From the editor's desk

October 2006

What have we been up to lately at The Dry Eye Zone? Gosh, we've had LOTS of new stuff going on here there and everywhere.

Here are some highlights:

NEW SITE: The Dry Eye Company (parent of The Dry Eye Zone) finally has its own site! Come visit www.dryeyecompany.com. The home page is a kind of snapshot of what TDEC does - the Shop, the Zone, Talk - with quick access to many of the most popular links on each site. Go to About for background on The Dry Eye Company itself. Mission/Vision will acquaint you with our rather distinctive philosophy and purpose.

NEW PHARMACIES: Slowly but surely, we're working our way in... from the ground up. For physicians on our sample program we now have pharmacies stocking our eyedrops in more than 40 cities in Florida. If we're not stocked in a pharmacy near you, just let us know that you'd like us to be and we'll get to work on it. Check our pharmacy finder for current availability.

NEW LOGOS: The Dry Eye Company has a punchy new look for its logo... and also for the Shop, and the Zone, and Talk, and (soon-to-be) Team. Click here for a little preview. TDEC logo won't show up immediately on letterhead & stuff but you'll be seeing more and more of it before long.

NEW SHIPPING CENTER: So you noticed the Washington return address on your latest shipment? Don't worry, we're still a Florida company, based in Apollo Beach, but we are doing our shipping from Washington State now.

NEW FACE LIFT for The Dry Eye Shop: We hope all our changes are making it pleasanter and easier to use.

NEW CONTENT ON THE DRY EYE ZONE: Couldn't possibly list everything that has been added in the last month or two but here are some of our favorites:

• Consumer guides: We now have several of these - works in progress, of course, but useful even as is. There's a directory of eye lubricants (including active ingredient and preservative information), a guide to punctal plugs, an introduction to moisture-retaining eyewear for severe dry eye patients, and a directory of lid scrub products.
• Living with dry eye: We have a new series of articles that are basically a collection of tips readers have shared - about surviving the office environment, getting through the night, travelling and more - all with severe dry eye.

NEW PATIENT POLLS: With more than 1,000 registered users on Dry Eye Talk, we figured it was about time we started measuring a few opinions, in a low-key Dry Eye Zone sorta way. It's early days yet but so far...

• Artificial tears: It all started with one patient wanting to ask others what kind of tears they used. It's very interesting to see how very diverse we are.
• How many doctors? We asked patients how many eye doctors they have been to about dry eye. The results, well, it's not pretty. Suffice to say, dry eye patients don't hesitate to move on if they're not getting help.
• Is Restasis helping you? This will be the one to watch. It's early days yet, so no judgments. What, me, snicker? Of course not.

NEW & IMPROVED TOPICAL ARCHIVES on Dry Eye Talk: In an effort to consolidate information in the most searchable formats we're always expanding our archives and "filing" threads to make discussions on interesting topics more "get-at-able". Have a look.... we think there's plenty there of potential interest to doctors who really want to understand dry eye and dry eye patients.

SCLERALS UPDATE

Last issue, I wrote about my first six weeks wearing Boston sclerals. Time for a quick update - though truthfully there is, happily, not much to report.

• I'm still wearing them pretty much all my waking hours.
• I hardly have to lubricate them. Of course, I've been in the pacific northwest a lot of this time - no a/c or heat - so this may change as the weather starts getting cooler - we'll see.
• My eyes continue to look and feel great on removing the lenses and I am on a fairly low maintenance routine for night time eye care.
• My vision continues to be excellent.
• Only bump in the road has been a few episodes of lid inflammation, apparently from blocked meibomian glands in first my left then both upper lids. Once I realized what was happening, heat treatment (rice baggy) cleared it up within 48 hours each time. Initially it was a little confusing as the first episode coincided with my first trial of a new lid scrub product (Sterilid) and stopped when I stopped using it, but as far as I can tell I think it was just coincidence.

That's about all, I guess. What's that you said? What about September? (Blush.) Golly, yes, sorry no issue last month. Hopefully what I lack in consistency I eventually make up for in, well, something or other.

Rebecca Petris
The Dry Eye Zone