Red eyes what to do?

[Long Dong]

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Ok I'm an older nontraditional resident my eyes get really red when I've had less then 6 hours of sleep. I remember back in med school my professors thought I had a drinking problem because I came to pbl with red eyes and was always sleepy. I only drink about once or twice a month at the most only on weekends when I'm back in my hometown. I'm afraid people are looking at my eyes when I'm working and thinking I have some sort of problem because my eyes are extremely red sometimes. What can I do?

 

[asmallchild]

Visine eye drops!

 

[MR1]

First off, the usual I know SDN isn't a place for medical advice

Don't use visine "gets the red out", it'll cause rebound redness.
You probably just have dry eyes, get lubricating eye drops and use them. If this doesn't work, go see one of us. Could be multiple minor issues making your eyes red and there are many options available.

 

[speyeder]

Do you wear contacts?
I was going to say the same things MR1 said. Don't use visine. Not good for your eyes and it causes rebound hyperemia. Also agree with using artificial tears. You may have underlying dry eyes that are exacerbated with lack of sleep. Why aren't you getting enough sleep anyway? Are you getting paged in the wee hours of the night in derm? 😉

 

[Long Dong]

Visine eye drops!

Tried it and yeah got rebound after.

First off, the usual I know SDN isn't a place for medical advice

Don't use visine "gets the red out", it'll cause rebound redness.
You probably just have dry eyes, get lubricating eye drops and use them. If this doesn't work, go see one of us. Could be multiple minor issues making your eyes red and there are many options available.

Tried lubricating drops helps a little.

Do you wear contacts?
I was going to say the same things MR1 said. Don't use visine. Not good for your eyes and it causes rebound hyperemia. Also agree with using artificial tears. You may have underlying dry eyes that are exacerbated with lack of sleep. Why aren't you getting enough sleep anyway? Are you getting paged in the wee hours of the night in derm? 😉

I got lasik before I went to med school and noticed my eyes are more red since then not sure if this is a cause or is it just old age I'm over 30. Not getting enough sleep because of too many pages by the ED to r/o TEN (j/k). I've got sleeping problems where I can go to sleep but just end up waking up like 5 hours later and not able to fall back asleep until, you guessed it, time to get up and go to work. My eyes are extremely red just wanted some tips from you guys. If it starts to bother me I'll make an appointment to see one of you guys at my hospital.

 

[MR1]

LASIK is the reason probably, alot of people have dryness problems after this. Have you tried putting in an ointment like lacrilube before you go to sleep. Have you tried using the tears like q2hr (I know not great option). Start taking omega-3 fatty acids, they can help (not quick fix). Lastly if you have some blepharitis going on, try warm compresses twice a day

 

[vector2]

Will using naphazoline eye drops only once a day cause rebound hyperemia?

 

[jefguth]

Will using naphazoline eye drops only once a day cause rebound hyperemia?

yes