Keep your eyes peeled

Lana Wong loved make-up. She took special delight in carefully creating her favourite eye make-up with eye shadow, heavy eyeliner and lashings of mascara. Enamoured with the fluttery, luscious lashes sported by female celebrities and models in glossy magazines, Wong (name changed for patient confidentiality reasons) even had fake individual lashes painstakingly glued to her real lashes to give her a permanently doe-eyed look.

But while Wong's efforts made her peepers look glamorous, she had trouble looking out of them. Her eyes were perpetually dry and uncomfortable, and were often irritated and red. Over two years, she consulted several ophthalmologists for help.

The eye doctors found that her tear secretion was low and diagnosed her with dry eyes. Using special fluorescein eye drops to temporarily stain the surface of her corneas, the doctors also found that there were dry spots on the surface of her corneas.

Wong was prescribed tear supplements or eye drops, and advised to take polyunsaturated fatty acids in the form of flax seed and fish oils to improve the quality of her tears. To help her eyes retain the lubricating tears longer, doctors even plugged two of the four holes (puncta) in her eyes that naturally drain away the tears.

Despite these treatments, Wong continued to suffer eye dryness and irritation. Desperate for relief, she hopped from one ophthalmologist to the next.

She finally found herself in the office of Dr Hui Siu-ping, a specialist in ophthalmology at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital.