Dry Eyes

1 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:18.556 Dry Eye is probably the most underrated ocular surface disease 2 00:00:18.557 --> 00:00:19.871 that patients suffer from. 3 00:00:20.040 --> 00:00:21.970 Some of our patients put up with it, 4 00:00:21.971 --> 00:00:25.325 but essentially it's what we call a multifactorial disease 5 00:00:25.326 --> 00:00:28.200 that affects the surface of the front part of the eye. 6 00:00:28.230 --> 00:00:30.571 There are varying symptoms all the way from 7 00:00:30.671 --> 00:00:34.543 a dry, scratchy, sandy feeling into the eye 8 00:00:34.544 --> 00:00:37.203 to an eye that's excessively watering 9 00:00:37.257 --> 00:00:40.271 where patients are feeling like their eyes are tearing up all the time. 10 00:00:40.450 --> 00:00:44.300 Certain elements of redness and even blurry vision can manifest 11 00:00:44.330 --> 00:00:47.860 as a result of, again, different varying degrees of dry eye. 12 00:00:47.890 --> 00:00:51.500 In our dry eye center of excellence, when we are counseling patients 13 00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:56.480 for their dry eye disease, we will evaluate the patient's glands. 14 00:00:56.480 --> 00:00:59.358 There are about 20 of these glands in the lower eyelid 15 00:00:59.558 --> 00:01:03.420 that serve to function to create the enzymes and antibodies 16 00:01:03.450 --> 00:01:07.740 that we need to prevent not only dryness, allergy, and infection, 17 00:01:07.770 --> 00:01:13.643 but create a sense of lubricity for those 14,000 blinks that we do every day. 18 00:01:13.786 --> 00:01:17.490 So without that glide of the eyelid over the ocular surface, 19 00:01:17.690 --> 00:01:18.930 we tend to get friction. 20 00:01:18.960 --> 00:01:24.780 So the eyelid is now rubbing on the eye, which creates an element of inflammation. 21 00:01:24.810 --> 00:01:26.720 That's where the redness comes from, 22 00:01:26.750 --> 00:01:30.560 the scratchy, dry, sandy feeling in the eye as well.