So 6 years ago, I dumbly scratched my eye when I removed my contact lenses.. That was the start of my long term nightmare.
My eye kept tearing non stop and it was so damn pain. Any exposure to light felt like it was being stabbed. I had to wear sunglasses and cap even at night -.-" It was just so unbearable. Strictly no TV, computer & handphone because my eye just can't take the light from these devices.
It took 5 excruciating days to heal but the attacks kept coming back. Also, I couldn't wear contact lens again! That was devastating news to me. :'( I had to take my exams wearing sunglasses and a cap with a ball of tissue stuffed below my eye to absorb the never-ending tears. Stupid prof did not allow me to carry forward the 60% share of project work to the next semester/defer my exam. Must have looked pretty hilarious in the exam hall then.
My parents brought me to an Ophthalmologist at Gleneagles Hospital (lvl 6). But after seeing this specialist regularly for about 1 year, giving me the same old tear drops to apply, the attacks kept coming back. It was super costly, useless and really disheartening.
During another one of the attacks, we decided to see Dr Chua Ee Chek instead. He explained that my condition is recurrent and that eye drops will not solve the root of the problem. He immediately arranged for a surgery called Laser phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) the following day. Taken from Wiki: Laser PTK involves the surgical laser treatment of the cornea to selectively ablate cells on the surface layer of the cornea. It is thought that the natural regrowth of cells in the following days are better able to attach to the basement membrane to prevent recurrence of the condition. Laser PTK has been found to be most effective after epithelial debridement for the partial ablation of Bowman's lamella,[7] which performed prior to PTK in the surgical procedure. This is meant to smoothen out the corneal area that the laser PTK will then treat.
After resting for about 7 days with a protective contact lens and regularly putting Hialid 0.1 eyedrops available from watsons, I never had another attack again since 2012. Still, I was not allowed to wear contact lens and Lasik wasn't suitable also. :/ However, Dr Chua finally gave me the green light to wear contact lens again in 2016! I was desperate as I didn't want to be a bespectacled bride.
I only use Silicone hydrogel contact lenses (1-DAY ACUVUE TruEye) which provides better comfort for my injured eye. Since it does not dry up as much as the normal lenses, it also reduces the risk of tearing my corneal epithelium upon removal . Think it is good practice to wet your eyes and gently move the lenses prior to removing them.
My cousin recently "kena" the same painful condition because of a paper cut to his eye. Hence, thought that I should share my painful experience here. Hope this helps!
P.S. TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR EYES.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurrent_corneal_erosion
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