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Today’s podcast is a deep dive into the world of dry eye and ocular aesthetics – these women are some of the few specialists talking about the dangers of the products we use around our eyes (both men and women!), and approaching solutions and innovations to make cosmetics safer and better monitored by the FDA.  From lash growth serums to false eyelashes, there is so much to learn about what is truly happening on the ocular surface and how to connect with our patients to give them safer alternatives. For example, did you know that over the counter lash growth serums often contain synthetic prostaglandin analogues that can have all the same well documented dry eye side effects of prostaglandin analogue glaucoma drops? How many of our patients realize these risks and how many of us are discussing them or asking about the products they use around their eyes in the exam room?  If you want to learn more about this new frontier of patient care, a great place to start is their excellent article for Advanced Ocular Care from September 2016. Be sure to follow theDivas on Twitter to stay up to date on the conversation about dry eye, and to be the first to learn some of the new data from the DEWS II report coming later this spring!

Meet the Dry Eye Divas

Amy Gallant Sullivan  @Eyeppl  @DryEyeMakeup

Ms. Sullivan is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society.  She was the mastermind behind the creation of the DryEye Divas, a profession-bridging collaboration of women in eyecare that are dedicated to expanding awareness about dry eye in the aesthetics and cosmetics market. She is a leader in legislating dry eye care on Capitol Hill, and put significant work into the new DEWS II report that will update suggested protocols on diagnosis and management of dry eye out later this spring.

Leslie O’Dell OD, FAAO @HelpMyDryEyes

Dr. O’Dell is the Director of the Dry Eye Center of Pennsylvania at Wheatlyn Eye Care.  As a Dry Eye Diva, she is a vocal advocate online and in her practice about the dry eye side effects of common cosmetics and aesthetic treatments.  She cohosts the popular EyeTube webseries, She Said She Said with Dr. Whitney Hauser, and has published numerous studies on dry eye.  Her research presented at Academy in 2015 included investigations of manual expression for Meibomian gland dysfunction and thermoelectric heat therapy for dry eye.

Laura Periman, MD @DryEyeMaster

Dr. Periman is an ophthalmologist specializing in Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Disease at Redmond Eye Clinic in Seattle, Washington. Her background in biotechnology (early in her career she worked in research at Amgen) gives her a unique perspective of the biochemistry happening between the ocular surface and cosmetics we use, and the potential damage that can be caused.  Her popular publications in Optometry Times last year explored balancing the ocular surface in chronic conditions like blepharitis.