Latest / Uncluttered and Unfiltered: The Podcast For Women Over 50 / ENCORE EPISODE: YOUR EYES AFTER 50: NAVIGATING MENOPAUSE, DRY EYES, AND THE BEST BEAUTY PRACTICES FOR HEALTHY EYES

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ENCORE EPISODE: YOUR EYES AFTER 50: NAVIGATING MENOPAUSE, DRY EYES, AND THE BEST BEAUTY PRACTICES FOR HEALTHY EYES · Uncluttered and Unfiltered: The Podcast For Women Over 50

0:03
Welcome to Uncluttered and Unfiltered, the podcast urging
0:07
you to let it go and don't look back, with nationally acclaimed
0:12
professional organizer Christine Stone and self-proclaimed Hot
0:16
Damn Mess radio and TV personality Eden Kendall.
0:21
Welcome everybody to another episode of Uncluttered and
0:23
Unfiltered, the podcast for women over 50 with Eden and
0:26
Christine. And today's episode may have at
0:30
eye level, pun intended, seem like something that doesn't
0:33
affect you right now, doesn't interest you.
0:35
I am here to tell you, and Christine is here to tell you,
0:38
you need to be listening to this entire podcast episode because
0:43
there are a lot of things that affect people's eyes as they age
0:47
more women than men. And we have some statistics that
0:51
are very mind blowing and you're gonna hear about those.
0:53
And as women hit menopause, they experience a lot of symptoms
0:58
that are unpleasant that could potentially be avoided.
1:02
And so even if you're not experiencing these things yet,
1:05
you may one day. So, so stay with us for that.
1:08
But just a little chit chat, right?
1:10
Chit chat right off the top here.
1:12
Couple things we're excited about.
1:14
First things first, there is a documentary that is coming out
1:17
this week. And at the point of when this
1:20
episode releases, it will be the next day.
1:22
I think June 13th is the. Brat, I can't wait.
1:27
It's it's, it's about the Brat Pack.
1:29
Yeah, the documentary, yeah. So if you are our age, then
1:34
these names, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Demi
1:38
Moore, who else is part of that whole whole?
1:42
Molly Ringwald, John Cryer. Yeah.
1:45
Their documentary is coming out and so I'm very excited.
1:49
While we were talking before and I didn't realize I graduated
1:53
College in 84, you were starting college I.
1:57
Graduated high school. Right.
1:58
And so it's funny we never really put that together.
2:03
And my my years were, you know, The Breakfast Club Saint almost
2:09
fire about last night, all the brat pack movies.
2:13
So I am more than excited and I. Liked them, I did, I really did.
2:18
But I I think the especially St. almost Fire, which is more about
2:22
an after graduation type life. I think you probably write that
2:26
resonated more. Yeah.
2:28
Also the was it the last night? About last night, well, I was
2:32
living in Chicago and that's where they filmed about last
2:35
night and all the bar scenes. And I had been to all those
2:38
bars, so I was living there when that movie came out.
2:42
So yeah, I'm a huge fan. Well.
2:44
We'll be talking about that about that, no doubt.
2:46
And the other thing we want to chat with you very briefly about
2:50
because I'm on the fence about something and I feel like I feel
2:53
like I may as well just put it out there for accountability.
2:57
I have, this is the first time I've ever shown up for one of
3:01
these things without getting my root cover up spray for my skunk
3:05
stripe because I think I might go Gray.
3:09
I think I might grow it out Gray.
3:11
And of course, I promise if if I do this, we will share it all
3:16
with you. Absolutely, and I have to say I
3:19
saw it beforehand and I've never seen such soft Gray hair.
3:24
I have the opposite. Mine is very kinky and coarse.
3:28
So I love that we both have like I would never, but I love that
3:33
you're even contemplating it, not I'm on your side one way or
3:37
another. So.
3:38
Right now you can head over to our uncluttered and filtered
3:41
Instagram and there's a poll. It's one of the one of the reels
3:45
that's up there also has a poll so you can vote on whether or
3:49
not you. I think I should go through
3:51
that. I mean, I listen, it's not that
3:53
deep. What do you care if I do it?
3:55
But you might be thinking of doing it, in which case, let me
3:58
at least do some investigating for you.
4:00
Let me at least put it out there.
4:01
I know a lot of you guys listening or like what is the
4:03
big deal? I've been doing this for years.
4:05
I never died in the 1st place and.
