Dealing With Germs

Segment 8

Dealing with germs

CoVid19 has made us all hyper-aware of germs, but even before this novel coronavirus came along humans have been dealing with all kinds of germs for as long as we’ve existed on this planet. Recalling that tears are food and that germs are always looking for a free meal, it isn’t too surprising to discover that germs live around our lids and lashes and subsist on our tear oils and other tear products. When our oil glands are working their best our natural antibodies come through in our oils and deter most terms from multiplying to levels that can hurt us. But as the glands slow down and become dysfunctional, the oil stagnates and becomes a “buffet table“ for these germs to graze on. This leads to more tears for them and less for us, but then the byproducts of their digestion pollute our tears and lead to inflammation - our body’s response to irritation and the sense that germs are attacking us. Inflammation is our body’s defense system and is indiscriminate in its war on germs - at the high cost of hurting the glands that make all of our tear components leading to Dry Eye. More inflammation leads to evermore dryness, irritation and then inflammation - the so-called vicious cycle of dry eye. A common approach to inflammation is to prescribe anti-inflammatory products like Cyclosporine, Lifitegrast or steroid drops - but unless you also target the underlying, “root cause” of the inflammation (in this case, germs and related dryness), then the end result is “kicking the can down the road,” where the medication “covers up” the problem without effectively dealing with it. In this situation, it becomes necessary to add more anti-inflammatory medications as the germs continue to proliferate and stimulate our body’s defenses into an ongoing vicious cycle. It also explains why, as you wean off these medications, the relief they gave becomes incomplete - and eventually, all too temporary.

In my next post, I’ll concentrate on effective at-home care that can help us control the germs and limit the inflammation they provoke. Future posts will continue to explain how I generally deal with this problem using targeted, in-office treatments and additional home care strategies. One of the biggest problems we all face, is that we are all, as a general rule, living longer lives - and that as long as we live, we generally use our eyes more, too. This makes it clear that we need to take care of our eyes every day. I find the dental analogy works here for most. We tend to our teeth so they can last as long as we do. Brushing, flossing and regular trips to the dentist helps us stay ahead of the dental damage and decay that could rob us of of our pearly smile. The problem with our eyes is similar, except that we don’t have good “dentures” to replace our eyes if we fail them in our care. Germs are a big part of the dental problem and can be just as bad for our lids, tears - and therefore, our eyes, too. Stay tuned!