Woman diagnosed with incurable eye condition after repeatedly sleeping with makeup on
A woman who was diagnosed with a chronic eye condition after her 20-year habit caused her eyes to stop working, has spoken out about her pain five years on.
Sarah Koseki, 41, was left unable to see or sleep after her eyes seemingly became glued shut one day.
But when she was finally handed her diagnosis, she realized it was more than a fluke occurrence.
At first, the mom explained how she had been told she was suffering from dry eyes caused by genetics or getting older.
Advert
However, when she wasn’t getting help for corneal tears every three months after a Mexico trip in 2021, she was finally seen by a specialist who diagnosed her with Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD) a year later.
MGD is an incurable condition, per the Cleveland Clinic, which impacts the way your eyes are able to protect themselves.
The Field consultant, from Boise, Idaho, said the corneal tears left her unable to work or even read to her kids for 48 hours, and she has to wait it out in a dark room.
Corneal tears are small scratches on the cornea, which Moorfields Eye Hospital says is ‘the clear window at the front of the eye’ which ‘are generally a result of trauma (injury) to the surface of the eye’.
Sarah revealed that the tears would cause her such ‘debilitating’ pain, which stopped her from being able to drive, work or see, that she’d rather ‘go through childbirth again than have another corneal tear’.
However, she could have never predicted why she was getting them.
It was down to her habit of wearing eye makeup to bed.
Sarah explained: "I'm a millennial, so I used to do crazy eye make-up with cut creases, winged eyeliner and even eyeliner on the waterline, which is horrible.”
According to a specialist, the eye makeup would ‘get into my meibomian glands’ which are built to oil the eyes, so they are lubricated and able to protect themselves from debris.
"Had I known it would lead to this, I would have implemented a night-time face wash routine", she said.
Sarah tried everything to relieve her.
"Sometimes I would hold my eyelids away from my eyes with my fingers to give me relief," she said.
However, stuck with the pain and risk of tears, Sarah has admitted to being rigorous about her prevention tactics.
She said she’s been using eye drops six times a day, uses a tea tree oil wash morning and night and then a heat mask to soften the oils in her glands so they work better.
She also said she uses Hylo Night eye ointment to keep her eyes moisturised each evening, and compares her routine to ‘brushing your teeth every day to prevent a cavity’.
To help alleviate the pain, she has since been prescribed a contact bandage, which is a protective shield that stops her eyelids from sticking to her lens.
"Now I have those; when I get a corneal tear, I pop one in, and it eases the pain by 75%", she said.
She said she found IPL treatment, where pulses of light are applied to the eyelid and cheeks to help melt thickened oils stopped her from getting a tear for 18 months, but the treatments are costly and ‘anything that helps isn't covered by insurance’, noting 'the money I've spent on this is asinine.’
Since her diagnosis, Sarah has now stopped wearing eye make-up, other than under-eye concealer because ‘it’s too risky to wear eyeshadow or mascara, even if I were to wash it off’.
Britt Jones