Did you notice how many of your friends have dry eyes?

[hopeful_hiker]

Since getting dry eyes, I’ve heard the same complaints from people about their eyes. Some complain of redness and use visine and equivalent (yes, I warned them), some have burning eyes that look a bit wet, some say they feel sand in their eyes, some can’t wear contact lenses (even dailies). Personally, I’ve had zero symptoms before my sudden onset so when I hear these complaints I recommend seeing a doc. At least two people used my tear drop vials.

Thought it was curious, dry eyes are definitely underdiagnosed.

[Milo007]

To be honest I see plenty of people everyday with signs of dry eyes but they don't realize it or even ignore the fact when I try to make them aware of their developing condition.

I saw four shopkeepers a few days ago with bloodshot eyes who were working in an air conditioned space for maybe 12-15 hours a day. One of them exhibited clear signs of eye fatigue as he was closing his eyes intermittently in an attempt to get some relief.

Recently my friend's girlfriend complained of burning in her eyes and went to the doctor to be diagnosed with dry eye syndrome.

My uncle was complaining of eye discomfort and I looked at his eyes and told him it was dry eyes and he had a little allergy as well. He went to the doctor next day to be diagnosed with MGD.

I see people exhibiting signs of a red inflamed eye particularly in air conditioned spaces more often than anywhere else.

My elder paternal sister who works in an IT company also complained of burning eyes when she came to know about my condition.

One of my younger maternal brother visited me recently and he also works with computers all day. He had dialated blood vessels in his conjunctiva and from a distance of 4-5 feet his eyes appeared light reddish. When I asked him about possible symptoms of ocular discomfort he said he didn't have any abnormal issues with his eyes. But I could clearly see the early signs of a developing dry eye.

My own father is addicted to Facebook and my own brother is addicted to YouTube. Both spend 12 hours day staring at their smartphones. They have bloodshot eyes almost all day but they never admit to have any symptoms of dry eye yet.

I will wait to see how soon the people whom I notice with early signs of dry eye start experiencing symptoms and would update this thread accordingly.

[MGD1701]

All experts in USA mention:
dry eye/MGD is underdiagnosed and undertreated.
about 50% have no symptoms
many young people have higher % gland loss
much easier to treat at the earlier stage

one dr mentioned that her 90 and 40 years patients have NO glands.

Prof. Elizabeth Yue mentioned (1-2 years ago) that one of her patients aged 24 for lasik evaluation (so likely no discomfort),
with high % loss (maybe 85%?) -
too much loss which she found hard to believe, so she arranged another image from another office - same result.

Prof. Gupta said one of her female patients (aged below 40?) only 10% glands left with no complains.
When she saw the image, she nearly falled down from her chair.

Many doctors do not have (10 seconds) time to examine gland function nor are capable to detect inflammation --
which explains why untreated & why many of us need to visit +10 doctors.