Dry Eye Awareness Month 2026 Survey Results

Aug 6

How has dry eye impacted your quality of life?

I use a CPAP machine at night and find it blows up into my eyes through my tear ducts. I have to use gel drops or ointment at night to counter act that, which helps. But now that I'm retired and no longer sit in front of a computer all day, my dry eyes have gotten better and I've found PF Systane eye drops that help with tear evaporation have really made an improvement in my quality of life and pain from dry eyes. I recently had cateract surgery and found I needed to use more PF drops to help with dryness, but that has gotten better as well.

It's hard to wear my gas permeable contacts especially in the winter. The rest of the year I constantly carry dry eye solution with me.

My primary work as a musician and as a plein air artist was severely impacted as was my primary recreation activity of walking and hiking. My first troubles with dry eyes happened on a camp trip and backcountry hike with high/low temperature extremes and low humidity, a plein air artists event and a solo outdoor music performance on a windy afternoon, all in 2007 and involved a torn cornea. I no longer can do any of these activities without difficulty if at all due to eye pain and excessive tearing. Even indoors, out of wind, my eyes are too teary to see well (we have humidifiers, but...).

cequa has made it managable. previous to cequa life was miserable. pain, light sensitivity, red inflamed skin around eyes, eyes watering a lot - like looking through water- difficult to walk down steps

Constant blurry vision. Time and money consuming daily treatment regimen.

My Dry Eye Disease has an extreme impact on my life socially, financially, emotionally, and physically. I must use prescription and OTC eye drops every 2 and 3 hours. Serum eye drops cost me $200.00 every 45 days. Meibo is $49.00 monthly. The financial burden for OTC IVIZIA, Hylo Optase night ointment is $15.00-$17.00 each monthly. More financial costs include OcuSoft Eye lid scrubs, and airline/hotel expenses for evaluations from experts, and eye masks. Socially, I am required to interrupt and stop what I'm doing to use my eye drops, otherwise I experience eye pain, redness, decreased vision, and cornea abrasions. Always living on the clock to ensure I take my eye medications as prescribed to prevent eye complications is emotionally draining, and socially awkward. Traveling, I must bring ampule supplies, ensure prescription eye drops are stored on ice or refrigerated as required to ensure medication stability. I must coordinate time for heated eye mask treatments which proves very difficult when traveling or even running errands in town.

I have 3 different medicines I am to take. Which relates to using some form of drops 8 times a day. So how am I to get anything else done as I feel I am always going in to use some sort of eye drops. If I don't they are very tired, sore, scratchy and start having some vision problems of blurriness. Therefore, I don't drive as it may not be safe until my eyes get better by using my drops. So when I have to go any where, I have one bag with all of these eye drops vials so I can be sure to use them. I have just had hip replacement surgery and been having trouble keep up with them. It's like that's all I have to think about. Yeah, right. There has to be a better way.

It affects my driving. My eyes always feel inflamed. Filmy floaters. Sometimes they just hurt.

I am having difficulty reading which I love to do. My eyes feel uncomfortable most of the time. I have to do so many extra steps each day to take care of my eyes - drops, ointments, lids scrubs, compresses, night goggles.

I have to sleep with taped eyelids. I avoid locations that are overly windy. I don't tolerate air conditioning or ceiling fans. I have continuous edema that doe snot abate.

Dry eye has immensely impacted my quality of life. I have discomfort and/or pain most of the time. Part of the discomfort stems from blurry vision due to dry eyes. It has also forced me to adjust activities — I can’t read for more than a few minutes at a time; have to be aware of, and try to avoid environmental factors that affect my eyes (wind, fans, dry conditions). The blurry vision also makes driving stressful.

It is just something I'm constantly aware of. After years of treatment and significant out of pocket expenses, my dry eye disease is maintained at a decent level, but the constant fighting with insurance companies and their complete ignorance and denial of the severity of dry eye is frustrating at best.

Unable to read watch tv

A lot! Took almost 2 years to find a treatment to restore my corneas (autologous serum drops) plus special sclelral contacts. During that time I couldn't read more than a few minutes at the time. Meant I had to go on medical leave for extended periods of time. And had to avoid bright sunlight, drivint at night, etc.

