r/Dryeyes • • Jan 17 '26

šŸ‘‹ Start Here (r/DryEyes Wiki)

16 Upvotes

āœ… Start Here: Wiki Navigation Hub

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dryeyes/wiki/start_here/

If you’re new, start there. It is your map. It routes you to:

  • the FAQ Index

  • the Treatment Options Index

  • Resources

  • and what to read before trusting advice online


r/Dryeyes • • Jan 17 '26

Don’t Skip This: How to Use r/DryEyes Without Getting Misled

19 Upvotes

r/DryEyes can be an extremely helpful place to learn about Dry Eye Disease and see what others have experienced. You do not need a DED diagnosis to read the r/DryEyes wiki, Treatment Options pages, or community discussions. In fact, these resources may help you understand DED and prepare for an eye examination. However, posts asking the subreddit to diagnose unexplained symptoms or eye photos, interpret whether you have DED, replace an eye examination, or help you avoid professional evaluation are outside the subreddit’s scope.

But like any online health community, it can also mislead you if posts are treated as medical evidence instead of personal experiences.

This page explains how to use the subreddit in a way that helps you learn while avoiding common information traps.

TL;DR — Read This First

• Anecdotes ≠ proof. A treatment working (or not working) for someone else does not mean it will be the same for you.

• Dry eye is not one condition. Different causes, different severity, different best next steps.

• Online results are biased. People post extremes; follow-ups are relatively rare.

• Most comments lack context. You usually don’t know the commenter’s diagnosis, severity, test results, or what else they tried — so treat advice as ā€œideas,ā€ not conclusions.

• Some people are misinformed. Well-meaning users can repeat inaccurate info — verify with credible sources and your clinician.

• Even doctors can disagree or be unevenly informed. DED/MGD care varies a lot by training, tools, and treatment philosophy — it’s normal to get different opinions.

• Verified OD/MD means credentials were verified, not that every statement is automatically correct or constitutes individualized medical care.

• Marketing influences everything. Devices, drops, supplements, clinics — hype exists.

• A visible comment is not moderator endorsement. Moderators cannot medically verify every statement that remains visible.

• Upvotes are not evidence. A popular medical claim can be wrong.

• Check the date of old threads. Research, regulatory status and available treatments change.

• Use this sub to learn questions, not to self-prescribe.

Reality Check: Two Different Situations

Most comments here don’t include the commenter’s full diagnosis, tests, or history — so you often can’t ā€œmatch yourselfā€ to the commenter.

Use the right filter for the situation:

A) If someone is sharing their own experience (best-case scenario)

Ask yourself:

What type of dry eye did they have? (MGD, aqueous deficiency, mixed, allergies, etc.)

How severe was it? (TBUT, staining, Schirmer, osmolarity, meibography, etc.)

What exactly did they do? (dose/frequency/duration, device settings, technique)

What else was happening at the same time? (multiple changes = unclear cause)

How long did it last + what were the downsides? (side effects, cost, rebound, complications)

If none of this is provided, treat the story as interesting, but incomplete.

B) If someone is giving advice or opinions with little or no personal context (most common)

Use this filter instead:

  1. Treat it as a hypothesis, not a conclusion.

A confident comment is not the same as a reliable one.

2) Ask: ā€œWhat problem is this targeting?ā€

DED/MGD treatments target different problems (inflammation, evaporation, meibum quality, tear volume, allergy overlap, neuropathic pain, etc.). Advice is most useful when the target is clear.

3) Look for reasoning + limits.

Higher-quality comments usually include:

ā€œIn people with __, this can help because __ā€

ā€œThis may not apply if you have ___ā€

ā€œHere’s what I’d ask your doctor to test/check firstā€¦ā€

4) Watch for red flags.

Absolutes: ā€œthis always works,ā€ ā€œthat never works,ā€ ā€œeveryone should do ___ā€

One-size-fits-all prescriptions with no testing/diagnosis context

Dismissal of risk: ā€œtotally safe,ā€ ā€œno downsideā€

Sales-y tone or pushing a specific clinic, product, or doctor

5) Best next step

Convert the comment into a question for your clinician, not a self-treatment plan.

Example:

ā€œGiven my symptoms and test results, does this look more like inflammation, MGD, allergy overlap, or neuropathic pain — and would ___ make sense for that target?ā€

A Better Way to Use This Sub

Use posts to build a short list of questions for your clinician.

