Ocular surface disease includes as major diagnoses dry eye disease, blepharitis/meibomian gland dysfunction and ocular allergy.
Years ago, a Rand study looking at eye care provider (ECP) manpower needs found that as many as 40% of the patient visits to an ECP, whether MD or OD, were initiated because of ocular surface disease (OSD). This makes OSD critically important to every ECP.
The diagnosis and management of OSD can be made overly complex for the clinician. I simplify it by dividing OSD into the three major categories of dry eye disease (DED), meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) and ocular