Prevent Tears From Draining Away With Punctal Plugs

Treatments for dry eye fall into two camps. The first camp is to produce more tears. This is how medications for dry eye work. Restasis and Xiidra combat inflammation on the surface of the eye to allow the eye to produce more tears. The other way to treat try eye is to allow the tears that are produced to stay longer on the eye.

Tears leave the eye in one of two ways. The first way is that tears can evaporate away from the surface of the eye. Omega-3’s and fish oil help to prevent tears from evaporating away too quickly. Tears also leave the eye through tiny little drains at the corner of the eyelids called punctum. (Side note: it is these same punctum that can actually cause you to taste certain eyedrops in the back of your throat) What if tears didn’t have to drain out the punctum and could stay on the eye longer instead? What a cool idea! This is the basis behind punctal plugs.

A punctal plug is something that goes into the punctum to prevent tears from draining out of the eye. Because the tears don’t drain out of the eye as quick, they stay longer on the surface and help treat dry eye. There are a few different types of punctal plugs. There are some that are temporary and dissolve over time. There are some which are permanent and last forever (but occasionally they may fall out on their own). Either type of punctal plug, however, can be placed pretty easily and comfortably.

Are punctal plugs the best option for you? Maybe. Perhaps they can help get you off of some dry eye treatments. Perhaps punctal plugs may fix everything for you. But either way, it’s always good having may different ways to help get dry eyes feeling comfortable.

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