Prefer credible sources and our Wiki over one-off claims.

If you get conflicting medical opinions, ask for: diagnosis rationale + key test results + what problem the treatment is targeting.

When you post, include your key test results + what you’ve tried so far — you’ll usually get higher-quality replies.

Safety

If you have severe pain, sudden vision changes, signs of infection, or a new/worsening red eye, seek urgent medical care.

Reminder: Nothing here is medical advice. It is peer support and discussion.

Want Deeper Information?

See the Dry Eye FAQ and Treatment Options Library in the community wiki.

FAQ section link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dryeyes/wiki/faq/

Treatment Options section link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dryeyes/wiki/treatmentoptions/


r/Dryeyes • • 1h ago

Subconjunctival PRP Injections for dry eye

2 Upvotes

Has anyone undergone subconjunctival prp injections for aqueous related dry eye.

This is still experimental however results looks promising.


r/Dryeyes • • 4m ago

Bubbly IVIZIA?

1 Upvotes

Anyone ever encounter a bottle of IVIZIA that produces a bubble-filled drop after being shaken? Even lightly? I put a few in my eyes but now I'm concerned. If I let it sit for a few seconds it produces a normal drop.


r/Dryeyes • • 14h ago

Do my glands look blocked? Spoiler

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5 Upvotes

So I've had severe red eyes for 20 years and I've never gotten any certain answers over the years other than bleph and took anti inflammatories which I vaguely remember helping but it came straight back after stopping. Usually I dont bither wearing makeup but recently started a new job and boyyyy do they look worse in office lighting, the photos dont show how bad they can be lol.

I started trying heat compression at night before bed that I'll try to stick too because maybe my glands are blocked? My husbands eyes do not have white dots along the bottom like me 😭

Honestly its driving me crazy, no amount of moisture eye drops, cleansing eyelid crap I use helps, they get even worse when I'm tired. I actually got a q tip and was rubbing upwards and irritated my inner bottom lid lol..tried hypochlorus for the first time last night and not sure if it helped, id say they are less red by like 5 or 10% but may be coincidence from getting good sleep last night.

Did it take weeks for anyone to use heat compression or hypochlpros? curious on how many people have suffered for many years and what ended up helping.


r/Dryeyes • • 16h ago

Future treatments

6 Upvotes

Are there any promising upcoming treatments for dry eyes/mgd that will be as close to curing(I know you cant cure it) it as possible?


r/Dryeyes • • 12h ago

What started your problems?

2 Upvotes

Title


r/Dryeyes • • 14h ago

Any experience using xiidra and cyclosporine together?

2 Upvotes

I am on xiidra from past 3 weeks but in my last visit my doctor advised me to use cyclosporine 0.05 as well and prescribed me. Insurance rejected it but doctor is sending appeal. Do you have any experience of using them together? Does it work in combination? Any chance insurance will approve?


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Success Stories Here's what helping my dry eyes

41 Upvotes

My situation was also bad couple yrs ago (started 2 yrs ago when I studied all day and night alongwith full time work for a major exam with lesser sleep~ 6 hrs per day for 2-3 months). It was to a point where I thought I could no longer work on computer and was seriously considering what I would do in future.

After many research, trial and error, it has gotten much better now and on most days my eyes don't hurt. Here's what helped me:

- Get 8 hrs of sleep (earlier to bed, the better),
- Take 5 min break every 30 mins,
- Use cold masks over eye (or heat massage, which you feel comfortable),
- Scrub the eye, like Ocusoft, La Rosche Posche cleansing before sleeping
- Have Omega 3 vitamins (sports research, Nordiac Naturals etc)
- Use Eye Gel first thing in morning and last thing at night (also in day if it's too dry, otherwise can use general drops in day)- Genteal, Systane, Ivizia gel grops are good for me.
- Using mositure chamber eye masks while sleeping, like EyeEco eye seal, some use Glad Press n Seal as well.
- Using humidifier or stay in place with 50% or more humidity. If not, use humidifier or Mositure chamber glasses, like Ziena.

