How are dry eyes tested and diagnosed?
The most frequently used tests for dry eye are the Schirmer lacrimation test (where a small strip of paper is placed in the eye), which is intended to measure aqueous tear production, and the tear break-up time test, which can help doctors identify tear film instability. Corneal staining is also increasingly used. No other tests are as standardized and widely employed, but there are some emerging technologies attempting to change this, and there are some valuable but infrequently employed existing technologies such as meibography which can yield very important diagnostic information about meibomian gland function. It is widely acknowledged at least at academic levels that there is a poor correlation between clinical testing for dry eye and the symptoms patients experience. In other words, you may truly be suffering from dry eye disease without having test results that seem to back this up. For this reason, we at The Dry Eyey Zone are strong advocates for the use of an excellent self-di
