"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" Star Speaks Out On Chronic Dry Eye

When most of us think of someone like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars, we think of the luxurious lifestyle and of course the drama. Most people know Kyle Richards as the aunt of the Hilton sisters and the cast member most likely to break into the splits. One thing that many don't know about Kyle is that she actually has a diagnosis with Chronic Dry.

Chronic Dry Eye for those diagnosed with it can be very uncomfortable to live with, but there are medications and treatments to reduce that discomfort. I got the opportunity to chat with Kyle about her discomfort and what lead her to talk to an eye doctor about it. Plus, we have some expert insight from Opthalmologist, Dr. Christopher Starr.

Thanks so much for joining me today Kyle and Dr. Starr.

Kyle: Thank you.

Dr. Starr: Thanks for having us.

First Kyle, I want to start by saying that your family isn't a stranger to The Brynn Project because a couple months ago your niece, Nikki, was on my radio show.

Oh probably talking about her new book?

That's exactly what she was talking about, and she did a great job on it. Now, you are joining me to talk about something a bit different from style that is close to your heart.

Yes, I have a diagnosis with Chronic Dry Eye, and noticed it when we first started filming for The Real Housewives. I found that I had become more and more dependent on using artificial eye drops and was constantly uncomfortable no matter what I did. In addition to using the artificial tears, I tried drinking more water because I thought maybe it was from dehydration. Nothing seemed to help and I finally went to my eye doctor and discovered that I had Chronic Dry Eye. So he then prescribed Restasis which I've been using ever since. I've had great results, and I can now say that I feel so much more comfortable. Plus, I'm no longer dependent on artificial tears.

And this is something that someone who experiences that same discomfort would never realize that it just might have to do with a bigger issue. They think that maybe some artificial tears (like what you did) would fix it, and you eventually learned that it was something that need a little more attention than that.

From my personal experience, it got to the point where I knew it had to be more than that but I didn't realize that it was an actual diagnosis. I, of course, thought of the typical things like the air conditioner blowing to direct on my eyes, but it became so uncomfortable that I had to get to my eye doctor.

Now Dr. Starr, for people who are in a similar place to where Kyle was, is there anything that they can do on their own besides visiting their eye doctor?

Well, the first and most important thing is to go see their eye doctor and get a true diagnosis. If you have dry eye then there are lots of things that you can do to treat it. The most important is treating the underlying issue, which is inflammation of the eye. The eye becomes inflamed and dry, and gets worse and worse over time. The way to break that cycle is to use an anti-inflammatory medication like Restasis. It's actually the only FDA-approved medication to do that, and will help patients make more tears as well as reducing that reliance on artificial tears.

Other things that you can do include still using artificial tears. We think that they can help temporarily to decrease symptoms. Kyle had also mentioned that dehydration is common, and so another thing people can do is drink more water. You can also try to stay away from blowing air vents, running humidifiers at home, and increasing your intake of Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Then for all of you out there who are glued into your computer, try to remember to blink your eyes more often to distribute your tears and keep the eyes from drying out.

And trying to tell someone in today's age to stay away from their computer or smart phone more is hard especially with smart phones being attached to our hip. It's become such a go-to item to look at. So we need to find the discipline to not check Facebook or Twitter on it quite as much for the safety of our eyes.

As hard as it is to tell people to use their computers or mobile devices less so instead use it more intelligently. It is very well known that the number of blinks we have decreases by almost 50% when we are using computers and mobile devices. That can, in turn, exacerbate a preexisting dry eye, so you want to just remember to close your eyes more often and blink more often and also to look away every 20-30 minutes to let the eye muscles relax. Your eyes will then thank you at the end of the day.

So that is even more reason to make sure we are taking that break from our computers every once in awhile.

Now Kyle, I do want to change up the conversation a little to have you talk to us a little bit about what we can expect to see in upcoming episodes of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

I think the viewers are going to be really excited to see this season. Last season for me was a very dark season, and I myself am looking forward to having a better season. It's going to be what the viewers expect...drama and excitement with a lot of fun as well.

So they will get to see plenty of their favorites on the show including yourself.

That's right.

Sounds awesome. Well we are very excited to see the new season and for you to have a better season. Where can people go for more information about everything that we talked about today?

Everyone can head on over to www.restasis.com or contact their eye doctor for more information.

Perfect, and then what about staying updated with you?

I'm on Facebook and Twitter. My Twitter handle is @kylerichards. And I'm also on Instagram under @kylerichards18.

Thanks so much for joining me today.

So if something doesn't feel right, don't just assume that it's not anything big. Your eyes and your sight is extremely important so you want to keep them healthy. If you notice any type of discomfort, don't hesitate to get to your eye doctor and ask questions.