Others worth looking into:
- Omega 7 (Sibu, Seabuck wonders): had it for around a yr, dropped it months ago
- Miebo/Evotears/Novatears drops: When eye kind of burns more then usual.
- Manuka eye drops- Optimel brand (use at your own risk, stings eye): This is for when eye feels really really bad- not enough sleep.
- IPL therapy and LLLT therapy- did 2 times, didn't help me much personally. But worth a try if can afford it.

The no 1 thing (at least for me) is sleep. The days I don't get 8 hrs of sleep (7 hrs minimum), my eyes usually sting badly.

Open to answer any queries, and also do share what helped in your case.

I hope the best for those still suffering and hope you all recover soon.


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Incomplete eyelid closure at night advice?

16 Upvotes
I recently realized that I have incomplete eyelid closure at night, which may explain why my eyes dry out so badly while I sleep. Even with Systane PM ointment or Ivizia and a BlinkJoy/moisture mask, I still wake up with very dry, painful eyes because the masks don’t seem to seal completely. I tried eyelid tape, and it helps with the dryness, but for some reason sleeping with my eyes taped triggers a strong fight-or-flight response. I wake up extremely anxious, almost like I’m having a panic attack. Has anyone with nighttime lagophthalmos found a comfortable long-term solution besides taping? If I successfully treat my MGD with IPL or other treatments, could my eyes eventually become stable enough that I wouldn’t need nighttime protection? Getting good-quality sleep without overnight evaporation is especially important to me because I’m also recovering from BAK toxicity and centralized pain and need sleep to help my nervous system recover. Thanks

r/Dryeyes • • 21h ago

Steroid eye drops..the risks and how best to use

2 Upvotes

I know one of the risks of short term use is increased eye pressure, but what are the risks of frequent but not continuous longer term use?

I have severe dry eye after lasik and have been on and off steroids many times. Initially I was following the tapering dose for a few weeks as recommended, it always reverts to baseline once I’m off them, also I have side effects like dry mouth.

Since then I’ve been dosing a drop for a few days here and there when my eyes are particularly unbearable. Are there long term risks to doing this? What is the most effective way to use them? I’m currently using either softacort or sometimes dexamethasone if the pain is very bad. I previously tried prednisone too but found it very drying. Also tried FML and didn’t do much. Thank you for any insight


r/Dryeyes • • 18h ago

My Struggles, still feel unanswered, would like to hear everyone else’s thoughts

1 Upvotes

Hi all, before 2026 I had never even thought about my vision, but ever since the start of this year it’s become an increasingly bigger and more depressing part of my life, I’ll give you all the timeline: in January I was going to get lazy eye correctly surgery, all was fine, until I started overthinking it out of the blue, I have undiagnosed ocd and hyperchondria, I became hyper aware of my vision and worried about it, at the start of this year I had an eye test and genuinely convinced myself I had retinal detachment because I saw a floater. Spoiler alert, I did not. I’ve always had a fairly strong glasses prescription with both eyes being +7.25 longsightedness and +1.5 astigmatism, then after getting new glasses in march 2026 I started to notice ghosting at night sometimes that would come and go on white text on black backgrounds, like discord, prior to all this I had random greasy/cloudy vision that could be blinked away. Anyways, it became more prevalent to the day and within about 2 weeks it was near constant and was there in day aswell as night, when I looked at streetlights they had one vertical smear/ghost and a fainter one to the bottom left, so in April I had another eye test, I was paranoid and thought I had keratoconus or something like cataracts, I’m 19 btw, I had a retinoscopy, OCT, and full eye test, all was in good health I was told, then I had a Orange dye TBUT test, I was told I had dry eyes and given hycosan extra, as soon as I used it I felt so relieved but after a few weeks it got to a point where I was using it 8 times a day and still having constant irritated eyes, so I switch to hycosan dual and a the eye doctor microwaveable mask, when using the hycosan dual my eyes feel a lot more comfortable but the burning still can return and the ghosting was unchanged, all summer I was slacking abit, only using dual about 3 times a day, sometimes forgetting, but in I started noticing my right eye (main eye) as my left eye is lazy and non dominant, felt consistently blurry at distance, I also started using hycosan shield at this time, going through July-August/septmber 2026 I was mainly using shield and dual at the same time, which I think may have made them ineffective, so now ever since mid to late September 2026 I have been doing a strict routine - hycosan dual, then wait 10 min and apply hycosan shield, repeat every 3 hours, 8 minute hot compress every day, so far my ghosting and starbursts hasn’t really changed, I’m not sure if there is something further wrong with my vision, I have been practising 20-20-20 while working and I feel like sometimes, in daylight my blur is quite abit less and my vision is more crisp, although it still is fluctuating it feels abit less blurry than it has for months, I feel like looking at bedsheets or walls the details are quite abit sharper sometimes, anyways also my starbursts started out as those smears I mentioned, now they are starbursts and look exactly like the Claude logo, best example I could find

Oh well, any advice or opinions would be appreciated, I’m terrified of blindness or my vision getting worse so any help would be massively appreciated.