4:07
Or there's me who's like, Oh my God, you're the bravest person I
4:11
know on the planet. OK, go ahead on the.
4:13
Scale of one to brave. I am not that is not brave.
4:18
All right. So tell tell me a little bit
4:20
about your weekend. You went to.
4:22
You went to. I went out of town.
4:24
No, not Nashville. I went to Sarasota for the
4:27
weekend. Sarasota.
4:28
Yeah. And you know, I have been
4:31
suffering. This is why I'm going to say I'm
4:34
so excited to have the doctor here today from dry eye for I
4:38
would say since my early 50s, like in that area, but it has
4:43
got got really worse and especially in the past year, I
4:46
would say. And I think menopause does have
4:50
a big effect on that. So anyway, I have been doing the
4:55
whole thing with steroids and you know, just disposable
5:00
contacts just dealing with it and it's a real pain.
5:03
I can say that. So I tried these new stick on
5:08
lashes that you don't need glue. They already have glue on them
5:13
and they're they're like little winged wispy things.
5:16
So it's not a full lash. It's just underneath.
5:19
They go underneath, but then of course they need to be very
5:22
careful because they're supposed to just go on the eyelash part.
5:25
And I didn't want to scratch like the line of my eye, which I
5:28
always do with everything that touches my eyes seem to scratch
5:32
the inside of my eye. And I have to say I really, I
5:36
was like, I can do this. It took me like 45 minutes
5:39
though just to get one on because I don't do fake
5:42
eyelashes. But I think this might be an
5:46
option if I can't figure out how to get on top of this right eye
5:50
well. Let me tell you something, if we
5:52
wanted to do an episode on this show about eyes, about keeping
5:56
your eyes safe, about keeping your eyes healthy, about finding
6:00
ways to do things like what you're talking about, I'm sure
6:03
there are some wonderful male doctors out there that would
6:07
come on and talk to us. But I can't think of anyone
6:09
better than the guests that we have for you today.
6:12
So our guest is Doctor Kimberly Reardon.
6:14
She's an optometrist with Florida Eye Specialist, and
6:17
she's head of the Dry Eye Center for Excellence, and she's going
6:21
to confirm a few things for us. For one thing, she's going to
6:24
confirm what we know. And that is menopause can be the
6:27
cause of just about anything that ails you.
6:29
And if there's something going on in your life, ladies, and you
6:33
have reached menopause, don't discount the fact that it could
6:35
be something from menopause. Dr. Reardon, first of all, thank
6:38
you so much for joining us. Well, thank you so much for
6:40
having me here. I'm so excited because this is I
6:43
could talk about this all day long.
6:44
And and so, so can Christine so. Could I?
6:47
So could I, that is for sure. This is the struggle let's talk
6:51
about. Some of the statistics, first of
6:52
all, the very serious ones about women and their eye health and
6:56
blindness and and that kind of seriousness.
7:00
So, well, I want to start with before I lose track, menopause
7:05
and our hormones and that's huge.
7:07
It affects our whole body. Our eyes are no exception where
7:10
it's all connected. And when it comes to dry eyes,
7:14
I'm going to get a little technical, but in the eyelids
7:17
are what are called mybomian glands and they produce the oil
7:20
for the tear film. They are driven by sex hormones,
7:23
right? So as we're going through our
7:25
changes and we don't have as much testosterone, we have too
7:29
much estrogen that it actually has an effect on those oil
7:32
glands because not enough testosterone, they don't work as
7:34
well, too much estrogen, they don't work as well.
7:36
So we need a balance in our hormones.
7:38
So as we're going through and these have these huge hormonal
7:40
changes has a direct effect on the tear film in our eyes and
7:43
that's why the eyes get dry. We're both.
7:46
Looking at each other. Wow.
7:49
Gosh, yes, it. Was a cartoon, it would say
7:51
zoink, right? Because it's one thing to say,
7:53
yes, it affects your, your eyes, but it's quite another to have
7:57
a, a medical reason and some big words to go along with that.
8:01
And you know, when we're talking about things like dry eye, yes,
8:06
it's annoying, but also it can cause other things.
8:09
I know for me, for example, I can't wear contact lenses
8:12
anymore. And I've tried many, many ways.
8:15
The Restasis eye plugs in the in the tear ducts, a lot of
8:19
different things, as has Christine.
