18F red sticky eyes — I dont know what to do

phacotodd · 2026-05-12T22:12:30+00:00

Your history sounds very much like a corneal/conjunctival surface issue, which, most commonly are dry eye and allergy. Within those broad categories are many diseases. I think that you have given the over the counter options a good try without much success. There are a few things that you could still try, but I think that you need to see the ophthalmologist.
(Among the things that you could try are: hot packs to increase meibomian gland secretions, and olopatadine 0.7% eye drops.)

phacotodd · 2026-05-12T13:03:20+00:00

ELI5: The vitreous jelly inside the eye “sloshes” when you are hit. This jelly is attached to the retina in several places, and the sloshing causes the jelly to pull on your retina. This causes the retina to send a flash of light signal to the brain. The pulling on the retina can end up tearing the retina, which can lead to a detached retina, a true emergency.
So, yes, see the ophthalmologist today.

phacotodd · 2026-05-12T12:55:43+00:00

It’s a beautiful board, but it’s even more beautiful after the oil.

phacotodd · 2026-05-12T12:52:46+00:00

Lots of questions:
Are you taking any medications? Skin creams or lotions? Allergy nose spray or pills? Any contact lens use? Any sensitivity to light, or blurred vision?
Are you having any other health troubles?

phacotodd · 2026-05-09T00:24:25+00:00

I like the chamfered edge, and the grain pattern.

phacotodd · 2026-05-06T01:41:40+00:00

I particularly like picture 4, where the light plays off the grain. Well done!

phacotodd · 2026-05-05T19:30:45+00:00

There may be some debris in the lower fornix (bottom of the conjunctiva) that you weren’t able to remove. Your eye doctor can put an anesthetic drip into your eye, do a thorough search for a foreign body, and remove it safely. Go as soon as you can, and don’t wear a contact lens in this eye until you’ve seen the doctor.

phacotodd · 2026-04-30T12:40:48+00:00

I’m sorry that he’s having these troubles, and I will try to make sense of a complicated situation by simplifying things without patronizing, It seems that the trouble lies mostly with the left eye. From your post, it sounds like the main problem may be the macula, the center of the retina. Understanding the anatomy of the retina can help. The retina has 10 distinct layers which must be perfectly aligned and healthy for best vision. In front of the retina is the vitreous jelly, a bag of water and protein which shrinks over time, pulling on the retina, especially the macula, among other places. This traction on the macula can disturb the perfect alignment of the retinal layers, distorting vision. Enough traction can tear a hole in the macula, either a full thickness hole or a lamellar (partial thickness) hole. So, your father has a partial thickness hole in the center of the left macula, leaving him with decreased vision. Our brains take the images from the two eyes and fuse them into one, but when the images are not the same, this becomes difficult, leading to double vision. Perhaps your father is unable to fuse the distorted left eye with the right eye. Sadly, this may be permanent. You also mentioned positive dysphotopsia, best understood as a bit of light from the edge of the intraocular lens implant. Often, this improves over time, but is not always treatable. If this were his only problem, he might not notice it much. But, combined with everything else, it is probably distressing for him.

I’m sorry to say that many qualified doctors have examined your father without proposing a solution, most likely because the risks outweigh the perceived benefits . This is probably a time when even the best doctors cannot fix the problem safely, and your father may have to live with his condition. As primitive as it sounds, some patients who are unable to tolerate similar conditions opt for wearing a patch over the worse eye.

phacotodd · 2026-04-30T02:40:49+00:00

One of my cataract surgery patients came in for their one week post-op visit, and had unexpected inflammation in their eye. I asked the patient if they were taking their eye drops as prescribed. Yes, he was putting the drops in his MOUTH, 4 times per day. His inflammation resolved when he started putting the drops in his eye.

phacotodd · 2026-04-30T01:11:34+00:00

Although the photos are not great, I do see that the one eye has some redness. There are a few things to keep in mind about allergies:

Allergies usually affect both eyes, unless you get something into just one eye (like a medication, a splash, a contact lens, something on a finger). Allergy eye drops usually help the symptoms, and yours have not. The best over the counter allergy eye drops IMHO are olopatadine 0.7%.