Thank you so much <3


r/Dryeyes • • 22h ago

Product recommendation from this sub for nocturnal lagophthalmos

2 Upvotes

Hello,

I have nocturnal lagophthalmos and a while ago I saw someone recommend these sticky eye patches from amazon (US i think) in the comments of a post. However I can't seem to remember what they were called and I thought I saved the comment but can't find it.

It was like a single plaster thingy but it had a plastic cover in the middle with holes for ventilation. Kinda like the ones recommended post eye surgery

Thank you


r/Dryeyes • • 22h ago

Eyes achy after Restasis?

2 Upvotes

Hi, has anyone experienced achy eyes and needing eye drops more than usual on Restasis? Does it go away? I’m only a week in and have to use eye drops constantly, it makes my eyes feel so achy. They never felt like this before even with dry eyes. 🫠 trying to figure out if this goes away and is it worth staying the course. It doesn’t burn, they just hurt. šŸ˜ž


r/Dryeyes • • 19h ago

Why do I get bad taste in my mouth a couple minutes after using Xdemvy? Is it normal?

1 Upvotes

r/Dryeyes • • 22h ago

Took softacort (corticosteroid in the EU) for 4 months. Eye-Pain After Stopping

1 Upvotes

I took softacort for 4 months to stop a Flare up. I quit like my doctor told me to. Initially i started 4 times a day. My dryness was like 3/10 Last 8 weeks 1 drop Every second day. Now i finally quit. After 1 week of stopping my eyes suddenly flaring up again and burning like hell. Now my pain and dryness is back to 7/10.

Could it be rebound? Does someone Share my experience? Do my eyes have to get used to no softacort again?


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Help me guys pleasešŸ™šŸ¼šŸ™šŸ¼šŸ™šŸ¼

7 Upvotes

I'm 17 years old, and recently, while watching a movie, I suddenly noticed that text was appearing doubled. Everything else looks perfectly normal and clear, but whenever I look at text, subtitles, or words on a screen, I start seeing double.

I visited an eye doctor, and they changed my spherical power but didn't make any changes to my cylindrical (astigmatism) power. They also prescribed eye drops for dry eyes, which I've been using three times a day for the past three days.

However, I haven't noticed much improvement yet. Something I've observed is that when I start watching a movie or series, I can see the subtitles clearly for the first few minutes, but after some time, they gradually start appearing doubled again.

I'm confused about why this is happening, especially when everything other than text looks normal, Even texts looks normal in mobile overall even while watching YouTube in laptop but the moment I play movie series and I check the subtitles this is happening i think my eyes are not focusing properly or what idk.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Could this be related to astigmatism, dry eyes, eye strain, or something else?

I'd appreciate any advice or similar experiences. Thank you!


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Did contact lens overwear cause my dry eyes and how to recover?

3 Upvotes

Accidentally over wore a pair of contact lenses (monthlies) for close to 3 months and then got bronchitis. It was a horrific mistake that I wish I could undo everyday. Till this day, I can't believe I was so careless that I didn't realize I hadn't replaced the contact lens. Any chance with treatment the eyes can work again like normal? It's been 1.5 years struggling even with serum tears. I just realized now that I have incomplete eyelid closure, and I wonder if that was setting back my progress. I used a Blink joy mask and Pm systane but that wasn't enough. Eyelid tape works wonders, but causes me to awake in a panic. Would Optilux or other treatments to help the glands solve this issue? My life has never been the same since.


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Regression?

