Are dry eyes always red and bloodshot?

[southhavenjen]

Its hard to tell if my eyes are red or not, as strange as that may sound. Inside my own home with natural light or incandescent lighting my eyes do not appear bloodshot and actually look somewhat healthy. However if I were to walk into a grocery store or sporting goods store with flourescent lighting and look in a mirror my eyes appear extremely bloodshot and I look like I have some serious issues. I always think the cashiers are looking at me saying "whats wrong with this guy".

So I dont know...I would like to believe the natural and incandescent lighting, but I get such mixed mixed reviews from flourescent lighting...Not sure what mirrors to believe...

MrC

Mr_Cabot, I have the same problem. Eyes look pretty good in natural light or incandescents but get me under fluorescent lighting and it's bloodshot city! I wonder why that is the case?

We also have a light in the bathroom at work - the light coming off it has a pink cast. My eyes look AWFUL under that light.

[SusieD]

I hear you.

My eyes always look worse in stores with strip lighting and the lighting in most bathrooms are the same too.

[Lucy]

2) Go vegetarian ... and see if it helps

It won't.
------------------
My eyes are not red even though I know there is a fire going on.

[neil0502]

It won't.

Problem with the methodology of the cited study ... or just hopelessly devoted to meat?

[Lucy]

Neal, I didn't read the "study." If I have a choice of "meat or no meat", it's no meat. If being vegetarian was "good" for what ails us, I shouldn't be here.

[dianat]

My eyes are NEVER red and are nearly always on fire - at times more intensely than at other times. Most eye docs have looked at me and not been able to tell that I'm in pain. My pain doctor was the only one I believe who recognized my pain. He could see it because he was trained to see it. But, the surface of my eyes are clear. Strange, huh?

(For the record, I'm a big-time carnivore! )

[shells]

My eyes are usually never red, but like Sazy said, if I pull my eyelids down they usually look red and inflamed. Occasionally I will notice that my eyes are bloodshot first thing in the morning, but it usually goes away pretty quickly and is not that noticeable.

[Amy09]

why is EVERYONE'S dry eye always different from each other, with everyone having their own personal symptoms?? i bet it would be easier to find treatments and cures for dry eye if everyones symptoms were the same. i have had problems w/ constant redness since i was 14 and my dry eye is not nearly as bad as say, diana, and she doesn't have problems w/ redness at all. it seems like dryness and redness would go hand in hand. so frustrating... and like diana said, i bet its hard for people to believe you are in severe pain if your eyes look perfectly clear. ah, dry eye is so complicated.

[SusieD]

I thought your eyes were severe - you've had botox, cautery, serum drops - the lot, or perhaps Im confusing you with someone else!

Or maybe all that is why your eyes are severe anymore?

[np1981]

Do you all that have dry eye also have red, bloodshot eyes? A lot of websites that list the side effects of dry eye focus on discomfort and itchiness, and don't mention redness. Just wondering if anyone out there has dry eyes that aren't red.

My eyes are pretty red. I haven't tried steroids yet but I think that may be my next step. All the pollen in the air right now doesn't help either.

PS. I have dry eyes from wearing contact lens.

According to this site http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/ProdigyKno.../pils/PL52.htm. "The eyes may feel gritty or burning. However, the eyes do not go red. If they do, another eye problem is usually present. "

My eyes do seem to go red, much more before I had plugs. I am wondering what else is going on. I always assumed that my eyes were red because of DES.

[kakinda]

Having spoken to top ophthalmologists from differents corners of the world, it seems that redness is not a trustworthy indicator of the degree of severity of dry eye....
MGD or allergy tends to increase redness in dry eye, but dry eye alone can get red as far I know or have read
Corneal staining (and of course, dry spots, ulcers, low BUT, etc) are the most important objective signs... pain is however another important subjective sign.
Beware of steroid use (especially long-term): cataracts, glaucoma, reduced wound healing are just a few example of side-effects... sure it'll reduce the redness but what will be the cost?
I've seen to many people ruin their eyes after some time of steroid dependent treatments.

shells: if your eyes are especially red in the morning maybe you ought to look into MGD and other lipid DE-related problems... just a wild guess but maybe not that wild.
Take care,
Kakinda

[Rebecca Petris]

There was a kind of interesting survey about red eye diagnosis and treatment recently (some of you will have seen this highlighted in Dry Eye Digest). Click here for abstract. Basically according to the survey about 25% of patients presenting with red eyes were diagnosed as having dry eyes.

Reading between the lines (since I don't have the full article, which is in Czech anyway) it sounds as though the many people who are consulting their regular doctor rather than an eye doctor are much less likely to have dry eyes properly diagnosed - judging from the much higher rate of prescribing antibiotic+steroid.

[Guest]

MGD and morning redness

MGD or allergy tends to increase redness in dry eye, but dry eye alone can get red as far I know or have read
Corneal staining (and of course, dry spots, ulcers, low BUT, etc) are the most important objective signs... pain is however another important subjective sign.

shells: if your eyes are especially red in the morning maybe you ought to look into MGD and other lipid DE-related problems... just a wild guess but maybe not that wild.
Take care,
Kakinda

kakinda your post interested me and made me wonder if I have some form of MGD or lipid issue as my eyes look dreadful in the morning and recently I have noticed that I have the occasional white bump on my bottom lid margins.

I have tried compresses but don't seem to be able to get the lid massage thing down to a fine art yet.

I am not sure if I have mentioned it to my doctor but have a follow up visit next week where I will make sure I ask him.

I too have noticed that different lighting conditions can make a siginficant difference to the appearance of my eyes.

[Mika]

i agree to those of u who said that their eye's redness depend upon the light shining through it....
i have noticed, in my home, my eye looks pretty fine and nearly white....but it i look through the window, wit a mirror, i notice very much redness...that's very strange....mayB becoz wit all these light, i noticed more in detail, the redness......
and in different light condition, my eye may vary from white to very red....

im confused that many people having dryeye, mentioned here that their eyes are not red.....thats very strange...
bcoz i have bloodshot eyes .......is it possible i have other problems as well bcoz of bloodshot eyes??
i mean, my current docs said i have not MGD or Blepharitis......

and my "ex" doc said i have alergic conjuntivitis.......and i have dump him bcoz at every visit, he said it will not endure for more than 1 week...(well after 2months=8weeks it still is and it has still endured for 3years now)...and i dont really think im that alergic..bcoz or else it will be im alergic to all environment as my eyes always dry and bloodshot...

hm.....well do anyone here DO NOT have bloodshot/red eyes??

[np1981]

hm.....well do anyone here DO NOT have bloodshot/red eyes??

I don't, well anymore. When my problems first began I always had red eyes. But ever since getting plugs I have had white eyes, but still felt some soreness.

On the other hand when my eyes flare up and feel very bad, I really do notice redness.