Is a gritty or stitch feeling normal after trabeculectomy?

What's normal

Trabeculectomy puts sutures in the conjunctiva on the surface of the eye and in the scleral flap underneath. EyeWiki describes surgeons controlling pressure afterward by releasing those flap sutures, either with laser suture lysis or by removing releasable sutures, and BrightFocus Foundation describes sutures sometimes cut in the office with a laser. Until those knots are gone, the eyelid rubs across them with every blink, which feels gritty or like something is in the eye.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology says the medicines prescribed after surgery help with discomfort as well as infection and scarring. The feeling usually rises and falls rather than fading smoothly, because each suture removal changes the surface again.

Usually strongest in the first 2 weeks, with flare ups after each suture adjustment, settling over the first 1 to 2 months.

When it stops being normal

Gritty is normal. Real pain is not. The American Academy of Ophthalmology says to contact your doctor immediately if the eye is red or painful. EyeWiki lists pain, light sensitivity, discharge, and conjunctival redness as sudden onset features of bleb associated infection.

Also call if you can see or feel a loose suture end scratching, if the eye suddenly starts watering much more than before, or if the grittiness comes with a drop in vision.