Eye Redness

[mailtosomu]

Hi,
My Mother had undergone AN surgery on Oct-9th,2007. Post operation, for about 2 months, she never had redness in the eye. Infact, during this time, tear generation was not there and that side of the face was not moving good. Since a month, tear generation had started developing & her face movements also improved. However, since a month, we started noticing that her eye is turning RED sometimes (To our knowledge, no dust particle went into the eye. She uses glasses all the times). She is using Genteal, Lacrigel, Refresh drops. Per day, around 6-7 times, she is using the drops. Her eye closure is not 100%. However, 75% of her eye will be closed automatically when she tries to close the eye. She gently pulls the remaining 25% with her fingure. We have constantly monitored her eye closeness while sleeping. We have noticed that eye closes 100% when she sleeps. Regarding the blinking of the eye, prior to 2 months, it was almost nill. Couldn't notice any kind of blinking effort at all. Fortunately, since a month, atleast the eye attempts to blink (Though it can't blink completely). I could feel the improvement. This is the condition of her eye.

I would like to know why the redness had started later & particularly at the time when the tear generation started improving. Did anyone gone through the same phase ?
What is the probability of this redness to go completely ? When does the facial nerve starts functioning 100% again ? Anyone had this +ve experience of completley getting rid of this problem ? I would like to see my mother blinking her eye properly (100%)...

Your kind response will be highly appreciated. I wish all the AN patients a speedy recovery & I pray to God that no one should experience such problems in future.

Regards,
Soms.

[nancyann]

Hello Soms:  Do you know if her eye turns red after she shampoos/showers?  That's what happens to me.  My eye doesn't blink at all unless
I hold the blink, & then not 100%.
I'm glad she's using drops (& good ones).  Because I don't blink (even though I have tears), I use lubricant exclusively.   
Some folks use lubricant only at bedtime.

I would suggest having her see an optomologist, just to check it out.    The problem we (without blink) worry about is cornea issues.
She may not be producing enough tears,  who knows.....    I'd have the optomologist check this out.
I personally see my optomologist routinely to keep a check on my cornea.

Best wishes,   Nancy

[Jeanlea]

I agree with NancyAnn.  I'd schedule an appointment with an opthalmologist.  He/she can rule out any infections in the eye.  My eye gets red from time to time.  I have had infections, but other times the redness is caused by not enough lubrication in my eye.  Putting in ointment would usually clear it up.  I've also found that using certain eye lubricants causes my eye to turn red.  Preservative free types seem to be the best.  Maybe your mom's tears are washing out the lubricants she puts in them.  I know I didn't give you any answers, but many things to think about.

Jean

[Joef]

Yes.. more and more drops... look into getting an eye weight to help with the eye close.. and keep up those drops...

get Laci-lube or something heavier will help...its makes vision blurry.... but when sleeping who cares 

[chrissmom]

I agree with everyone else..please see an Opthalmologist.  Chris had bouts of what we thought was "pink eye" and it turned out to be cornea irritation from the dryness.  It's good that you are using eyedrops for moisture.

[mailtosomu]

Thanks to all for your replies. I am sorry for the late response. I couldn't reply to you since long time.
Nancy, to answer your question: NO. Her eye doesn't turn red after shampoo/shower. She is taking enough eye care during shower. Problem is: Randomly, her eye is turning red. We couldn't find any pattern. Initially, thought some dust particles entering the eye & causing this problem. She is always protecting her eye with sun glasses which covers her eye almost full.
We met opthalmologist. Dr. mentioned that no infection in the eye & asked us to use the lubricants continuously. But, couldn't give the answer like, why this problem started after 2 months of surgery and particularly when the tear generation started ;;-)

May be, I am repeating the question. Does anyone having good experience of coming out of this eye problem & facial palsy after some time ? Say after 6 months ? I want to listen to their good experiences. It will be helpful for me to understand the pattern, etc. Our Doctor told that it could take around 6 months for the facial nerve to function normally. My Mother's surgery was done 4 months back. I am very curious to know if we can see 100% improvement in another 2 to 3 months.

Thank you,
Soms.

[Kaybo]

Soms~
It is so great that you are taking such great care of your mother and sounds like you are really monitoring her progress well.  Unfortunately, there are no guarantees with an AN -- no set time frames or rules.  Hopefully, she will recover 100%, but I do think that you have to be prepared for it if it is less than that.  Remember, she is still the wonderful mother that you have always had!!  )  I will say that the way the opto. explained it to me was that even though it APPEARS to be closing all the way, it may not be getting ENOUGH tears/lubrication each time her eyelids blinks.  He used the analogy of a windshiedl wiper (kind of in reverse, though - instead of drying the window off, think getting it wet) -- going down and then getting enough fluid to cover the ENTIRE surface of her eye on the way back up.  I don't know if that is what is happening with her, but that happens with me.
Hope this helps in some way.
Kay