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Comment by Trasmatta | Hacker News Reader

I'm about 10 years into this, and I've tried many many things. It's all about management now. It really depends on the type of dry eye you have, so I'd recommend seeing a dry eye specialist if you haven't. Getting a meibography done is really important for seeing the state of your glands.

The things that work the best for me currently are Systane Hydration PF eye drops, NuLids, Manuka Honey gel, OcuSoft lid scrubs, moving out of a dry climate, and limiting screen time. Inflammation in general causes it to flare up -- diet, lack of sleep, alcohol, stress, staying up late coding or gaming, all seem to cause inflammation and make it worse for me.

I've also done Restasis, Xiidra, Cequa, IPL, Radio Frequency, warm compresses, and punctal plugs, without much success.

I'd like to try autologous tear serum next.

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I used to have this problem too. Tried prescriptions, systane, hydration eye drops etc etc, but in the end but actually worked was baby shampoo rinsing my eyes twice a day and washing them it took some time but now it's completely gone. But for me I believe it was some sort of blepharitis that was blocking the glands that produced the lubrication my eyes needed, and now that I have a good routine, it appears to have solve the problem.

Wow you've tried the whole industry. The only thing I can recommend to you would be to try a brand of drops called Optase, they are more quality and thicker than everything else on the market.

Here's a HN post with a really good top comment that talks about psychological eye strain that really resonated with me, plenty of other advice in there too you might like: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34518343

Good luck!

I haven't tried Optase, but it's worth a shot. Systane Hydration PF has been the best for me, and it is also a lot thicker.

Thank you for the link! It resonates with my experience. I do think there's a psychological aspect of it for me. When I'm depressed or disassociating (which is frequent) it's easy to just stare at a screen and not blink at all.

Here is what I've learned about honey. Honey is a good source of antihistamines, because the bees who collect pollen are constantly powdered all over with it. Therefore, they produce natural antihistamine to protect themselves and the hive when they return.

So, the best honey, especially for someone who has allergy symptoms, would be honey that's produced and harvested locally, reflecting the pollinated flora in your area. I purchase "Local Hive" brand, which offers several regional varieties from around these United States, as well as Wildflower, etc.

Mānuka honey would originate Down Under, although it seems that it's produced elsewhere now, but what are the chances that allergies are sensitive to the mānuka tree alone? That being said, I received some from a friend as a gift, when I was singing in choir but throat pain was acting up. It's exotic, it's thick and rich; it tastes really, really good. I'm not opposed to enjoying it as a treat!

That’s a lot of different things to consider and try, thanks!

What worked for me was drinking massive amounts of water throughout the day.

Not so much to cause hyponatremia, of course, but it was a cheap easy way to establish a baseline for me (i.e. helps with dry climates, salty foods, dehydration, etc). And yeah, I tried some of those other things too.

I have had dry eyes, still occur in the summer when AC is blasting and right before winter. My solution was seeing an eye doctor, which recommended cyclosporine drops (I took them for 2 years every night), mediteranian diet, Omega3. Also cleaning my eyes with soft tooth brush and child shampoo (tearless) every night.

Naturally you have some little bacteria called Demodex on your eyelashes, but they might cause problems. The only way to get rid of them is clean your eyelashes with Teatree extract. I was recommended Blephademodex wipes, which I had to warm up in microwave and then clean my eyes.

All this solutions together made my dry eyes more manageable.

I'm doing IPL/RF now which is theorized to help with inflammation, but now I know to be more careful with healthy lifestyle. Too bad this understanding of computer lifestyle and dry eye syndrome was that well explained and emphasizsd 15 years ago.

Have you noticed any improvement with IPL/RF? I've done 5 sessions - I saw improvement after the first and fourth, but regressed pretty quicky back after a few days. I've heard some people saying they had to do like 10 to start to notice a bigger difference. The problem is it's so expensive (I have to pay $750 for the combo session).

    > Manuka Honey gel

What is special about this honey? Is there any science behind the extravagant health claims?

I think Manuka Honey's claims to do anything that normal honey wouldn't do is bunk, but it seems to be relatively skin safe and tolerated so it's not harmful.

However, it seems to have a lower PH than regular honey and exhibits antibiotic properties (which most honey does as honey doesn't typically go bad), so maybe there are some topical applications that make sense for it.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/manuka-honey-benefits

If Manuka honey has helped, have you considered using other antiseptics or even probiotic eye baths and bacteriophages?

How much water do you drink and do you take extra salt?

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