My Dry Eye Story

I’ve been wanting to share my dry eye disease (DED) struggle in case there’s anyone that might be struggling with the same issues I’ve had the last 16 years. Warning this will be long! First, a disclaimer that I am not claiming to be any sort of dry eye specialist or expert but I can share is what the last 15 years have been like for my eyes.

In my teens and twenties I used to go in the tanning bed a couple times a week without goggles on like an idiot not thinking it was harmful but I soooo regret doing that to myself! I started to develop Pterygiums in both eyes (see google photo) that became very red and irritated to which I eventually saw an ophthalmologist for and had them surgically removed in 2016 and 2018. Since the surgeries my eyes were visually better looking but it caused my DED. My eyes have felt like sand paper, gritty, red, watery, and sensitive to light for awhile now. So if you see Im blinking a lot, wearing sunglasses or my eyes are red it’s not that ive been on a all night bender 🤣 it’s that my eyes probably feel like I have sand in them.

I started to seek out ophthalmologists for my eyes which got worse after the birth of my first child. In 2012, I was asked to be on the Drs Tv show by my ophthalmologist at the time @drboxerwachler and we tried out testosterone cream which unfortunately I had a hard time staying consistent with ( I can’t remember to take daily vitamins either) so unfortunately did not see any improvement. Dr BW was pretty far away for me to consistent drive back for appointments so I started looking for ones closer to where I lived and most optometrists and ophthalmologists seemed unmotivated and unwilling to dive deeper to help me out. Most of the drs I’ve encountered don’t take dry eyes seriously. Punctual plugs have been tried numerous times with no luck, my current ophthalmologist at the UCLA Jules Stein institute says I have enlarged tear ducts so plugs just fall right out.

Currently, I’ve started researching case studies on Intense Pulse Light IPL (another reason to love IPL), red light therapy and eye makeup ingredients to try and get ahold of this. As far as eye drops, I love the Thealoz Duo drops, I get them on Amazon. I can’t use a humidifier at night because the humidifier burps and wakes me up 😂. I’ve tried multiple kinds they are not silent even though they claim to be! I’ve been doing IPL treatments monthly on my full face but not eyelids.

Lumenis @lumenis has a new Optilight IPL specifically for dry eye patients. I just found this recent article about red light helping with dry eye but it sounds like the subjects wore intra ocular shields so I’m not sure I’ll be doing that 😌. Intra ocular eye shields just sound like a dry eye patients worst nightmare although eye drs have stated they are safe. We used to put them in on patients that had Thermage Radio Frequency treatments and anything going inside my eye does not look like it would be something I would enjoy, even if its numbed. I’ve also been paying more attention to the products I’m using on my eyes. I just found out that Neutrogena Eye Makeup remover that I’ve been using for DECADES has Benzalkonium Chloride (BAK) which has been listed in studies as harmful to the eyes and worsens dry eye.

I’d like to end my story by asking you to please be kind when you see someone with reddened eyes, we know our eyes are red, alot of us are very self conscious about it. No we are not high or drunk. If you have success with your dry eye or just want to reach out to talk about treatments you are trying i would love to hear from you!

- Sincerely, Marisa