VIDEO: Do not ignore ocular surface disease

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The only thing I would say is just don’t ignore ocular surface disease (OSD). Think of OSD as another disease. It is not just a symptom. I think with the International Task Force guidelines and Delphi panel that came out many years ago talking about stage one, two, three, etc, I think that really did help us understand that this is a progressive disease. And any progressive disease that we have in the eye, or in the body for that matter, we want to address it as early as possible.

I think we get kind of complacent. I’ll be honest, I’m the same way sometimes. We get complacent and say, “Here’s some tears, see you back,” or don’t even mention it to the patient because we’re busy. But again, this is a disease that as you wait long enough, it gets harder and harder to treat, and symptoms become worse. So just don’t ignore it. It does affect patient’s quality of life, patient satisfaction. We have a number of different data sets out there. And for me, as a glaucoma specialist, I’m trying my best to get people off of topical glaucoma drops that have preservatives and chemicals that can irritate the eye, but also, even in that context, there’s still patients who have an underlying ocular surface disease. So, whatever you’re treating, don’t ignore the surface of the eye. It can make a huge impact on patients’ daily lives.