Understanding the person behind dry eye disease

Dry eye can affect more than your eyes

At the inaugural Dry Eye Society member event in Melbourne, our practice owner and Dry Eye Society Vice President Dr Shaina Zheng spoke about an aspect of dry eye care that is particularly important to her: understanding how the condition can affect a person's everyday life and wellbeing.

Dry eye can sometimes be dismissed as a relatively minor problem.

But for someone experiencing persistent discomfort, fluctuating vision or irritation every day, the impact can be significant. Research has also explored associations between dry eye disease, reduced quality of life and mental health.

For Shaina, there is also a personal understanding behind this message.

She experiences dry eye herself.

That experience has reinforced something that has become an important principle across our practice: Listen first.

Before talking about technology or treatment, we want to understand what our patients are experiencing.

How long has it been happening?

What have they already tried?

How is it affecting their work, reading, driving, screen use or everyday activities?

What are they hoping we can help them with?

Our dry eye consultations are therefore about more than looking at the ocular surface. Our team aims to approach these conversations with active listening, compassion and empathy, while taking the time to investigate what may be contributing to each patient's symptoms.

Dry eye disease can be chronic and multifactorial. Managing it may require time, ongoing care and a combination of approaches depending on the individual.

That's why we don't want our patients to feel rushed or dismissed.

We want you to feel heard, understand what may be happening with your eyes and know what options may be available to help you manage them.