Reading

I have many eye related comorbidities, so I am not sure which condition is impacting the quality of my life the most.

My eyes are much better now. I am wearing contacts for sports and a few other occasions. previously my eyes were blood shot and sore from the dryness

my quality of life is very poor. I can no longer live a normal life.

need to clean, rehydrate scleral lens multiple times during day

I have scar tissue on my corneas from corneal ulcers that were exacerbated by crystals in my tear film, built up from using ibuprofen as recommended by the many doctors I saw for the corneal pain. It affects everything. Scleral lenses are uncomfortable due to my allergies causing a lot of eye mucus. So I see everything through these scars, it's blurry and fragmented.

1. Contributed to stopping my career progression. 2. Severely limits how long I am able to drive. 3. Prevents me from watching fireworks or movies in a theatre. 4. I need to shine a light on reading material.

Very dry in AM

My vision is less clear.

In Sept. 1990 I had my lower tear ducts cauterized because of my very dry eyes. It did not help that much and I have had continued issues ever since. I have had rheumatoid arthritis since 1978 and that more than likely caused some of my dryness. I wore contact lenses of various sorts until 2008 when the dryness made them too hard to wear. Over the counter tear drops were used constantly. I started Restasis in 2003 when they were available and have used them religiously until changing to Cequa in 2023. I tried autologous serum drops three times (in 2018 and 2021) and could not tolerate them but kept trying because my doctor wanted me to. I avoided fans, air conditioning pointed at me in the car, etc. I stared seeing a Dry Eye Clinic doctor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. I tried Ziena moisture chamber glasses. I got scleral lenses in 2023 and am on my second pair and they are wonderful but are a lot of trouble. Trying to decide when to exercise and when to shower is a daily scheduling issue with the sclerals. The daily 30 minutes with the electric mask is another time waster. I have used an eye ointment nightly for over 20 years. I don't think my vision is that good and I often have vision issues due to the lenses not being totally clear.

The wind and sun really bother me. I can not be outside when it is windy. Makes it hard to be with family for outdoor activities.

I need to work on a PC for my accounting work and seminars. So a strong problem.

I live with this disease day after day. It's gotten to the point that depression sets in; some days worse than others. The people around me have no idea what a debilitating disease this is. I've tried to explain, but I just get a stare/look.

It affects me daily with pain or discomfort and the anxiety. Limits outdoor and indoor activities, driving and the expense of supplies and procedures

It has impacted my whole life and I am just now realizing it as it progresses. I have just received my first Sceral Lenses. I am determined to get my life back.

So much pain before my scleral lenses, and reduced vision that kept me from driving.

My dry eye was severe until I went through the gamut of treatment options and found something that works.

I wake several times a night (at least) needing eye drops. Also vision is blurry most of the time so I cannot see as well. Most documents harder to read.

Eye maintenance requires quite a bit of daily effort. My case is not as bad as others. But it still is very uncomfortable when my eyes dry out the closer to bedtime it gets

It is pretty well controlled now scleral lenses, however, they are expensive and Medicare does not cover. They can be a hassle to get in and out, even after several years of wearing. I live in an area without a scleral lens provider so have to drive 3.5 hrs for care.

I cannot stay on a computer for very long . Shadow vision .

I am a high myopic and NEED to wear contacts for sports and would prefer to wear them in public but my dry eye has made it hard and I wear my lenses sparingly. Sclerals did not help

My eyes always hurt in the morning. I don’t wear eye make up anymore, so I feel ugly.

It has severely impacted my abilities to perform sport and daily activities, i.e. driving, walking, particularly outdoors, that I happily participated in prior to my diagnosis.

I am less social , stopped playing canasta, having lunch with friends . Going to movies . More isolating, more depressed

I can't work a full time job because of the pain. I need to make sure I get at least 10 hours of sleep to make sure my eyes are rested and have to do my treatments throughout the day. I also cannot drive more than an hour at a time. I have been suffering with this condition for about 6 years and it is getting better a little due to time and all the treatments we have access too now.

spend less time doing things I love, tend to ask others to drive, want to rest more, depression. 2nd guess all I might do and decide based on how my eyes might feel. Stopped going to late night things.

