For patients with chronic ocular surface symptoms, the cycle of repeat visits and transient relief can feel endless.1 In this video, experts explore the clinical impact of undiagnosed Demodex blepharitis and how it affects practice efficiency. Discover how a simple, three-second slit-lamp check can help break the cycle of trial-and-error care.1 Learn why asking patients to look down to spot collarettes is an essential step in identifying DB and bringing clarity to your clinic.
Transcript
0:05 – For patients with chronic irritation, the loop feels endless.
0:10 – They visit your clinic again and again with the same symptoms.
0:13 – Inflammation, redness, eyelid irritation, fluctuating vision, blurred vision.
0:21 – One treatment helps, then another, and it all begins again.
0:25 – Nothing seems to break the cycle.
0:27 – I had a patient who had been battling irritation and blurry vision for over a year.
0:33 – She’d seen multiple providers and tried multiple management options, but nothing worked.
0:39 – During a routine visit I asked her to look down and that’s when I saw it.
0:45 – Collarettes along the upper eyelid margin.
0:48 – It completely shifted the way I approached her case.
0:52 – Instead of chasing symptoms, we finally had a cause. That small adjustment – asking her to look down – changed her entire clinical trajectory.
1:03 – Demodex blepharitis is a common clinical finding that’s just been hiding in plain sight.
1:09 – According to a recent assessment, 54% of European patients screened in various eye care clinics showed visible signs of Demodex blepharitis collarettes.
1:19 – That’s one in every two patients across diverse settings and geographies.
1:23 – The real issue is that it’s being missed, but not because it’s hard to see, but because you may not be looking.
1:30 – This isn’t just anecdotal.
1:32 – The data tells the same story.
1:34 – The ATLAS Continuation Study, a large prospective study conducted across the US, gathered insights from more than 500 patients diagnosed with Demodex blepharitis.
1:44 – The findings paint a clear picture.
1:46 – Nearly 70% of patients reported symptoms lasting 2 years or more.
1:51 – One in five visited the clinic 4 times or more.
1:55 – Yet over half of those with signs of Demodex blepharitis, collarettes at the lash line, had never been diagnosed.
2:02 – We have trained all our clinical staff to look for collarettes during routine exams.
2:08 – It’s part of our anterior segment workflow now.
2:11 – We simply ask the patient to look down and to check the upper lash line using 10-16x magnification.
2:22 – To keep things consistent, we added a Demodex field in our IMR so it gets flagged and tracked like any other clinical sign.
2:32 – That small change has helped us to reduce unnecessary follow-ups.
2:37 – More importantly, it brings clarity to cases that used to feel like trial and error.
2:45 – This cycle won’t break until you spot the root cause.
2:49 – Recognizing Demodex blepharitis early can prevent the frustration of trial-and-error care.
2:55 – It’s not complex.
2:56 – It’s not time consuming.
2:58 – It’s just three seconds at the slit lamp.
3:01 – Include it as part of your pre-op workflow.
3:03 – When DB is part of your differential, the loop can stop before it even starts.
3:08 – Demodex blepharitis is common.
3:10 – Its impact is real and spotting it only takes seconds.
