I Have Extremely Dry Eyes, But If I Grease Them Up With This Ointment Before Bed, They’re Almost Normal

One super cool and fun symptom of autoimmune disease is dry eyes. I have mentioned previously that I didn’t think I had dry eyes until I started using eye drops, but lately my eyes have been dry enough for me to actually notice, and it feels like I’m pouring Systane in them multiple times a day. I needed something stronger (I’m also going to bring this up with my rheumatologist). Having no idea what to look for, I stuck with the Systane brand and ordered a tube of their Nighttime Lubricant Eye Ointment. From first use, I was obsessed.

Systane Nighttime Lubricant Eye Ointment is a teensy tiny tube of gel, made up of mineral oil, petrolatum, and lanolin (you know I love lanolin), which is why I refer to it as “Eye Grease.” This product creates a film over your eyes that keeps them nice and juicy not only all night long, but into the next day. It is, essentially, slugging for your eyeballs.

To apply, you just squeeze out a tiny little bit (a quarter inch is what’s recommended on the package) and apply it to your lower eyelid (pull your lower eyelid down a little and dollop that eye grease in there). Of course you should do this without touching your eyelid with the tube, but I don’t know how to accomplish that, so I just hope for the best. Blink a few times and you will be sufficiently greased up.

Important note: You will not be able to see. I have horrendous vision, and the way I see with my eye grease in is how I see the world when I’m not wearing glasses or contacts. That’s why this is for the night. Grease up and go to sleep. When you wake up, your eyes will feel so comfortable! You won’t need to use your daytime Systane drops 8 times a day! Your contacts will function properly and not turn into curled up little husks and fall out of your eyes! AND, as an added bonus, if you put eye grease in your eyes before bed, it makes it incredibly difficult to doomscroll as you fall asleep. You can’t see shit - you have no choice but to close your eyes and go to sleep! Systane Nighttime Lubricant Eye Ointment: The solution for extremely dry eyes AND pre-bed existential dread!

** If your eyes are so dry you can’t function without coating them in grease every night, see a doctor! I mentioned my severe dry eye to my rheumatologist and she’s sending me to a dry eye specialist (Earliest appointment? Six months from now, lololol). In the meantime, she said to keep using Systane drops and ointment, and I said, “Good, because I can’t live without them.”