What you need to know about computer-induced dry eye

[Alix]

Milo007 as I said, this is only my thought. I'm not medic but a two years dry eye sufferer.
Maybe in my case the cause is something else. What helped me most are anti allergy eye drops, and probiotics (tested separately for now). And I tried a lot of things in these two years.

I agree that a really prolonged session of computer can start a temporarily inflammation that you can stop with resting eyes and/or taking some eye drops given by an optometrist/ophtamologist. But a chronic inflammation caused by computer use seems really too much for me.

I am rather sceptical as well that computer use causes chronic inflammation but I do believe it is plays a major role in combination with other factors.

I have chronic inflammation and MGD, mainly due to long term contact lens use but long hours on the computer have made things worse, resulting in partial blinking. The fact that I work in an air conditioned office with bright fluorescent lighting does not help either, my eyes definitely look and feel worse when I am at work.

Friends and family have urged me to change career so that I don't need to work in that kind of environment anymore, but this is easier said than done as most jobs involve using computers. My future is very depressing.

[Milo007]

1) Never
2) I did these blood analysis 1 year ago: CRP, ESR, ANA, ANTI ENA, rlectrophoresis. All negative.
3) I often have puffy eyelids with some red blood vessels near eyelashes. sometimes eyelids seems more red.
4) I don't know. The only thing I know is that my eyelids doesn't have any crust on the base of the eyelashes.
5) My frustration stems from the fact that no ophtamologist did me a meibomiography. one said "you have MGD", another one said "your glands are ok" (but shirmer is 2mm).
Of 5 ophtamologists that I saw, only 1 did schirmer and TBUT, two did only schirmer, and the others just a regular checks. Only 1 of them said to check Sjogren syndrome.
Also, In my entire nation only two doctors have LipiView and they are very very far from me.
How can I address dry eye if doctors are uneducated to really treat dry eye?

The only positive things are the anti allergy eye drops given by the last doctor, and the probiotics taken weeks later. They works, but I can be 8.5-9/10 at my best, never 10/10, and never for a prolonged time. I have to check some food allergy/sensitivity, or some other allergy.

Well puffy eyelids with blood vessels near your eyelashes are definite signs of inflammation which can stem from possibly the following :

1. blepharitis

2. Your glands are clogged and hence they are not able to eject out lipids so the intra-ductal pressure is at its peak causing inflammation. (I have read similar incidents when eyelids were red and swollen and after gland probing the puffiness and inflammation went away)

3. An aqueous deficiency is causing inflammation due to increased friction while blinking.

Just a few questions to guess if you have clogged glands or inflammation due to aqueous deficiency alone :

1. Do you feel better after a sleep of 8-10 hours?

2. Do your eyelids remain puffy immediately after waking up?

3. Do you see the puffiness aggravate as you progress through your waking hours?

To strike out possibility of bacterial or demodex blepharitis :

4. Do you see cylindrical dandruff on the base of your eyelashes?

5. Do you feel occasional tinkling or itching near the base of your eyelashes?

6. Have you tried hypochlorous acid on your eyelids to see if it reduces the puffiness?


Allergy could be a trigger but trust me you should visit one of those two doctors at least to get a lipiview done. Because if you have clogged glands and you do nothing they die. It would be a lifelong misery then. Also since your schirmer's results are very low you have high chances of acquired MGD due to eyelid inflammation. So you must address the aqueous deficiency before anything.

Regarding aqueous deficiency the following helps :

1. Restasis and Xiidra (to control inflammation - Xiidra is much powerful)

2. Frequent instillation of "preservative free" artificial eye drops are a must. (Must be preservative free)

3. Moisture chamber glasses to reduce evaporation and the frequency of instillation of eye drops.

4. The "True tears" device for stimulating natural tear production (on a temporary basis but it helps).

5. A diet high in omega 3 and low in omega 6 to reduce systemic inflammation.

[Milo007]

I am rather sceptical as well that computer use causes chronic inflammation but I do believe it is plays a major role in combination with other factors.

I have chronic inflammation and MGD, mainly due to long term contact lens use but long hours on the computer have made things worse, resulting in partial blinking. The fact that I work in an air conditioned office with bright fluorescent lighting does not help either, my eyes definitely look and feel worse when I am at work.

