Another plug bites the dust!

[LasikLady]

Well, a few days ago I noticed my left eye, the drippy one, suddenly stopped dripping. This happened to my right eye too about a year ago. As with the right, I can see the bottom plug so I am assuming my upper plug went...somewhere? I have to say, I am loving the no drip and so far my eye feels drier of course but no pain at all. Pretty much like my right eye, sometimes the eye feels a bit dry and sometimes really good, almost normal. So all in all, I think I am glad about the plug going bye-bye.

But...where did it go? Do I need to worry that it will migrate up into my brain? The right one never has caused me any trouble at all. I don't think these plugs fell out because both times I went from weepy to not weepy in one afternoon. I never felt them come out through my mouth or nose or anything.

I am happy that I still have 0 pain. I do have the dryness here and there but no pain. I still of course need my panoptyx in air con and such, that will probably always be the case.

Should I worry about where these plugs have gone?

[djb]

If the plug traveled inward in the canal, it probably made its way to the back of your throat and into your stomach. No worry...I ate a few plugs before going to cauterization. They weren't very filling! Your doctor can squirt some saline solution in your punctal opening and if you get a salty taste in the back of your throat, your canal is open. There are probably other ways to check, this is just one way a doctor checked me.

[LasikLady]

If it went down my throat, wouldn't I have felt that? This sudden loss of weeping happened suddenly in the afternoon.

[djb]

I never felt any of the plugs when they traveled inward...my only sign that they were gone was the quantity of tears diminished significantly. I have to be plugged up/cauterized in order to see and have relief from severe dry eye.

[mary kenny badami]

Years ago, fearing that I might have a sinus infection, I was taking the trouble to check the tissue after a sneeze before throwing it away, just to be sure that the gunk from my nose was clear in color. And there was this tiny distinctively-shaped piece of plastic which I had apparently expelled from my eye (or which perhaps had made its way out through my nose?) !

I seem to have lost one other plug some time ago as well, without ever discovering where it went . . . did your doctor show you how tiny yours were? Mine were not much longer than, and far thinner than, a single grain of rice. I imagine that such a size/shape of plug could have been swallowed without any particular sensation, just washed away along with my saliva.

[indrep]

Lasik lady,
If the plugs were the kind that are visible, not intracanalicular, the odds of the plug going internal are very slim. The plug probably fell out in your sleep or when cleaning your eyes. It is most likely in your bed or down the sink or shower drain. Like someone els mentioned if your plugs go internal they most likely make it to your nasal passage then down the throst to the stomach, from thei it goes down another drain.

Either way nothing to worry about.

[shells]

I have lost many of the plugs with the cap on them, and they probably just fell out like Indrep mentioned. Once for sure though, I know they ended up in my lacrimal system because my inexperienced doctor pushed them down there when I complained of them scratching my eye. I had my tear ducts flushed to make sure they were out, which they were, but never felt them exiting. Those things are so tiny!

-Shells

[LasikLady]

These were intracanicular in the top, no caps. I'm no longer worried about it as it's been a few days and I feel okay.

I am happy to have the weeping gone as well, especially as flu season starts because I was very bad about not wiping the tears with my hands.

So far, I have a bit of dryness here and there, and am still using my goggles etc when I need to, but I am really liking not having the weeping. The dryness is very mild and managable.

Knock on wood, I hope this continues. This is the best I have felt since my lasik. I keep praying I will be like some of Dr. Latkany's patients who resolve even at 5 years. I am 3 years this month. My husband constantly reminds me of how far I've come.

I would like to continue to encourage all you new lasik patients to not give up hope. I was miserable in the beginning and now am feeling SO much better. Sure it took a long time, but it was worth it. I look forward to even additional healing as I eventually reach that 5 year mark.

LL