moisture protection at night

[wetEyes]

Does anybody know any studies or other information that suggests that moisture protection is helpful for dry eye (all causes) when the patient does NOT have lagophtalmos?

I'm especially interested if it increases BUT during daytime.

I searched the Internet but couldn't find any information on this...

[Rebecca Petris]

Does anybody know any studies or other information that suggests that moisture protection is helpful for dry eye (all causes) when the patient does NOT have lagophtalmos?

You mean moisture chambers like goggles & such, right? I'm not aware of any. And that's because the effects of moisture chambers have barely been studied at all, let alone comparing amongst dry eye types. Virtually all research dollars go into, well, things that insurance will pay for. It's ironic because I really do think that moisture barriers (for day or night) nearly top the list of what actually helps the most predictably.

You might email EyeEco and see if their studies on Tranquileyes have ever been broken down by dry eye type.

I would LOVE to see this topic studied. At a purely anecdotal level... I hear reports almost daily of things like Tranquileyes or sleep masks benefitting people who have not been diagnosed with lagophthalmos and who do not believe their lids open at night. In fact I have been surprised over the years to see so little correlation between specific dry eye conditions and what the effects of night eyewear will be.

'In the mass' I see people of every possible type of dry eye benefitting from moisture barriers of all types. And then lots of specific exception cases that make no obvious sense: I hear from people with no lagophthalmos benefitting more from Tranquileyes than from things that vault their lids; people with lagophthalmos benefitting more from things that vault their lids than Tranquileyes; people with severe lacrimal deficiency benefitting more from a simple mask than anything else; and so on.

[wetEyes]

Hi Rebecca, nice to hear from you. You didn't reply to my last 3 (!!!) e-mails

But back to the thread: obviously I didn't explain correctly what I meant

I don't want the effect of night protection to be analysed for different dry eye groups but for dry eye generally.

By the way, the effect of daytime protection has been studied somehow sufficiently (see my collection at the bottom). What I miss is a study that examines the effect of wearing goggles for a week or month on BUT... AND ... the effect of wearing goggles for an hour or so on BUT...

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Panoptx dry eye comfort study (2003)
http://www.panoptx.com/pdf/comfort_study_summary.pdf

→ Panoptx' OrbitalSeal reduces or even eliminates dry eye symptoms


Isolation of the ocular surface to treat dysfunctional tear syndrome associated with computer use (2007)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17938840

→ Using microenvironment glasses (MEGS) to isolate the ocular surfacce effectively improves
dry eye signs and symptoms


Effect of periocular humidity on the tear film lipid layer (1996)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8925659

→ Increased periocular humidity by wearing goggles increases lipid layer thickness (LLT)
→ LLT declines after google removal but remains elevated throughout the 60 minute postgoggle period


Effect of Spectacle (eyeglass) Design on Ocular Humidity Levels (2003)
http://abstracts.iovs.org/cgi/conten...ract/44/5/2460

→ wrap-around frames were associated with strongly increase periocular humidity


Spectacle side panels and moist inserts for the treatment of dry-eye patients (1994)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8033567

→ spectacle side panels increase periocular humidity and improve signs and symptoms of dry eye
→ the effect is stronger when combined with moist inserts


my conclusion:
* microenvironment glasses (MEGS)
- work by reducing tear film evaporation through increasing periocular humidity and protecting against wind
- very effectively improve signs and symptoms of dry eye while wearing them
- have a positive impact for at least one hour after removal
- probably have a positive long-term effect
* the more MEGS shield the eyes, the more effective the are

[Rebecca Petris]

Sorry I misunderstood. I was trying to respond about night moisture protection (whether it helps during the day) for those who do not have lagophthalmos.

Regarding the emails: Please don't ever take it personally. Due to family health problems which have left me more time-strapped than usual, I have not been able to reply to most emails other than urgent ones for several weeks. I will get to all of them in time. If it's urgent, say so in the subject line.