Plug!

Yesterday I had a plug inserted into one of the drains in my left eye. Just like this plug here (but teeny tiny) the idea is to keep the artificial tears that I add every hour or so from draining away too quickly. If I can add the tears less often and they hang around for longer then my eye will be healthier and will feel less gritty. Artificial tears are not as good for your eye as real tears as they don’t contain the antibodies that your eye enjoys, so I still have to be careful of infection, but it should offer me some relief. If all goes well I will have a plug in the other eye in six to eight weeks.
It has transpired that I have an auto immune condition called Sjogrens which means my tear glands do not produce tears. I was curious to know how come I can still produce tears when I laugh and cry and the optical expert explained that the glands respond differently to different stimuli. So, when my corneal nerves detect a dryness and tell my tear glands to produce tears the glands ignore that stimulus. However, when my brain has an emotional response to something the gland does still produce tears. Therefore, what I need is a modern day “joker” to entertain me to the point of hysterical laughter every half hour or so to help me produce tears!

Anyway, I am very grateful that the National Health Service has come up with this solution to help ease my symptoms and I am crossing my fingers that it makes a real difference to my eye comfort.