8:21
I've tried everything. So so eye disease also is a huge
8:28
concern. So let's let's put one thing on
8:30
the table 1st and then move forward into the more I guess
8:34
cosmetic and aesthetic and comfort pieces of this people
8:38
should have an eye exam at our age.
8:40
How often? Annually.
8:42
Annually, and that is for the health of their eyes, for a
8:45
number of reasons. Correct.
8:46
Number of reasons. And especially if you have a
8:48
family history of things like glaucoma, because that's not
8:51
normal as we age or macular degeneration, what's normal are
8:55
cataracts. I mean, we're all going to
8:57
develop them to save a family history of cataracts.
8:59
Like I have a family history of wrinkles, right?
9:00
Great, we all are going to get them.
9:02
But things that can rob our sight, like macular degeneration
9:06
and glaucoma, you really should be getting checked every year.
9:09
OK. And two out of every three cases
9:13
of things like this, blindness, vision problems are occurring in
9:16
women. So we wanted to put that out
9:18
there first. Now let's have some fun.
9:20
Let's talk about how we can wear our lashes, our makeup and our
9:24
contacts and things like that and why we can't.
9:27
So dry eye. How common?
9:29
How common is dry? You know, when you look at the
9:32
statistics and they say how many people suffer from dries, Well,
9:37
because I specialize in it, I think that number is way higher.
9:40
I think especially now we live in a digital age, everybody,
9:44
even little kids. Like my daughter's hounding me
9:47
to get her cell phone. She just turned 10.
9:48
No, you're not kidding. A cell phone because all they do
9:50
is stare at the tablets and cell phones and then we are on
9:54
computers. And if there's also a link with
9:57
our blink rate and dry eyes. So we're all staring at these
10:02
digital devices all day from like sun up until sundown.
10:05
So we need to put it down and take a break because something
10:09
as simple as looking at your cell phone too long or being on
10:11
the computer too long is drying out our eyes too, because we're
10:13
not blinking as much. And it sounds so simple but.
10:16
I had no idea I'm learning so much right now.
10:21
It really is. It's such a simple concept so we
10:26
can protect our eye health on the computer with I'm certain
10:29
those blue, blue glasses help a little bit, right?
10:33
The blue. Light blue light filters can
10:34
help kind of just kind of more comfortable vision, but just
10:38
taking. Breaks.
10:39
More breaks. There's an old school rule we
10:41
call the 20/20/20 rule that every 20 minutes you should look
10:43
20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
10:46
Just remember to give your eyes a break. 20/20/20 Every 20
10:49
minutes take 20. 20 feet away for 20 seconds to remember.
10:54
Just give them a break cuz we are all so busy before we all
10:58
know an hour goes by in the blink of an eye.
11:00
Yep. Right.
11:01
So just remember to be conscious about blinking and taking
11:04
breaks. I know it sounds blinking.
11:06
It's like breathing. We don't think about it.
11:07
And so I even have written instructions I'll give my
11:09
patients. I'm sure they're like she's
11:10
giving me blinking exercises. But it actually does help.
11:14
Are there any other exercises that people could be doing for
11:17
their eyes other than obviously what you just said?
11:20
Relaxing, their eyes, blinking, looking into the distance.
11:23
Not necessarily as as far as like dry eyes, if people have
11:26
other issues then we actually have things like vision therapy
11:29
we'll put patients through. But on a day-to-day, no staying
11:31
hydrated, blinking, getting rest.
11:33
That was my next question. Hydration.
11:35
How is that? Is that really a a thing?
11:38
You know where everybody's at us to drink more water.
11:40
Absolutely. It's our, it's all connected.
11:42
Our eyes are connected to our body.
11:44
So if we're dehydrated, the eyes are going to be dehydrated too.
11:47
So got to make sure you stay fully hydrated.
11:49
So is it they keep telling me put hot compresses on my eyes
11:55
like for 15 minutes? They usually say to me like 3 *
12:00
a day but when you don't have time to do it three times a day.
12:03
Do those really work if you have severe dry eye?
12:06
Yes, if if you have evaporative dry eye, remember those
12:09
mybombing glands, those oil glands I mentioned heat
12:12
liquefies those oils. So we try to aim for at least
12:15
once a day. 10 minutes is the target time.
12:17
Why? It's to soften and allow those
12:19
oils to get released into the tear film.
12:21
It is. It's hard though, because who
12:23
really had 10 minutes and then two or three?
