Dry Eye Awareness

“Dry Eye Disease” (DED) is an umbrella term for:

Ocular Surface Diseases, which affect the tears and tear glands, and

Ocular Surface Pain symptoms which may be part of a disease or may be a nerve-driven pain disorder. It’s complicated!

There is a wide variety of symptoms. Some people describe it as “shampoo in the eye” except that it lasts all day. People with DED are unable to see comfortably much or most of the time. Eye pain is a constant distraction.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that for people with DED. In fact, our predicament has become so notorious there is now a $4 billion industry churning out drugs, devices and consumer products. But for many of us, nothing seems to work very well.

Between 16 and 50 million Americans of all ages and genders. Older women are still the largest single group affected, but DED is steadily trending younger. Many common medical treatments can cause or exacerbate DED, including 22 of the top 100 drugs sold in the US. DED prevalence is difficult to establish because researchers do not yet agree on standard criteria.Item description

From “Dry Eye Disease and Me” DEF Community Survey, 2019-2021 (483 respondents)

Functional impact

• 61% are less productive at work

• 47% can’t read as much

• 51% can’t use screens as much

• 58% are uncomfortable when shopping

• 52% are uncomfortable when taking a walk

• 51% are uncomfortable when eating in a restaurant

• 50% think about their eyes most or all of the time

Emotional impact

• 63% reported anxiety because of dry eye

• 47% reported depression because of dry eye

• 15% reported suicidal ideation because of dry eye

“How I feel about the future of my symptoms”

• 18% scared

• 31% worried

• 28% uncertain

• 17% improving

• 5% confident

Get support:

• Call the Dry Eye Helpline: 800-484-0244 or schedule a free call

• Join a Zoom Group

Self-serve resources:

• Read or listen to the Dry Eye Zone Guidebook

• Visit our YouTube channel, where you’ll find webinar recordings and recordings from our 2025 Patient Symposium

Learn more:

• Dryeyezone.com

• Eyedropsafety.org

• Mybigfatsclerallens.org

• Higheyes.org

For more about DEF’s work, read our 2025 Annual Report