going to try the rose water, my Acupunturist wife is into hollistic meds and there's a whole shelf of liquids we walk by to the room where I get to needles, I'm going to ask him if there's rose water in there.

 We've been trying acupunture around my eyes ( not in the eye ) to my ears to stop the watering in my eyes, it works for awhile also.