Irritated Sclera due to dry eyes. Really worrisome blood vessels, Opthal & Optom don't seem as concerned as I....

Hi . Unfortunately, you won't find any medical experts here and we don't allow members to give medical advice. However, we do encourage people to share their own experiences and I hope others with chime in with some feedback that helps. Your concern is understandable. Is it possible to go without contacts for a time and wear glasses instead? That might give your eyes time to health. My guess is that this kind of irritation needs a lot of recovery time. Has your doctor ever recommended Lumify eyes drops? If not, it might be worthwhile to ask about them. They contain brimonidine tartrate, which reduces redness more safely than products that use oxymetazoline to naphazoline, but I would want to be sure that artificially reducing redness doesn't interfere with healing. I hope this helps and that you get some relief soon. Best wishes. - Lori (Team Member)

Thank you, I just received this message of yours just now, July 23, 2024....I'm grateful for it. I will give wear contacts a lot less. My top rated Opthamologist after looking at this same photo, interestingly mentioned the presence and even non existence of dry eyes causing this. I've been applying Rewetting Drops, (feeling that the Lubricating drops might destroy the lenses), but now understand that Lubricating Drops are Different, i.e. Refresh brand non preservative drops). I'm keeping a log or journal with photos to gauge or monitor if there's improvement. My aforesaid Optha. didn't strongly suggest any RX drops, even when I mentioned Restasis. Here's his interesting reply. It seems that the left, pictured in this thread, the left eye, may be becoming less tolerant of the contact lens in it, as after sleeping for 9 hours in the morning, it's much less prononuced. I will wear glasses the lion's share of the time, here's what a photo looks after 9 hours of sleeping and awaking in the morning. I plan to wear contacts for 1 more year, as the top rated optha said the KNV cornea neo vascularization at his suggested wear schedule won't grow much & to follow up in a year with him, which would be July 1, 2025. Copy & paste of his (my top notch Optha's) most recent email after looking at the 1st worrisome photo I attached here--when I asked if I should wear the contacts less as in 8 hours a day 5 days a week, 2 days rest by wearing glasses...... (quote/start),... think 8 hours a day would be more ideal given the injection you have but you can occasionally wear it longer if you need to.

The key is giving your eyes a break when they are irritated.

I think the photo shows that the eye is slightly irritated after prolonged contact lens use. It could be related to dry eye I suppose, but you would expect the redness to disappear with artificial tears while wearing the contact lenses if it was dry eye.

If the redness doesn’t disappear unless you remove the lenses then they are contact lens related

That looks so much better, ! I am glad you are figuring out a routine that works for you, but also gives your eyes a break. The Lumify drops I mentioned are not prescription. They are over-the-counter. My only concern would be that they might mask the issue by reducing irritation and make you believe you can wear contacts longer again. So, they might not be a good idea. You can also help improve blood flow and clear any potentially blocked eye ducts with warm compresses. Here is an article about them: https://chronicdryeye.net/living/heating-masks. They are most often used for chronic dry eye, but they are good for overall health even if you don't have issues. They are also very relaxing. I actually look forward to using mine. If you don't like wearing glasses, is lasik an option for you in the future? - Lori (Team Member)

I've thought about it, but I have 1) astigmatism 2) dry eyes 3) cornea neo vascularization. The wearing of contacts even high oxygen permeability / lots of breathability ones can make these new veins grow into the center and cause blindness. They are in both eyes. Another person said she had been wearing the best breathability contacts for 50 years and developed hypoxia which is the cornea being slowly starved oxygen. So you're right in writing: "might mask the issue by reducing irritation and make you believe you can wear contacts longer again." Beliveing I can wear contacts again runs the risk of the little plastic slowly starving the cornea of oxygen and veins growing into the center of the cornea causing blidnness. The people who have had LASIK or any vision corrective surgery have said that one of the problems / side effect is "dry eye syndrome."
My opthamalogist says that even with my astigamitsm and cornea neo vasularization, I'm still a candidate for LASIK, but my eyes would have to be "measured." Honestly my faith in eye doctors is at an all time low, it's akin to dermatologists treating skin cancer and also severe acne. He's top notch, but for a LASIK consul, he charges $300 (I thought all cosmetic procedure doctors had a free consulation? Maybe things have changed.


My mom and her sister had Cataracts at 75 years old and the surgery corrected their nearsightness. Maybe I'm genetically predisposed to cataracts, too. Cataracts may be in my future. Here's something interesting, what someone in the reddit group on Cataracts has mentioned and so have others, saying I should avoid it and just wait until the time comes for cataracts. Quote: "Yes, my recommendation would be to avoid Lasik. Lasik messes up the surface of the cornea making it hard to measure the eye dimensions when it comes time to do cataract surgery. This can lead to refraction errors. I would suggest just waiting until the time comes to do the cataract surgery" (end quote).

I'm 53 so 75 is 22 years of wearing eyeglasses. I abhor them since I was bullied at a young impressionable age. Others in a FB group have said Contact lens wear leads to "Gland Loss" such as....Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a common eye condition, yet many people don't realize they have it. You get it when there's a problem with a few dozen tiny glands in your eyelids that help make the oil layer of your tears.

To be honest, I am super depressed. In self defense, as a man, glasses are a big Liability...One can't really take off their super expensive glasses and defend themselves against a violent psychotic homeless crystal meth or pcp drug addict. I live in Southern California, we take care of our appearance a bit more and are vain. I don't like sweat on them. LASIK will be a last resort. But honestly am very depressed. Thank you sooo much for your help. I've also ordered the disposable warming masks. I hope they help me further. Your knowledge and ideas have given me a glimmer of hope. The best thing I can do is keep a log and do research. I refuse to be powerless over this.