Friends and family have urged me to change career so that I don't need to work in that kind of environment anymore, but this is easier said than done as most jobs involve using computers. My future is very depressing.

Hello Alix

Before you think of shifting career and lose your dream job you can try using moisture chamber glasses (if ziena doesn't provide a perfect seal give the 7eye RX able sunglasses with foam eyecups a try). A good fit can make you feel comfortable even in dry air conditioned atmospheres. Fogging would be an issue if the temperature is too low in your office but you can try nevertheless. Also you can use a personal humidifier near you in your office.

Since you have significant gland loss sclerals can make the situation worse so not suggesting them.

[Alix]

Hello Alix

Before you think of shifting career and lose your dream job you can try using moisture chamber glasses (if ziena doesn't provide a perfect seal give the 7eye RX able sunglasses with foam eyecups a try). A good fit can make you feel comfortable even in dry air conditioned atmospheres. Fogging would be an issue if the temperature is too low in your office but you can try nevertheless. Also you can use a personal humidifier near you in your office.

Since you have significant gland loss sclerals can make the situation worse so not suggesting them.

Hi Milo I would not hesitate to wear moisture chamber glasses in the office but I have to wear regular glasses as I can’t tolerate contact lenses anymore. So I can’t wear moisture chamber glasses on top of them.

The air conditioning is terrible at work, I can hear the air coming out of the air vents and it’s almost as if someone is blowing a hairdryer in my eyes non stop, it is painful. It would not help changing desks as the air vents are everywhere.

As for bringing in a humidifier that would be great but it’s against health and safety regulations so I’m not allowed to.

I don’t want to wear sclerals for the reasons you have outlined, but it looks like I’ll be forced to....

[Milo007]

Hi Milo I would not hesitate to wear moisture chamber glasses in the office but I have to wear regular glasses as I can’t tolerate contact lenses anymore. So I can’t wear moisture chamber glasses on top of them.

The air conditioning is terrible at work, I can hear the air coming out of the air vents and it’s almost as if someone is blowing a hairdryer in my eyes non stop, it is painful. It would not help changing desks as the air vents are everywhere.

Are you aware of the fact that moisture chamber glasses are RX able and can be fitted with prescription lenses of your need?

I don't see the need of wearing regular glasses under moisture chamber glasses. Perhaps I am not understanding correctly what you mean to say. But moisture chamber glasses will substitute the need of your regular glasses.

Since your office is having vents that's blowing air from top you could wear a brimmed hat in addition to the use of moisture chamber glasses to block the direct air drafts. Might not be aesthetically acceptable but your eyes and job are definitely more important than what others would think of your attire.

[Fenix]

Just a few questions to guess if you have clogged glands or inflammation due to aqueous deficiency alone :
1. Do you feel better after a sleep of 8-10 hours?
2. Do your eyelids remain puffy immediately after waking up?
3. Do you see the puffiness aggravate as you progress through your waking hours?
To strike out possibility of bacterial or demodex blepharitis :
4. Do you see cylindrical dandruff on the base of your eyelashes?
5. Do you feel occasional tinkling or itching near the base of your eyelashes?
6. Have you tried hypochlorous acid on your eyelids to see if it reduces the puffiness?

(The following answers refers to a time before probiotic assumption)
1) When I woke up my eyes were already tired and a bit dry. Every day. Sometimes I felt heat around eyes and nose.
2) Yes, puffy but pink.
3) The puffy eyelids just turn more red during the day.
4) No.
5) No.
6) In my country I can't find any Hypoclorus acid product like Avenova.
The last doctor have me a product called Septavis (a solution based on sodium hypochlorite) and seems to help, but I don't know if it reduces the puffyness because I started to use it after probiotics.
While taking probiotics I wake up in a better condition, dry eye sympthoms are very very low and puffyness too. But I never feel healed 10/10.
It seems like something is causing an inflammation, constantly, and probiotics lower that inflammation but not completely.
Xiidra is not marketed in europe yet. I can buy Restasis from near country but I want first see an allergist, an then do a meibography.