Distracts me from fully concentrating on my work, especially during flare ups, causes worry when I travel because I know traveling usually causes eye irritation and dry eye flare, I always have to have eye drops in my "go bag".

I carry eyedrop vials everywhere I go and am in constant fear of getting anything in my eye as I don’t have the fluid to work it out.

difficulty driving at times and reading.

As someone who suffer from Sjogren's Disease, this autoimmune disease creates massive inflammation throughout my body, wreaking havoc on all my moisture producing organs. Every surface I used to take for granted as working normally: my eyes, my mouth, my throat, my gastrointestinal tract, my urogenital system is starved for moisture. I can no longer smell, I have no sense of taste, and my eyes have all but stopped producing any tears as my tear glands have been irreversibly destroyed by my own immune system. The pain caused by eye surface dryness is constant and no amount of drops or medications can fix that. The only thing that has helped are my scleral lenses.

Constantly bothered by how uncomfortable my eyes are - dealing with painful dry eyes has caused eye muscle fatigue, difficulty lifting eyes - hard to just get out

I was only able to wear lenses for short amount of time each day, therefore I had to plan my life in 4 hour intervals. Driving became a major problem during the day & was unable to drive at night. Difficult to make social plans because I was never comfortable wearing lenses for long periods of time

I have very little natural tears. I use eye drops every few hours all day long and overnight. I usually wake up with pain in my eyes since the gel has dried up in my eyes. I don't like the ointments because they are difficult to impossible to remove and seem to always be recalled or on backorder.

On every level, both socially, professionally, romantically, etc.

I feel frequent discomfort and have tried many remedies, over the counter and prescription, but none seems to help. The burning feels like soap/shampoo in my eyes and makes it hard to concentrate.

Eye pain can be physically and mentally exhausting - my eye pain from dry eye occurs at night so it's difficult to sleep. During the day, I wear PROSE lenses so my days are mostly a pain free miracle.

I don't go out other than to necessary appointments and grocery shopping. Constant feeling of irritation which makes it difficult to feel up to doing anything socially as my eyes look terrible. I no longer can wear any eye makeup and just feel so hideous.

I cannot read or use screens. I am frequently uncomfortable.

it's a hassle to when I'm tired to have to compress my eyes, an expense to purchase OTC eye drops and spend the money on restasys, My insurance pays for part of it but it still adds up.

Always carry eye drops, uncontrolled blinking in social situations, have to use hot compress, must wear sunglasses ir safety glasses when outside or working on projects to keep debris out of eyes

It has become very difficult to perform my work duties. I've always loved to read and now I rarely read due to my eye issues. I used to shoot and no longer do, as I worry about safety. I try to not drive at night and stay away from large traffic areas.

I use OTC drops every hour (sometimes more) during the day, and take prescription drops 2x/day. I use a gel and moisture goggles overnight, and take various supplements daily.

No choice but to grind and bear it.

I am lucky. I am regular about using overnight ointment and drinking lots of water. But I've scratched my cornea a couple of times, the last time was two years ago. Several years ago it was a bad scratch that led to me stop wearing contact lenses. When I retired I stopped wearing eye makeup.

There is not 1 minute in my life when it is forgotten and/or not felt.

I can no longer read books. Reading was my life. I am not kidding. It was that important to me. Audiobooks are decent substitute but a substitute nonetheless. This is the greatest impact that dry eye disease has had on my life.

I have come up with a way to manage the pain but it is a lot of work and discipline to be able to function at a normal level. Still a good trade off but a lot of work.

I can't be in breezy or windy conditions. Indoor air conditioning can also be a problem. I have autologous eye drops and have to do a lot of planning to figure out how to keep them cold when traveling. I often want to just close my eyes and my dry eyes make me feel tired. I spend a lot of valuable time "caring" for my eye condition. I can't read books as I used to; I have to do audio books now. I have to be very cautious about screen time.