12:25
That's 3020 to 30 minutes a day. It can be difficult, but that's
12:29
another big thing is just controlling inflammation your to
12:32
your film. So, you know, warm compresses
12:34
can help, but we got to make sure you're on a full routine of
12:38
everything that can help. And that's, you know, diet plays
12:40
a part too. We're talking about hydration
12:42
and diet. So there's supplements that I'll
12:43
recommend. Oh, really?
12:45
Which ones? So there's a certain brand
12:48
called Hydra Eyes that we sell in our office that I really
12:50
like. They're larger pills.
12:53
I always tell people that, but and there's liquid alternatives
12:55
by PRN, but that's treating your dry eyes from the inside out,
12:59
right? So we can put in our tear from
13:01
these drops all day long. But if we don't have good
13:04
nutrients, you know we need that too, because gut health is
13:08
related to the eyes too. So it all comes full circle.
13:12
Incredible. Unbelievable.
13:14
Some of the things we've talked about in the past on this show
13:18
with really little regard to I guess I don't know, I don't want
13:22
to say with a little regard, but we just didn't realize at the
13:25
time that it could be a problem until Christine was.
13:28
It was suggested to Christine that maybe no, but the whitening
13:30
eye drops, yes, because you know, when you have dry eye,
13:34
your eyes can look red. It can look like you're having
13:36
an allergic reaction. So you know Visine or even one
13:40
of the limit. The Lumify, which I was using at
13:43
least once a day, and I had to cut that out, you know?
13:46
Yeah. Well, that's a big one is
13:48
redness and people don't like their eyes when they're red.
13:51
Usually the big reason for that is underlying inflammation.
13:54
So those are just a crutch. And I'm when people come in on
13:58
Visine, I'm like, please cut out the Visine.
14:01
We can end up getting what's called rebound redness.
14:04
So some of those get the red out does it so much that when you
14:08
try to stop, they just get redder.
14:10
And it's the most difficult thing to treat because you know,
14:13
you want the patient to look and feel good.
14:14
But when you're using something that's just doing the opposite
14:16
effect, that's hard. I think Lumify's a little bit
14:19
better. Lumify was an old glaucoma
14:21
medication that they rebranded, and so that used to be kind of
14:25
our trick as doctors will put a little brimonidine in with a
14:28
tear to whiten the eye. Again, I think it's fine to use
14:32
as needed. You know, you've got an event or
14:34
you have something, but on daily use, it's really getting to the
14:37
root cause of what's going on for you.
14:40
And then the redness will follow suit.
14:42
We have to keep in mind though, as we get older, sometimes those
14:44
blood vessels in the eye just become more prominent.
14:47
So I have women in come in and say my eyes are red.
14:49
Like actually, they're not behind the microscope.
14:51
It's just the normal anatomy. I can't get rid of those blood
14:53
vessels. You know, we don't want to get
14:55
rid of them. We're not going to sit there
14:56
and, and get rid of those. They serve a purpose, right?
14:58
So sometimes it's as the eye changes, you just notice more of
15:02
of that, but. Yeah, what about, you mentioned
15:07
glaucoma, What about the glaucoma medications that then
15:10
started being used to grow your lashes?
15:13
Yes. So the active ingredient in
15:15
those is what we call prostaglandin analog.
15:19
So when they found that as a side effect in glaucoma
15:21
medications, they marketed and branded it under Latisse.
15:25
The problem with prostaglandins is there's a lot of different
15:28
side effects, which most women don't know, right?
15:31
And you're not going to necessarily see it in their
15:34
packaging and their branding, right?
15:36
They're not going to come out and be like, hey, this has a
15:37
prostaglandin analog in it, and they'll be a different name.
15:41
So you really have to look in the ingredient list.
15:43
So you want ones that say prostaglandin free.
15:46
But prostaglandins are what I was called pro inflammatory.
15:50
They make the eyes red, they can make the lid margins red.
15:53
They can cause pigmentation changes along the lid margin,
15:56
which thankfully when we stop that pigmentation can change or
16:00
go away. But if it gets in the eye, it
16:02
can actually change the color of the iris, the color part of the
16:05
eye that's not reversible. So even when we prescribe that
16:08
medication for our glaucoma patients, we let people know if
16:11
I have someone with Hazel, these really pretty brownish green
16:14
eyes, they're probably gonna turn brown if we start this Full
16:18
disclosure. But also that inflammation that
16:21
it brings, also those oil glands we're talking about, they become
16:24
inflamed and irritating. We end up giving styes and
16:27
chalazines, which are painful. Nobody wants to deal with those.