[Alix]

Are you aware of the fact that moisture chamber glasses are RX able and can be fitted with prescription lenses of your need?

I don't see the need of wearing regular glasses under moisture chamber glasses. Perhaps I am not understanding correctly what you mean to say. But moisture chamber glasses will substitute the need of your regular glasses.

Hi Milo I was not aware that you could get moisture chamber glasses fitted with prescription lenses! I just thought they were for people with 20/20 vision. I will look into this immediately. Seriously these could make a dramatic difference to my life, currently I’m sitting at my desk in pain all day long. Thank you for this information!!

[Milo007]

Hi Milo I was not aware that you could get moisture chamber glasses fitted with prescription lenses! I just thought they were for people with 20/20 vision. I will look into this immediately. Seriously these could make a dramatic difference to my life, currently I’m sitting at my desk in pain all day long. Thank you for this information!!

OMG!!! You should get them as soon as possible.

Buy them directly from their manufacturer in US:

https://www.zienaeyewear.com/collections/rx

https://7eye.com/collections/rx-frame

Or another option could be to buy the normal non prescription moisture chamber glasses (the frame) from the following online store in UK and get them fitted with your custom prescription lenses by a local optical shop.

https://www.eyewear-accessories.co.u...hamber-glasses


I think you should speak to "Ally" who is in the helpline of dry eye shop or Rebecca Petris can help you too choose the best fit for your face. Apart from ziena also consider the 7eye RX able glasses with foam eyecups. Often they fit better and provide a nice seal.

Best of luck !!!

[Milo007]

(The following answers refers to a time before probiotic assumption)
1) When I woke up my eyes were already tired and a bit dry. Every day. Sometimes I felt heat around eyes and nose.
2) Yes, puffy but pink.
3) The puffy eyelids just turn more red during the day.
4) No.
5) No.
6) In my country I can't find any Hypoclorus acid product like Avenova.
The last doctor have me a product called Septavis (a solution based on sodium hypochlorite) and seems to help, but I don't know if it reduces the puffyness because I started to use it after probiotics.
While taking probiotics I wake up in a better condition, dry eye sympthoms are very very low and puffyness too. But I never feel healed 10/10.
It seems like something is causing an inflammation, constantly, and probiotics lower that inflammation but not completely.
Xiidra is not marketed in europe yet. I can buy Restasis from near country but I want first see an allergist, an then do a meibography.

I think you might be right. In your case some allergy could be the cause of eyelid puffiness. It's a smart move to get a consultation of an allergy expert. If your condition improves addressing the allergies then you should perhaps also see a gastro-enterologist because since probiotics are helping you could have a leaky gut. In all situations continue with your probiotic therapy since you should continue with whatever is helping that's not harmful otherwise.

But anti allergic medications can damage your eyes more in the long run. So it's really important to find out the allergens and eradicate them from your life. You wouldn't want to live on anti allergic medication life long.

Another reason for eyelid puffiness could be a thin tear film due to aqueous deficiency since your schirmer's is low since you say the redness increases as the day passes.

I think you must get moisture chamber glasses ASAP and use a preservative free artificial tear substitute as often as needed to make your eyes feel moist.

If you don't have access to xiidra get restasis instead because something is better than nothing.

Also get a nighttime eye protection gear like tranquileyes or eyeseals 4.0 because your eyes are getting dessicated overnight and it's causing more damage invoking inflammation.

Finally a meibography is the best thing you could do to assess the extent of damage of your meibomian glands.

At all costs you have to control inflammation and find out the causes of inflammation and address them. Otherwise it will result in permanent damage over a course of time.

[Alix]

OMG!!! You should get them as soon as possible.

Buy them directly from their manufacturer in US:

https://www.zienaeyewear.com/collections/rx

https://7eye.com/collections/rx-frame

Or another option could be to buy the normal non prescription moisture chamber glasses (the frame) from the following online store in UK and get them fitted with your custom prescription lenses by a local optical shop.

https://www.eyewear-accessories.co.u...hamber-glasses


I think you should speak to "Ally" who is in the helpline of dry eye shop or Rebecca Petris can help you too choose the best fit for your face. Apart from ziena also consider the 7eye RX able glasses with foam eyecups. Often they fit better and provide a nice seal.

