Schirmer test ---Is this bad?

[Marina26]

I forgot to ask my doc what a normal tear level should be.
I got a 3mm on right and 5 on the left----how bad is that in the scheme of things? I need to put this into perspective.

[kimby2007]

Schrimer Scores

Your numbers are below normal but I would focus on how you feel rather than the numbers themselves. Have you been tested for a possible underlying cause? That is important in determining an appropriate treatment regimen.
Best of luck!

[Podiatric Medicine Studen]

Schirmer test sucks!

Hi, I hate that stupid test, because it is very subjective, and also hinges on the hope that your eyes are completely numb from the drops they put in right before the test. The best test of whether you have dry eye is exactly what he said: Based on how you feel/how your eyes are feeling: gritty, sandy, itchy.

[Rebecca Petris]

Bear in mind that "subjective" symptoms CAN be quantified in a useful way with scientifically validated questionnaires - and this can be useful for our own self-assessments as well as for our medical record.

Example:

OSDI

[Podiatric Medicine Studen]

May be true.

Yes, this is true of the "primitive" Schirmer test, but as most dry eye sufferers already know- when you are having a bad spell, your eyes will actually start producing lots of tears (not the good quality kind), and this too may give you negative results on this test. That has happened to me one time, and the other time one of my eyes was not adequately numb before the test was administered. So, even thought it may be very "medically/scientifically" based, there are other confirmatory tests which may be done to accompany this test. To list a few: Tear breakup time, Tear Meniscus Height, Fluorescein Staining, Rose Bengal staining, Tear film osmolarity, etc.



In the sick room, ten cents' worth of human understanding equals ten dollars' worth of medical science. ~Martin H. Fischer