How to Detect Dry Eye

Jennifer Matthews: Imagine sandpaper scraping across your eyeball. That's how doctors described a dry eye syndrome to Mary Liggett. Mary Liggett: It's kind of a grittiness and itchiness. But then if you rub, it's kind of a grittiness and there will be like a discharge in your eye. Jennifer Matthews: Mary has Sjogren's syndrome, a condition that affects the body's moisture producing glands; one of the side effects, dry eyes. Mary Liggett: So I might be crying and boo-hooing up a storm, but I just didn't have enough moisture to produce tears. Jennifer Matthews: Ophthalmologist James McCulley uses a lissamine green vital stain compound to detect dry eye syndrome. Dr. James P. McCulley: It stains cells that have either died or dried out. Jennifer Matthews: Dr. McCulley believes this stain is the key to detecting dry eye early, before the problem gets worse. Dr. James P. McCulley: If it is an early dry eye, the part of the ocular surface to stain is the white of the eye near the nose. The next stage in development of severity is add to that staining of the white of the eye out toward the ear. And then the third is the cornea. Mary Liggett: It's just a momentary sting when they first put it in. But it's interesting, because the world changes colors. Jennifer Matthews: Artificial tear drops are the most common treatment for dry eye. If untreated, dry eye can lead to infections and vision problems. Mary Liggett: Before I got my eyes back under control, I'm trying to do something this tiny would have been impossible for me to see. Jennifer Matthews: But now, she is seeing clearly again. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.