I do anything I want, but I am uncomfortable most of the day, and especially first thing in the morning. My first question in the morning is always whether I shut off my alarm clock or put in eye drops first.

Great difficulty driving (especially in the sun), great difficulty being in many indoor environments (including work environments)

Unable to read at night. Have to wear goggles outside and inside when fans are running. I avoid air flight due to dry eyes.

Drastically reduced it

It has controlled my activities and decreased my quality of life immensely

Constant eye discomfort except when asleep.

Cant see at times

Constant use of eye drop and warm compresses

When I experience a flare-up, I have no quality of life. Even if the pain is not severe, it is unrelenting, making it hard for me to enjoy my life. I enter a mode of constantly trying to distract myself from the pain. It is difficult for me to socialize with friends when I am in this state because I am preoccupied with my pain and the emotional support I need from them is more than they can provide. I become a burden on my friends and family.

How has dry eye impacted you emotionally?

It's frustrating when I have to prepare specifically for activities that I know are going to impact my eyes such as just being outside in the sun or riding ATV's. But after applying good information from your foundation to my prep and just learning from trial and error, I've made great strides and improvement so I'm not as impacted as I once was. I can wear eye make up occasionally and now that I no longer have to wear glasses after cateract surgery, I can wear regular sunglasses instead of "overs" that made me feel like my grandma (no offense, I found some cute versions and I didn't really care what people thought as long as I had relief from pain).

It's very frustrating. Sometimes I have to leave places to go home and rest my eyes. Not often but often enough that it bothers me enough to say it.

I have been pretty good at being resilient and switching to my other interests (writing, reading, photography). Unfortunately I now have almost no income because art and music provided that and both involve vision and often being outside and where we've built our house is dry and breezy most of the year. Our house has a relatively long hall & stairs, so I can exercise indoors. But I've always loved nature and it's really depressing if I allow myself to think about it to not be actively involved in the work I most love and which everyone assumes I still do.

before cequa was wondering if i could continue

Dry Eye Disease extremely impacts my life emotionally. There's a constant worry about eye health and deterioration of vision. It is very scary not knowing what the future holds. Emotionally, it is very difficult always living life with a hourly focus on eye needs and eye health requirements ensuring medication compliance.

At times, but it's usually cause I have so many other things going on, or the fact that I can't sleep. So yeah, it all drives me crazy. Makes me not want to use any of the drops at all. It's such a hassle.

My world seems smaller. I cannot read a newspaper or magazine. I can’t identify birds. I don’t enjoy the beauty around me, because my vision isn’t clear.

I was OK with dry eye for most of my life. I was diagnosed in my 20''s. But now as I am getting older, my vision is worse and my dry eyes feel worse and require more work to take care of them. I feel depressed about my vision and bothered that my eyes don't feel right.

I have tried every treatment possible for meibomian gland dysfunction, and have never had a positive response. I have had this external disease since I was 12 years old.

It’s stressful all the way around and can be depressing

It's just a frustrating condition that will be with me for the rest of my life. It is something that requires maintenance everyday, many times per day.

Gets me down

Was scary and depressing -- having such blurry vision and lots of pain in both eyes. Am doing much better now due to my eye treatments (ongoing).

I am irritated when my eyes are irritated. I have to focus to remain kind.

Frustration

I had to find support, which I found by participating in your monthly online support groups. I also learn so much from listening to everyone. I find that I learn more from members of the support groups then from doctors that I see for my conditions.

Quite a lot . I can not look forward to. happiness.

Difficult to interface with others due to need to infuse drops frequently

It's awful knowing I'll never see clearly again. That the fuzzy, blurry, fragmented haze is my forever vision. Scleral lenses help, until they get foggy and uncomfortable due to my allergies causing mucus that gets on, and trapped under, the lenses. I get depressed thinking that I can't be a photographer anymore because I can't see properly to line up a shot. At the same time, I'm grateful for the vision I do have, because I didn't know if I would even have this at one point

Frustrates me.

