Old Bones
Senior Member
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Dryness of the eyes and mouth can have other causes, which include:
It’s important to see your doctor to get an accurate diagnosis.
- inflammation of the oil-producing glands in your eyelids (blepharitis), which causes excessive evaporation of the tear film
A bit off-topic . . . My problem with dry eyes (so dry it is difficult to open them when I awaken at night) was diagnosed as blepharitis by an optometrist. It was probably an obvious diagnosis, since she was able to see the collarettes (crusting) at the base of my eyelashes. But, now I'm not so sure. Because, after two in-office treatments with her vigorously scrubbing the lash line with a rotating device dipped in a tea tree oil solution, and me consistently using warm compresses followed by more vigorous scrubbing with commercial eyelid wipes before bed, my eyes haven't improved. In almost two months, I only skipped this protocol once, and that night my eyes felt even worse than they did at diagnosis. The optometrist was pleased at follow-up by how much better my eyes looked -- small comfort, considering my unimproved symptoms.
My Schirmer's test indicated eyes that were only slightly dry. But then, I don't have this problem during the daytime -- only at night. How long should I continue the blepharitis management protocol, without improvement, before considering the diagnosis may have been wrong? (I have other autoimmune diagnoses, but as far as I know, my tests for Sjogren's have been negative.)