Best of luck !!!

Hi Milo I checked out your links unfortunately I am too short sighted for even custom made glasses - they will only go up to -5 for prescription lenses....

So it’s back to the drawing board. I will not be able to wear a hat in the office, not sure it would help in any case as the air is so dry and it would still come in through the sides of my glasses.

Thank you anyway for your help I really appreciate it!

[Milo007]

Hi Milo I checked out your links unfortunately I am too short sighted for even custom made glasses - they will only go up to -5 for prescription lenses....

So it’s back to the drawing board. I will not be able to wear a hat in the office, not sure it would help in any case as the air is so dry and it would still come in through the sides of my glasses.

Thank you anyway for your help I really appreciate it!

I am sorry to hear that but did the 7eye and ziena authorities inform you that they can't fit lenses above - 5 D?

Is it worth a try talking to your local optometrist to see if they can fit lenses of your prescription into the frame of ziena or 7eye?

[Alix]

I am sorry to hear that but did the 7eye and ziena authorities inform you that they can't fit lenses above - 5 D?

Is it worth a try talking to your local optometrist to see if they can fit lenses of your prescription into the frame of ziena or 7eye?

Hi yes it says in the link that that is the maximum prescription. I guess I could talk to my local optometrist but they will just say they will do it at my own risk, and as lenses are expensive (my prescription is high so I have to get them thinned down alot) I'm not willing at this point to pay alot only for the lenses to potentially break or not fit into the frames.

I'm investigating a few other avenues at the moment (CCH surgery, sclerals etc), so this is not the end of the world.

[Fenix]

Milo007 thank you for your advice, I will try this way.

A good news is that I already have Eyeseals 4.0, but I used it only one night because for me they were uncomfortable to sleep with. I woke up with irritated skin around eyes. I have to give them another chance.

I would like to know if I don't close completely my eyes at night. I was thinking to buy a night vision ip camera and record myself during the sleep. What do you think?

[Milo007]

Milo007 thank you for your advice, I will try this way.

A good news is that I already have Eyeseals 4.0, but I used it only one night because for me they were uncomfortable to sleep with. I woke up with irritated skin around eyes. I have to give them another chance.

I would like to know if I don't close completely my eyes at night. I was thinking to buy a night vision ip camera and record myself during the sleep. What do you think?

Well since you woke up with irritated skin around your eyes before I could conclude that eyeseals is a solution for you you must find out whether you have silicone allergy!

If you have silicone allergy and the skin got irritated because of that you would know it after a few more nights of eyeseals use. So continue the trial for a few more nights and see if your skin gets irritated again.

Did you put on the strap of eyeseals really tightly?

The irritation on your skin could also be due to excessive pressure the goggles is putting on your skin.

One of my tricks that you could use is not to use the strap of eyeseals to secure the goggles. I think the strap is largely ineffective since it has the following drawbacks :

1. The goggles get easily misplaced when you move sideways during sleep. The strap cannot keep the goggles unmoved when your head keeps moving.

2. The tension in the strap needed to obtain a tight seal is often too much to be comfortable while sleeping. It causes headaches for many.

My advice : Remove the strap and use medical grade tapes (3M micropore or mepitac) all around the periphery of the eyeseals goggles to paste it to your forehead, corners of your eyes, lower cheeks and nose to create a full proof seal that won't displace while you shift positions at night.Also it would be more comfortable than the strap on.


The idea of recording yourself during sleep to know whether your eyes remain open or not is great but not worth unless you try nighttime protection measures first (because you would want to save the cost of the camera if possible). You would know automatically if your eyes were remaining open if you notice improvement in the comfort level of your eyes after waking up each morning. Your eyes would begin to feel more rested and comfortable immediately after waking up. They would also feel more moist without any sense of discomfort or irritation. If there's little or no improvement provided you apply the eyeseals properly then you may want to go for the option of recording yourself to confirm the possibility.

[Fenix]

Milo007 I exclude silicone allergy. The silicone irritated my skin because to keep a tight seal, I had to tighten the strap tightly. Anyway on tuesday I will see an allergist.