16:32
And we were talking too earlier. It could also take away the fat
16:35
in the. Orbit, so you have that.
20:01
You can get this sunken look. So I always can tell when my
20:04
prostaglandin patients come in and they're compliant because
20:07
they have sunken lids or lashes are really long and their eyes
20:10
are red. Oh my gosh.
20:12
Wow. What about the new nose spray
20:14
they came out with? I was given a sample, but then
20:18
as they're handing it to me, they said it tastes terrible.
20:22
You're going to hate the yes, you're going to hate the taste
20:25
of it. And of course, I never even
20:27
opened it because I couldn't stand having something in my
20:30
throat that just dripped all day down there.
20:32
It just is that a new invention? So it is, it's called tirvaya,
20:38
and you actually spray it into the nasal cavity, not all the
20:41
way up like we do normal nasal sprays, but just on the side of
20:44
the nose because there's a nerve right here that goes back and it
20:48
causes everything that's responsible for producing good,
20:50
what we call basal tears. We want oil, water and mucus.
20:53
So it activates everything to create these good basal tears
20:57
and you actually feel it within seconds.
20:59
So within minutes you can actually feel the lubrication,
21:02
the downfall, because we put it in the nose, that's where most
21:04
of the side effects are localized, right?
21:06
So you have to. I've tried it, I use it myself.
21:09
You do. When I wear my contacts like I
21:11
got my I don't wear my contacts every day.
21:13
When I'm at work, usually my glasses.
21:15
When I wear my contact, same thing.
21:16
I have to be in dailies. I can't wear them super long
21:19
because I suffer from dry eyes too.
21:20
She's my girl. That's why you need her.
21:23
Other yes. But when you put it in so when I
21:25
do it a tip as I put I score each nostril you on both sides.
21:29
It's only innervating that side of the face and I just kind of
21:32
hold it for like 1015 seconds. I'll pinch my nose and then
21:35
you're going to sneeze a bunch and it's fine.
21:37
Blow your nose after it will the first time I used it felt like I
21:40
snorted saline. So you do get kind of that post
21:42
nasal drip. It's kind of a little weird what
21:45
you kind of get used to it though.
21:46
Not everybody does. But if they gave you a sample.
21:48
Try it, I'm going to tell. You when you get your contacts
21:51
in, every drop you put in just makes your eyes feel drier.
21:54
Wear tear via since it's your natural tears lubricating the
21:57
contacts going to be much more comfortable.
21:58
You know what? I'm glad.
21:59
I'm glad you are on this podcast because I listened to this
22:02
podcast and so I just learned something.
22:03
Maybe somebody else will say the same.
22:06
I see a doctor at Florida Eye Specialist and he and I, I
22:11
haven't been back since probably this became a, an opportunity
22:15
for me to try because I've been trying and trying and trying to
22:17
wear contacts. So so even though I know you
22:20
said you probably wouldn't enjoy it because of the taste.
22:22
Well, I'm going to try it now. Are you kidding me?
22:24
I think I may may reach out to and ask if I can try it as well
22:28
because that is one thing we did not try.
22:30
I don't think it was a few years ago.
22:32
It was the last attempt. It is.
22:33
Newer, so it's new to the market.
22:35
And there's also, if you can't, if you're like, hey, I like the
22:38
way this feels. I can feel it.
22:40
I don't like the congestion, I don't like the taste.
22:43
There's an actual handheld device called the eye tier 100,
22:46
so it's no chemicals, no medicine, it's just it vibrates
22:51
and you just put it along once you find that nerve, so you do
22:55
it external, you feel the same response so there's.
22:58
Another. Noise.
22:59
Wow. Wow.
23:03
So if if you have allergies on top of dry eye and then you take
23:08
an allergy medicine, which what does that do?
23:11
It dries you out. How do you how do you deal with
23:14
both at the same time if you have like seasonal allergies and
23:19
you have dry eye? Well, allergies too, not being
23:22
treated is going to cause symptoms.
23:24
So if you have both, you've got to treat both, right?
23:27
So if I have patients that say are taking oral antihistamines
23:31
more for eye symptoms, then they are safer.
23:34
Nasal congestion, being able to breathe, those things are
23:37
important, right? If they're taking more for the
23:39
eyes, I try to get off of the orals and just do topical
23:42
antihistamine drops for the eyes.
