There’s a secret weapon for easing dry, scratchy eyes in aging macular degeneration patients—and the twist is, it works best if you don’t stop using it, ever. Want to know why your eye drops might be failing you and how a French study could change everything about your daily routine?
At a Glance
- Continuous use of tear drops, not sporadic dabbing, meaningfully reduces dry eye symptoms for patients with neovascular AMD on frequent injections.
- A landmark French study found a marked improvement in comfort scores for those using eye drops every day versus just around injection times.
- The study suggests subjective symptom relief is the true victory, even when objective tear tests don’t budge.
- The findings could shift how retina specialists approach supportive care and reshape what’s in your medicine cabinet.
Continuous Care: The Eye Drop Revolution in AMD
The story of neovascular age-related macular degeneration, or nAMD, is a bit like a medical soap opera: the villain is rogue blood vessels growing under the retina, the hero is anti-VEGF injections, and the collateral damage is your suffering, parched eyeballs. Since the early 2000s, anti-VEGF agents have been saving vision but at a price—frequent injections leave your eyes as dry as last year’s fruitcake.
Every four to eight weeks, patients line up for a jab in the eye and, over time, for a side of stubborn dry eye that just won’t quit. The more injections, the more the surface of your eye starts to resemble a desert, thanks to a cocktail of antiseptics, preservatives, and mechanical prodding. Enter the supporting cast: artificial tears. But until now, no one could say whether dousing your eyes daily was any better than just splashing some drops around injection day. The TREDIA study, led by Dr. Héloïse Torres-Villaros and her team in France, put this question to the test in a battle of continuous versus intermittent lubrication.
Continuous use of tear substitutes significantly improved dry eye symptoms in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who received frequent eye injections, whereas intermittent use showed no significant improvement. https://t.co/wVJcize0tu pic.twitter.com/m69GrFfKkt
— Medscape (@Medscape) July 26, 2025
Researchers wrangled 65 patients, mean age 83 (because this is a club for the seasoned, not the spry), all undergoing regular anti-VEGF injections for at least a year. Half the group used 0.18% sodium hyaluronate drops every single day; the others only used 1.5% povidone drops around injection appointments. Over four consecutive injections, their dry eye symptoms—and the actual state of their ocular surface—were measured, poked, and prodded with scientific rigor and a not-so-gentle Schirmer test strip.
The Science Behind the Soothe: Unpacking the Results
Here’s where things get juicy. The group sticking religiously to daily drops scored a whopping six-point improvement in their OSDI (Ocular Surface Disease Index) dry eye symptom scale, compared to a nearly nonexistent change in the dab-once-in-a-while group. For reference, that’s the difference between “I hate my eyes” and “Hey, I can read the grocery list without cringing.”
But—and here’s the eyebrow-raiser—objective tear function tests like tear breakup time and ocular surface staining didn’t move the needle much in either group. Translation: your eyeball might look the same under a microscope, but it’ll feel a whole lot better if you keep up the drops. The authors didn’t mince words: continuous artificial tears could make life with injections much more bearable. For patients, that means fewer reasons to skip appointments (and risk vision loss), and for doctors, it’s a new weapon in the arsenal of keeping patients happy, loyal, and less likely to mutiny in the exam chair.
Not everything is roses and rainbows—this was a relatively small study, and the two groups used different types of drops, which muddies the water. Researchers call for bigger, bolder trials to confirm these findings and fine-tune which formulas work best. Still, this study is already getting attention from retina specialists, hospital committees, and anyone tired of blinking through sandpaper after their latest injection.
What This Means for Dry Eye Warriors and Their Doctors
For anyone with nAMD facing a monthly date with the needle, the takeaway is simple: don’t wait for your eyes to scream for help. Make daily tear drops as routine as brushing your teeth. The French researchers’ approach of “prevention, not reaction” could soon become gospel in retina clinics everywhere. Doctors may start instructing patients to stock up on preservative-free artificial tears and use them continuously, not just as a post-injection afterthought.
Pharmaceutical companies, always sniffing for the next big thing, are likely to jump on the preservative-free, long-acting tear substitute bandwagon. Meanwhile, patients stand to gain a better shot at sticking to their vision-saving regimen without the misery of chronic dryness. As with any scientific advance, there are caveats: more research is needed, and the perfect drop formula remains up for debate. But for now, the message is clear—when it comes to dry eye and AMD, the tortoise (steady, daily use) just might beat the hare (sporadic, frantic dabbing) every time.
Clinicians, pay attention: these results may soon appear in best practice guidelines and insurance policies. Patients, rejoice—or at least blink in comfort. The era of continuous eye drop use has arrived, and it could make your vision journey less of a slog and more of a stroll.
Sources:
PMC: Review of nAMD and Anti-VEGF Therapy (2021)
SpringerMedizin: Study Summary (2025)