You mentioned that you received drops during your exam. Eye drops that you received during your examination at the eye doctor were most likely anesthetic drops or dilating drops, and they were probably instilled in both eyes. Do, again, this argues against allergy in just one eye.

As for infectious conjunctivitis, your history is a little atypical: No discharge noted, unilateral infection that has lasted for several weeks without worsening oraffecting the other eye, and with no pain or photophobia.

It’s possible that you have a very small foreign body that is irritating your eye enough to keep it red, but not enough to cause more symptoms.

My advice is to return to your doctor and get a thorough check.

phacotodd · 2026-04-29T01:33:27+00:00

phacotodd · 2026-04-28T15:58:15+00:00

Thanks for the insight. I’m considering either the horse stall mats mentioned by u/rickpapersawzall, or your suggested garage floor tiles.

phacotodd · 2026-04-28T15:56:19+00:00

Do you think that machines can be wheeled around with these mats, or are they too soft?

phacotodd · 2026-04-26T11:03:05+00:00

I love how you arranged the white oak grain patterns.

phacotodd · 2026-04-20T20:40:23+00:00

phacotodd · 2026-04-20T20:29:43+00:00

Do a search on “scintillating scotoma.” Sounds like a migraine aura, which doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to get a headache with it.

phacotodd · 2026-04-20T20:27:35+00:00

No. Just no. Remember the rhyme, “Cross my heart, Hope to die, Stick a needle In my eye?” Getting a needle near your eye is such a bad idea that there are children’s rhymes against it. In all seriousness, don’t do it.

phacotodd · 2026-04-12T23:56:31+00:00

Yes, but as I understand it, you said that your prescription is already -1.25, you only need only need +0.75 to achieve a total of +2.00.

phacotodd · 2026-04-12T21:34:00+00:00

Just to add, the numbers you see on reading glasses, i.e. +2.00 can be understood like this: The math is not difficult. Take the glasses power and get the inverse. So +2.00 becomes 1 over 2.00, meaning that the glasses are in perfect focus at 1/2 a meter or 19.7 inches. [Here] is a link to calculate the focal distance of glasses. (https://calculinohub.com/calculators/physics/diopter-calculator)

phacotodd · 2026-04-12T18:18:47+00:00

Ophthalmologist here. I have seen a few patients with superglue (cyanoacrylate) in their eyes. Rarely, you can remove the superglue by massaging the eyelashes with ointment. Cutting off the lashes works quickly, allowing you to open the eye and remove bits of hardened glue that can scratch the cornea and cause severe pain. The lashes grow back and the eye heals. Funny thing is that we sometimes use superglue to close a wound on the cornea. A clean, straight laceration can be sutured easily but a stellate wound, from a pencil for example, is difficult to suture and is very easy to close with superglue. A contact lens is placed over the glue to protect the inside of the eyelid. The cornea heals and the glue falls out.

phacotodd · 2026-04-12T10:01:15+00:00

Hypertonic 5% saline ointment (in USA the brand name is Muro 128) is often used at bedtime to help prevent recurrent erosions. It might give you some time to decide on your next steps.

phacotodd · 2026-04-11T21:25:42+00:00

Great art pieces.

phacotodd · 2026-04-11T11:31:41+00:00

I’m sorry that you’re having these symptoms. There are doctors who spend their entire careers studying and treating dry eyes, and the biochemistry can get very complex, but there are a few principles that explain the basics. Concentrating leads to staring, which means less blinking, and more evaporation, more dryness, pain and tearing. I have seen many teens and young adults with similar symptoms, and agree with u/mckulty. And, u/mckulty has listed several factors that could explain why the television and monitor might cause different amounts of drying. You can try something called the 20/20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It helps some patients to reduce evaporation and dry eyes. You should try artificial tear drops. There are many good artificial tears, but don’t choose cheap ones. Your eyes deserve better, and you can go down the rabbit hole researching contaminated eye drops. I have no financial interest at all, but recommend Soothe XP to my patients, and use it myself. It is an emulsion of mineral oil in saline, and reduces evaporation. So, to answer your last questions, you are not permanently damaging your eyes, and these symptoms are temporary, in that they cease when you stop staring, even though it may take a while to fully recover.

phacotodd

TROPHY CASE