23:44
Now for some people, again, they can't breathe, they need to
23:46
sleep, okay, you're going to have to take the oral
23:49
medication, and we're going to counterbalance that with what we
23:52
can use topically in the ice. Wow.
23:55
Fascinating. Very because I've stopped taking
23:58
my antihistamine because it was making my dry eye even worse.
24:01
So there there's a solution. I like that.
24:04
I like watching how passionate Christine this is hitting her.
24:07
So where she lives. Let's talk about cosmetics.
24:10
And that we have, boy, do we ever have the right person here
24:14
to talk cosmetics, dry eye, menopause, all of that.
24:19
What are you working? On so I'm excited to announce
24:22
that I'm working on my own line of cosmetics for patients who
24:25
suffer people women who suffer from dry eyes.
24:28
So I'm starting with mascara and it's been quite the process.
24:31
I started this almost three years ago.
24:33
I'm trying to find the perfect ingredient mix.
24:37
You know, you want it to be clean, You don't want any harsh
24:40
chemicals, you want it to perform, but you also don't want
24:45
it to over perform because if your lashes are too long, it
24:50
actually causes this like wind turbine effect and can actually
24:53
make them feel more dry. So you want actually a good
24:55
ratio. You know, it sounds silly, but
24:57
there's actually a white study paper out there that shows
25:00
length of eyelashes and the association with symptoms of
25:03
dry. Eye Wow.
25:04
In this day and age too, where long eyelashes are just all in
25:08
the rage, sure, I can see where that would be an issue.
25:12
They're also out there catching everything, aren't they?
25:14
It's not what eyelashes originally were designed for.
25:16
Exactly. Keep debris out of the eye.
25:19
So if they're catching more than they then things that probably
25:22
wouldn't have even come close in the 1st place and they're
25:24
bringing them in. So forget it.
25:26
I won't try to be a scientist anymore.
25:27
I feel like that's your job. So what else With mascara and
25:30
and there are some other things too.
25:31
I know you had issues with anything powdered.
25:34
Well, they told me, of course, it was a male doctor, you know,
25:38
just you're going to have to stop lining inside of your eye,
25:42
which I've been doing since, like, 11th grade, which I was
25:44
like, what? You know, you have to not use
25:48
any loose powder eye shadows. I mean, there's a list of things
25:54
now that I'm not supposed to do because I have such severe dry
25:57
eyes. So when I heard that you were
25:58
coming out with your own makeup line, I will be in line as a
26:01
Guinea pig because that's fascinating to me.
26:05
Yeah. When it comes to eyeliner, you
26:06
don't want a tight line. You'll notice this thread, this,
26:10
you know, throughout the whole speech and talk, I keep bringing
26:14
up these mybomian glands, these oil glands, because where did
26:17
they empty out on the lid margin?
26:19
So when you put eyeliner over it and those waxes, it's just going
26:23
to clog them, going to make the dry eyes worse, increase your
26:26
risk of a stye. I know.
26:28
So I need to be the bearer of bad news.
26:30
But tight lining is a no go. What is the best way to wash
26:34
your eyes at the end of the day if you are wearing makeup?
26:38
Good question, I find myself in my over washing and causing my
26:41
eyelashes to fall out because I'm scrubbing so hard or not
26:45
washing enough of the makeup off and that's part of my problem.
26:49
Yes, well avoid waterproof. You don't want waterproof
26:52
mascara, eyeliner or anything because it's going to take much
26:56
harsher chemicals and physically rubbing it to get it all off.
27:00
So it's another with my mascara, I'm making sure you just need
27:03
water and a microfiber cloth. There's no chemicals, nothing
27:07
like that. So cleaners like micellar water
27:10
or coconut oil, things like that, you can use.
27:13
Just I encourage you if you're going to get like a makeup wipe
27:16
or remover, look at the ingredients.
27:18
We don't want any parabens. We don't want a bunch of
27:20
alcohol. Alcohol is drying and you'll
27:22
notice there's some name brands out there that that's like #1 is
27:26
some sort of alcohol they're using or you know, harsher
27:29
chemicals to remove it. You want more natural ways.
27:32
So makeup that's not waterproof and easier to remove is key to
27:37
so. And like you're talking about
27:39
with the eye shadow, it is hard to find cream based shadows.
27:47
That's on my list eventually to, to come out with too, because
27:50
everything is all loose powders and those particles end up in
27:54
your tear film and migrate. It migrates the makeup.
27:56
You know, we put in one area, we, we're blinking all day.