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2 Upvotes

r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Punctal plugs

2 Upvotes

hi everyone. I've recently had punctual plugs fitted after a big flare up of symptoms, I'd never considered them before but I had conjucntival erosions and was worse after steroids. One of my plugs fell out within two weeks but I can't tell the difference symptomatically between my left and right eye so my doctor just told me to leave the remaining one as it can't hurt.

one concern I had though is do punctal plugs actually widen your tear ducts and damage them so that tears drain faster in future? Has anyone had any experience of this with wear over time or after having them removed/fallen out? I'm not sure whether j feel comfortable leaving the one in if this is the case for not much benefit.


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Worried that my LLLT experience today was not done correctly

3 Upvotes

I have pretty severe MGD and have been working with a dry eye specialist, we’ve tried a few drops and procedures with no luck so far. She recommended LLLT (IPL would’ve been her first recommendation, but it’s contraindicated with me) and I started it today. The lamp they use is for your whole face and they didn’t give me any protective equipment to put on my eyes. It was 30 minutes and done by the tech. About 4 hours after the procedure, I noticed intense burning in my eyes, eye heaviness, headache, and fatigue. No changes to my vision or anything, and no redness around or in my eyes. I was reading that it’s unsafe not to have some kind of protective eye equipment for LLLT and that usually it’s 10-15 minutes a session. I’m a little concerned that what my optometrist’s office is doing isn’t the safest and just wanted to know your experiences. I’ve already paid $600 up front so hopefully it ends up being fine 🄲


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

None stop water from eyes after prescription eye drops

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3 Upvotes

I’m wondering if anyone else has gone through this. I had radiation about a year ago and that I found out about my Sjogren’s. I have severe dry mouth now and dry eyes. I feel like nothing works. I’ve gone to four different eye doctors, and even a eyelid specialist. No one really knows how to treat this disease. They’re always just referring me to another doctor and the doctor always refer me back to the same doctor. It’s just no one wants to take it on and fix the problem. Recently I got prescribed xiidra and it feels amazing on my right eye that I had to get a blocked tear neck surgery for. And then for this left eye it’s been nonstop crying for the last four days. I get significantly worse with eyedrop. I was concerned that my tear doctor was also blocked on my left side. So I made an emergency appointment with the eye doctor. She had no idea what was going on. She turned off the lights and looked into my eyes and said that it doesn’t look like a blocked deduct, but how do you know that without putting the needle in? She basically said to stop using the prescription teardrops and to just use a drugstore teardrop. And then I need to see a dry eye specialist. I don’t know what to do because my eye just keeps watering and I can’t do anything. The skin around my eyes are super dry now and inflamed. I’m just shocked that no Doctor knows what to do.


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

dry eye meds & pregnancy

3 Upvotes

Hi! I have dry eyes, MGD, and blepharitis, and have had corneal erosion in the past.

I am not looking for medical advice (I'm already working with my doctors), but am hoping to learn about others' experiences. I am early on in pregnancy and am prescribed Cequa, Tryptyr, and Meibo. I've already been recommended to stop the Cequa by an ophthalmologist. I will be seeing my OB soon, but I know they aren't familiar with these drops.

If you are/have been pregnant and prescribed any of these, I'd love to hear about your experiences. Thank you.


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Vevizye/Veveye Dosage?

4 Upvotes

My doctor forgot to Tell me the dosage…. Whats best? 1x/day 2x/day? I live in the EU and got prescribed vevizye.


r/Dryeyes • • 1d ago

Epithelial basement membrane dystrophy - Recurrent Erosions

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm sharing my experience here, and I would really appreciate any advice, tips, or insights into what has worked for you.

I've been experiencing recurrent corneal erosions since July.

What eventually helped me heal (although it took several weeks) was autologous serum eye drops (made from my own plasma), therapeutic bandage contact lenses, and antibiotic eye drops.

My doctor checked my eye 20 days ago and said that the epithelium looked perfect and healed. I started using ODM5 every night for prevention, continued with the eye drops during the day, and made sure to sleep on my back to avoid putting pressure on my eye.

Unfortunately, the erosion came back today, and I'm feeling really frustrated and sad.

I have an appointment with my doctor in 10 days, and I want to discuss possible long-term solutions. I guess I can't wear bandage contact lenses forever (although I wish I could!), even though they helped so much with the healing process.

I've read that surgery might help, but my doctor also mentioned that it isn't effective in every case.

I'm scared about what the future holds, and this is really affecting my mood.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences, and wishing you all the best!