Artificial Tears Improve Tear Stability

Preservative-free carboxymethyl cellulose drops modestly increased tear break-up time and produced small corneal epithelial changes in screen-exposed patients.

By
Conexiant News Staff
March 4, 2026
3 min

Conexiant

At a Glance

Category	Detail
Condition	Dry eye disease associated with prolonged digital screen use
Key Mechanisms	Reduced blink rate and disrupted tear film stability due to extended screen exposure
Target Population	Patients aged 20 to 40 years with symptomatic dry eye disease and high daily screen exposure
Care Setting	Outpatient ophthalmology or optometry clinics

Key Highlights

Preservative-free 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose artificial tears used four times daily for 1 month improved tear film stability.
Mean noninvasive tear break-up time (NIBUT) increased from 6.52 to 7.89 seconds post-treatment.
Small increases in central corneal epithelial thickness (~0.86 μm) were observed, though clinical significance is uncertain.

Guideline-Based Recommendations

Diagnosis

Assess tear film stability using noninvasive tear break-up time (NIBUT) testing.
Evaluate corneal epithelial structure with Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Consider patient history of prolonged daily screen exposure as a risk factor.

Management

Use preservative-free artificial tears containing 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose four times daily.
Advise early intervention in patients with dry eye symptoms related to digital screen use.

Monitoring & Follow-up

Monitor changes in tear film stability via NIBUT over treatment course.
Observe corneal epithelial thickness changes with OCT, acknowledging limitations in measurement repeatability.

Risks

No adverse effects or conflicts of interest reported in the study.
Clinical significance of small epithelial thickness changes remains uncertain.

Patient & Prescribing Data

Adults aged 20-40 years with dry eye symptoms and high screen exposure (mean 6.3 hours/day).

Artificial tears improved tear film stability significantly after 1 month; small epithelial changes noted but require further study.

Clinical Best Practices

Recommend preservative-free artificial tears to minimize ocular surface irritation.
Encourage regular use (four times daily) for at least one month to observe benefits.
Consider patient age and screen exposure duration when evaluating treatment response.
Recognize limitations of single-arm studies and the need for longer-term follow-up.