More detailed explanation on Dry Eye, the layers of the tear film & Humidifiers for Dry Eye Patients: looking for one that you can discretely wear around your neck

Many of our dry eye patients really are fed up with feeling their eyes every time they blink. Some patients have given the analogy of sandpaper rubbing against the front of the eye with every blink.

This often occurs if one of the 3 components of the tear film has stopped production:
1. Oily part (or Lipid part): from the Meibomian Gland; the upper eyelid has about 50 meibomian glands and the bottom about 25-30 (depending on anatomy). If the glands scars down from chronic inflammation, it will no longer work properly. If these glands stops working altogether, it is very difficult and in many cases impossible, to get them working again.

2. Aqueous component: from the Lacrimal Gland.
A decrease in aqueous production occurs in:
– Sjogrens syndrome patients (have symptoms of dry eye, dry mouth, and arthritis).
– androgen deficiency may be a critical etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of
aqueous-deficient and evaporative dry eye syndromes during menopause, aging and certain autoimmune diseases (e.g. Sjögren’ssyndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE], rheumatoid arthritis [RA]).
-keratoconjunctivitis sicca, 
-corneal exposure (e.g. seventh nerve palsy), 
-occlusion abnormalities such as blepharoptosis, 
-ocular surgery (e.g. keratoplasty), 
-systemic diseases with effects on the ocular surface (e.g. Sjogren’s syndrome), 
-extended use of anticholinergic medications,

3. Mucin