27:59
We live in Florida where we're sweating and it's warm.
28:02
And then that can get into the tear film and cause irritation.
28:04
So you really want it if you're going to do just mattes, no,
28:08
like chunky type of glitters and things like that.
28:10
That can be more irritating. What I'm confused about is
28:14
Castor oil because they say you're going to block your
28:19
glands you know with with any type but isn't Castor oil oil?
28:23
And won't that also if you use it to for your eyelashes or any
28:28
you know, wiping it on your eyelashes, will those will oils
28:33
also block your glands? So you're cleaning externally?
28:37
It won't. You know people will use certain
28:39
types of oils to help with lash growth.
28:41
And does that work to your experience or have you heard?
28:45
With Castor oil alone I can't really speak to it.
28:48
I haven't much done much research on it but there is 2020
28:51
beauty has. AI tried that.
28:54
Serum that is free of parabens. It was made by an
28:57
ophthalmologist that has more oils and that are healthy for
29:01
the lashes. But that won't block your gland,
29:04
won't block the OK, because I have that.
29:07
I've tried it, but then I got nervous that it was blocked the
29:10
glands because that's part of what I deal with too, is, you
29:14
know, that's why I'm into the makeup thing right now.
29:16
Another question some of our listeners may have is about
29:19
retinol, retin a, things like that, getting close to the eye
29:22
with those. Yes, so that's another thing,
29:24
you know, we want to try to keep wrinkles away, but any kind of
29:28
anti wrinkle where it's derived from retinol retin A has a
29:31
negative effect on those guess it again, my booming glands.
29:36
So actually retinol can can cause them to not function or we
29:40
can lose them from overuse of that.
29:43
So and it depends on who you ask, you know, some will say,
29:45
oh, we'll just keep it away from this area, but we just talked
29:49
about migration. So we put cream here, but that
29:51
cream then can move. So I encourage people to find
29:55
alternative creams that don't have retinol, maybe have other
30:00
retinol like ingredients like peptides versus retinol.
30:04
OK, so, you know, it's a, it's a, it's an interesting high wire
30:10
act. We all obviously, you know,
30:13
there are a lot of things we would throw caution to the wind
30:15
about when we were younger. You know, you can say, listen,
30:18
I'm only 18, I don't care what they say.
30:21
I'm going to tight line. I'm going to do this.
30:23
And then you get to a point where now your eyes are dry and
30:26
now maybe you're getting the beginnings of a cataract.
30:29
I'm raising my hand and you are too.
30:31
Yeah, I was told it. If I do surgery now, it's too
30:34
soon. Yeah, that's what they told me
30:36
too. Right.
30:36
So I mean, you, you're starting to experience these things.
30:40
All of a sudden your eyes become these valuable gems they should
30:43
have been all along. But let's be honest, we didn't
30:45
treat them as such. And now we're starting to
30:48
realize it. It matters.
30:49
And now we have to make that decision.
30:52
Do we want to wear the false eyelashes?
30:54
Do we want to use the serum that's going to grow the lashes?
30:56
Do we want to put the Retin A all over our face?
31:00
You know, and I'm not going to lie and say that I'm immediately
31:02
like, no, I don't want to do that.
31:04
My eyes are, you know, you go through the vanity part of it.
31:06
And also all these commercials which I've talked to her about
31:10
before, every time the thyroid eye disease things comes on
31:13
because they mention dry eye in it, I keep saying to my husband,
31:17
I think I have thyroid eye disease.
31:18
He goes, no, you don't. And I said, but that's what dry
31:22
eye is, they're telling me. And he's like, no, you don't
31:24
have thyroid because you get all these commercials for all these
31:28
drugs and you immediately think you have, you know, all these.
31:31
Issues. That's wet.
31:32
Wet something? Yeah, web web, web MD or
31:36
something. So one of the eye things they
31:38
have in commercial like if you have wet something with your
31:41
eyes. Wet Macular.
31:42
Yes, yes, now I think I have that.
31:45
Terrifying. It's terrifying, yeah.
31:47
That's why you go to the doctor and really get diagnosed.
31:50
Exactly, If you have symptoms, you don't know because thyroid
31:53
eye disease can't be kind of that masquerader.
31:56
I've caught plenty of patients that have come to me.
31:59
They've seen multiple, all other doctors and they've got all
32:01
these dry complaints and it's like, OK, well, wait a minute.
32:04
I think there might be something else going on.
