PDA

View Full Version : Chemical Keratitis/Ocular "Leaching" from Overuse of Drops



Eli
28-Jan-2007, 23:28
Dr. Latkany,
During some online research I came across a new concept (to me) that I thought was interesting. I know from earlier posts that you feel the frequent use of artificial tears can "train" the eye to produce less of it's own. However, the concept I came across called "chemical keratitis" was said to occur from frequent use of eye drops. I know a lot of us use drops quite often, so I was a little concerned.
"...Occasionally some patients reported stinging and lack of progress. Most of these cases the cause was found to be chemical keratitis due to over-frequent use (dosing) of artificial tears. In such cases better results were later obtained when other drops and ointments were discontinued and the Aqueous Pharma drops were used at least for two weeks. Some members had to be warned about not using eye drops too frequently as that can lead to ocular surface leaching." taken from http://www.dry-eye-institute.org/lectures.htm
Do you have any comments on this?
Thank you

Robert Latkany MD
29-Jan-2007, 17:24
The chemical keratitis that I am aware of is something called toxic medicamentosa. In other words, too much chemical or preservative can damage the ocular surface and I have seen many cases of this. So that is why if you need to use tears you are better off using preservative free tears. But I have always been fan of finding a solution to dry eyes with something other than numerous artificial tears per day. These do not address the source of the problem so very rarely will you find any lasting relief.

Dr L