Eye doctors that specialize in TMS?

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone has encountered/knows of any optometrists or ophthalmologists that specialize in (or at least know about) TMS? I have been struggling with incredibly challenging eye pain (including severe dry eyes and chronic inflammation) ever since I got PRK vision correction surgery about four years ago. I am finally pursuing help from ophthalmologists (it took me so long because I was so ashamed about experiencing pain as a result of a medically-unnecessary surgery), but so far nothing has helped.

I'm interested in seeing an eye doctor that specializes in TMS because I think elements of my eye pain are implicative of TMS, but I haven't gone far enough down the medical route to rule out something structural. (Or maybe I have, I don't know?) Maybe a general physician that specializes in TMS could help, but it would be great to see someone with specific knowledge of eye conditions.

Thank you so much for any leads.

 

I know this is an older thread, but I will reply here. I have eye problems, too, but not from a surgery source. Please don't feel ashamed about it because tons of people have that surgery, and all you were trying to do is make life a little easier. That's nothing to be ashamed of.
A regular opthalmologist who can work with dry eye and eye pain should be fine for you to treat this. When they look in your eyes, do they see inflammation and signs of dry eye or are you just feeling this as a subjective experience? I believe this should all be healed four years after the surgery, but I'm no expert, so I'd follow what the docs are saying. I also believe that TMS-type issues can affect the eyes, but I'm too new to this approach to say for sure. Most of us have had the experience of being quite nervous - like in a job interview or while presenting to a large group - and noticing how dry our mouths get. I believe that stress can affect the eyes in the same way, but I can't say for certain if stress is contributing to my severely dry eyes.
Currently, I'm using three types of drops and trying to rest my eyes during screen time. I also do regular treatments of intense pulsed light therapy. My opthalmologist still really isn't happy with what he's seeing with my eyes so we're going to step up to plasma rich platelet therapy to try to heal the inflammation.
I have some fears now and again that I won't be able to work anymore due to eye pain or that I'll lose my eyesight, but my body's been in pain for a long time and I've had some initial success with the TMS approach.
All the best...

 

Thank you for your response! I appreciate you saying there's nothing to be ashamed of in regards to post-surgery eye pain. I have struggled a lot with feeling ashamed about it, but maybe I would have experienced all of these dry eye symptoms even if I hadn't gotten the surgery. My eye doctor sees inflammation and signs of dry eye, definitely, but we haven't been able to come up with anything that has helped my symptoms in any meaningful way. I think I genuinely have dry eye, but TMS might be making all of my symptoms a lot worse (I have a classic TMS personality). I've tried one Lipiflow treatment that didn't really do anything, but I think I'd like to try intense pulsed light therapy next. I haven't heard of plasma rich platelet therapy, I hope it helps! I'm also worried about how I'll be able to keep working in the future with all of this eye pain. Sometimes I get really down about it, but I'm trying to keep my hopes up through TMS work and through working with eye doctors. I hope you can find some relief for this unpleasant condition!

 

I'm sorry you're suffering with this. My eye problems just happened as I aged and I live in a very dry climate at a high elevation which means the air can't hold as much moisture. I, too, am hopeful that working on my TMS-driven issues will help my eyes because I've really noticed how dry my mouth gets when I have to speak in front of a large group. This happens even when I don't feel very nervous, but I guess that's the modus operandi of TMS - instead of feeling an emotion, your body produces physical symptoms (how crazy is that?!!). The IPL only works if you have dysfunction of some kind of glands in your eyelids that produce lubricant for the eyes. PRP is now widely used for healing different conditions and injuries. I had it done for a tendon tear and it worked very well but my opthalmologist's office still doesn't have the necessary equipment to make the eye drops. Basically, they draw blood from you, put it in a machine to separate the plasma (healing cells) out and then create an eye drop out of your own plasma cells. Apparently it helps your inflammation to heal.
I hope you've had some improvement with using this approach for body pain or any other symptoms you have. I'm working my way through the program in Unlearn Your Pain and have had some noticeable results after 7 or 8 weeks. I don't know how long it will take to get a lot of relief, and frankly, I don't really care because I know this approach is right for me. Approaching my joint pain with physical treatments has been less and less fruitful over time so I believe it's time for something completely different, and the science behind TMS makes a lot of sense to me.

 

Thank you for your kind words. My mouth also gets dry whenever I'm nervous or speaking in front of a group, but it usually goes away whenever the nerve-inducing event is over. My dry eye symptoms almost never go away though! I was noticing some improvement when I first learned about a TMS approach, but I kind of fell off the wagon. I had been listening to Nicole Sachs' podcast and journalling everyday. I need to pick that up again because my symptoms have been crazy lately. Maybe I will try the Unlearn Your Pain program! The science behind TMS makes a lot of sense to me too, I just need to keep the faith. I wish you all the best with your TMS journey, I think it is an approach with no downsides!