Originally Posted by bluesfan

Hi JoannaP79

I found it interesting that your ophthalmologist would describe it that way - I guess technically she's correct but it doesn't help you understand what's going on. From what I've previously been told and from reading up on this, to explain the difference simply, Dry Eye is a syndrome and Tear Film Instability is a cause. Of course there're more technical and medically precise definitions and terms.

With Dry Eye, as with many other symptoms or syndromes there can be a number of underlying causes - one being Tear Film Instability. As Dry Eye is a common syndrome (I have it ) I wouldn't get too concerned at this stage.

Here's a link to a fairly good explanation of what you have. There's plenty more on line if you want to look around.

Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Treatment — AAPOS

While Dry Eye can be one of the symptom's of Sjogren's it is not exclusive to Sjogren's - sometimes when it's just dry eye on it's own it's also known as Sicca Syndrome (sorry if this confuses - you can search Sicca Syndrome on here - there have been previous discussions on this)

Hope this helps.