Minimal

I get discouraged

I am constantly aware of my eyes and the issues there and it makes me very sad

I have constant discomfort because of dry eyes. The scleral lenses help but it never goes away.

I tire easily and don't go out as much.

Always aware of this all day long. Sometimes I don't feel like going out. It could be the sunshine or the constant feeling I always have in my eyes. It is very tiresome.

Anxiety and isolation

My life as I knew it, changed, dramatically. The worst is not being able to drive and being dependent on others.

Frustrating living with pain

It can be very disheartening when solutions don't work.

I am unhappy with the symptoms and the limited treatments, but emotionally, I am on.

It is frustrating knowing I could have avoided dry eye if my ophthalmologist mentioned my MGD and blepharitis previous to my Lasik

It is a daily hassle and it is hard to pay for them which means I forego other things.

nil

I hate how my eyes water in certain environments - especially air conditioning. I hate not feeling like I look my best. I hate not being able to get nighttime gels that last through the night (not ointments, the Systane and GenTeal gels, that appear briefly on shelves and then disappear for months).

It's created extreme daily fatigue and occasional headaches due to frequent difficulties keeping my eyes open.

Depressed

In the beginning I was very depressed and struggled with bad anxiety. I still do but has gotten better. Dry eye can cause a lot of emotional stress in life and on the body. It is not a one thing cures all situation and can be draining having to try and try until you find a tiny bit of relief.

def depressions, sadness, stages of grief.

It's frustrating to feel pain every time you blink, because you can't just stop blinking or take medication to dull the pain. It's concerning to know that there are visible physical exam signs of clogged glands, tear deficiency, and spots on my cornea that could affect my vision later in life.

I get distressed situationally like when I’m in someone else’s home or car and the heat or AC is a problem for my eyes.

Losing the ability to see clearly, to see without pain, to be able to be outside in bright sunlight, to be able to drive at night without being blinded by oncoming headlights, to be able to drive to see my son 5 hours away, to swim in the ocean, to travel having to carry extra equipment and liquids, to have to factor in extra time every morning and evening for eye and lens care , to having lost smell and taste has taken a huge toll on my mental well-being. I can no longer make new memories based on my senses or recall old ones. I struggle with constant discomfort.

With decades of dry eye disease, my eyes have morphed into something I do not recognize any more - much sadness

Isolation because unable to wear lenses many hours in the house, depression.

Not very much. Just a mild inconvenience. Blepharospasm has been more of an issue.

Feel less confident because people stare at my red, swollen or pinched eyes. Can't wear make up anymore.

It feels as if I am in free fall without a guide. If not reversable, but treatable, I am impatient for a symptom relief.

I think that pain is just emotionally draining leading to being very tired.

No self-confidence and always embarrassed at how bad my eyes look

Often frustrated, sad , hopeless.

none

I feel extremely self-conscious about how my eyes appear.

It's hard to bring and use eye drops at work and is awkward running into coworkers in the bathroom while I'm using them.

I envy people who never give their eyes a second thought.

Years ago it was a concern, now it is routine. The most impact is not being able to take a spontaneous nap or read a book and turnover and turn out the light. I have to always put in eye ointment.

It is draining

It is very upsetting to not be able to read. Plus, the constant irritation or pain takes a toll.

Until I had found a way to manage the pain (and fatigue that comes with it), it was frustrating and easy to feel fatalistic about it - like nothing would make a difference. I persevered to get to a place where it doesn't have that impact but it took time to get there.

It's better now but I can get quite depressed as there is no cure for dry eye. I have tried lots of procedures and eye drops and spent a lot of money for little in terms of results.

It hasn't bothered me emotionally.

Depression, hopelessness, despair

Feel frustrated and angry that many of the recommended treatments are not covered by insurance.

I can’t wear makeup, have to wear my sunglasses whenever I’m outside or under bright lights because of glare, can no longer drive at night, and am in constant pain. This has depressed me profoundly and made me feel weird and different.

May make depression diagnosis worse.

Cant forget about it

It's a bother

When I was at my worst, I was suicidal. Chronic pain from dry eye takes the desire to live away from you. Severe dry eye is incompatible with happiness.