32:06
And then you can uncover things like that.
32:08
Another thing, since we're talking about it's an autoimmune
32:11
condition, that's not, you know, everything's it's thyroid.
32:14
It's not actually directly related to how your thyroid
32:16
functions. So if you're suspicious, you
32:19
know, talk to your doctor about it.
32:21
But other autoimmune conditions start, especially one known to
32:25
cause dry eyes called Sjogren's. Usually most women are affected,
32:29
men and have it too. But we usually get diagnosed
32:32
between the ages of 40 and 60, same time frame.
32:35
So I always keep that in the back of my mind when I'm talking
32:38
with my patients. You know, do we just have dry
32:40
eyes? Do you have dry mouth, dry skin,
32:43
kind of dry everything? Joint pain, fatigue.
32:46
Don't start getting that right this minute, Christine.
32:49
Do not start getting that. But that's something else to
32:52
think about too. So.
32:54
And then so we want to uncover that as well because that can be
32:57
something that can. What about Hashimoto's?
33:00
Kind of fall the falls in that thyroid.
33:02
That's what I have that so you know, it's it's it all goes back
33:07
to the regular exams, to talking to your medical professionals,
33:11
to not trying to self diagnose. She's looking.
33:14
I'm looking at you because I know as you're hearing all this.
33:16
Yeah. Now I for sure have whatever she
33:18
just said. I.
33:19
Know you want to take a sip of your water right now and go blow
33:22
your nose? I'm like, my joints hurt.
33:24
I have dry mouth, I have dry skin, but I'm also
33:27
postmenopausal, so you know. As you as you can see, one of
33:31
the one of the functions of this podcast is that these aren't
33:35
conversations you're having over lunch with your friends over 50,
33:38
but they should be. I agree, you know, because your
33:42
husband isn't going to talk about it with you.
33:44
Well, every time I get on a plane, I have to take my
33:47
contacts out before we get on the plane, put my glasses.
33:50
He's like, what are you doing? I'm like the air on the airplane
33:53
dries. It's like a whole thing.
33:55
My husband knows everything about my eye.
33:57
You know the dry eye problem because it affects every part of
34:00
my life. Now people around the world do.
34:02
It's like a thousands of women around the world now, all of us.
34:06
Sorry everyone. Yeah, but but you're you, you
34:09
say the things everybody thinks and I think that's pretty
34:12
valuable. Listen, you know, we would
34:13
definitely keep you longer. We we are planning to do one of
34:17
our TV segments with you about this very subject.
34:20
And we have a brand new Patreon system now where people can
34:24
actually see the video that we just recorded and get more
34:27
additional behind the scenes information.
34:29
So all of that's going to be in our show notes as well as a link
34:32
to anything you ask us to link to.
34:35
So first of all, let's just say Florida eye specialists.
34:38
That's, you know, I see them without any of this connection
34:42
right here. That's where I go.
34:45
If you're not in this area, we're in Northeast Florida, but
34:48
we have a global audience. Certainly there's somebody near
34:51
you where you live that can help you with this.
34:54
But can people find you online anywhere, specifically Doctor
34:58
Kimberly Reardon? On our website on
35:00
floridaspecialist.com. Okay, good.
35:02
And then you'll come back when you have some more prototypes in
35:05
some of your cosmetics line, I'm hoping.
35:08
I can't wait. I'm so excited about that.
35:11
I am too. So excited.
35:13
They say you build something people need and that's the key
35:18
to success, and so we think you're going to be very
35:20
successful with that. Well, I hope so.
35:22
It's filling a void that I think needs to be filled.
35:24
Absolutely. Thank you so much for being a
35:26
part of our podcast. And for those of you guys that
35:30
are listening for the first time because that keyword caught you,
35:33
you have dry eyes. This is certainly just one of
35:35
many, many topics. We try to cover lots of
35:37
organizational stuff as well since Christine is a
35:40
professional organizer. But we do veer off, as you've
35:43
just heard, to make sure that we're covering some of the
35:45
things that we know that you want to talk to to other women
35:48
your age about. So please join us on our
35:51
uncluttered and unfiltered ladies only Facebook group.
35:54
You. It's a private group, but we'll
35:56
let you in. Just ask and that's where you
35:58
can ask questions. Also, we have all the social
36:01
media. We, we love you.
36:03
We appreciate you with, with all things.
36:05
And of course, with dry eye you can let it go.
36:08
And hopefully don't look back.