We had a very lovely young lady kindly referred to us from Dr. Wellish!
This patient suffers from extreme dry eye syndrome. She had LASIK eye surgery performed years ago, and she did quite well until having children. She explained to me that her eyes became very dry, painful and uncomfortable after having kids. This could be due to a fluctuation in hormone levels.
Patients who undergo LASIK eye surgery can also be at risk for neurotrophic keratitis, a condition in which the corneal nerves become desensitized and thus causes more corneal issues such as severe dry eye and non-healing defects.
Despite multiple treatments including prescription eye drops, lacrisert, punctal plugs, artificial tears, gels, and Lipiflow, she still remains uncomfortable. Currently, she uses Cequa twice per day, refresh tears every hour or two hours, Celluvisc every 3-4 hours, autologous serum tears twice per day, Lacrisert every week, and gel at night.
She complains that her eyes are very dry and uncomfortable, especially when reading or looking at the computer.
After reviewing all options, we decided to perform sMap 3D imaging to take a 3D scan of her eyes. This information will be used to create a custom scleral lens called the Latitude. Hopefully, the lens will provide a barrier for her eye and the outside environment to provide her some relief. The bowl of the scleral lens is also filled with non-preserved saline, which should also help improve her eye comfort and staining.
I also added Regener-Eyes and Eyesuvis to her current eye care regimen to see if those eye drops can offer any additional relief.
Looking forward to her dispense!
