I was diagnosed by both my GP and Optician, as having dry eye (just one of my eyes was causing me problems). I used eye drops for about 3 years. When the problem became worse I decided to pay and saw an eye specialist. He said upon looking at the eye that he didn't think it was dry eye, but a blocked tear duct. He confirmed this after carrying out a procedure (from memory, I think he put saline drops in the duct and asked if I could taste salt; I couldn't, so this proved that the duct was blocked). I was then referred to an ear, nose and throat specialist, as the operation I needed was performed through the nose. Apparently my nasal bone was slightly bent, and it needed to be shaved in order for the specialist to access the tear duct. I had the operation under general anaesthetic and had a stent inserted. There was no pain, no bruising and the stent caused me no trouble. It was removed after a few weeks (I think it was 12). I did get an infection after about 2 weeks, but was given antibiotics which sorted it out. The surgeon obviously did a really good job; I have had no trouble with the eye since.