Blink Twice If You Can Hear Me

This Week’s Signal

Earlier this week, I had the best conversation with Dr. Neel Shah about why we write newsletters. (If you’re not already reading The Preprint, fix that immediately. It’s basically a masterclass in thinking about women’s health with more nuance.)

We landed on one of the great secrets of newsletter-writing: we pick topics to educate ourselves just as much as our readers. And often, the piece we set out to write morphs into something else entirely.

Which brings me here — writing about my eyesight. Who knew that a routine eye doctor visit would spark a new women’s health passion point? (Yes, they’re piling up…)

What We’re Missing

Like many, my eye journey started with squinting at a too-small laptop in college (shoutout to the 12-inch MacBook — portable, chic, terrible idea). By the time I started at Merrill Lynch post-Vandy, I was in full-time contacts, despite my fear of touching my own eyeballs (my husband has been known to help retrieve a rogue lens, cuz romance lives in strange places).

But here’s where things get weird: postpartum with Mia a year ago, my vision improved. Confusing, yes. But my doctor, Dr. Tyler Persson, told me it was normal – just hormones at play (vision often declines slightly in pregnancy, improves postpartum, then stabilizes back to normal).

This week, at a routine appointment, he dropped a new term on me: meibomian gland dysfunction. In plain English: those tiny oil glands in your eyelids stop working properly, messing with tear production. The culprits? Contact lenses, aging, and, you guessed it, hormonal changes.

Eye health isn’t just about screens and genetics. It’s about estrogen, progesterone, perimenopause, and the hormonal rollercoaster every woman rides. And yet, how often do we connect dry eyes or inflamed lids back to being born a woman? Idk, y’all. Pretty much never.

What We’re Seeing

Tyler sent me home with the following recos: 2,000 mg of Omega-3s (aka four Ritual capsules a day — this is gonna add up, Ritual friends 💸), warm compresses (sure, there are cheaper options on Amazon, but is this Therabody one on my Christmas list? Absolutely), allergy drops (Pataday is Tyler’s favorite), and IPL — the elder millennial+ skincare craze that not only evens out skin tone but also reduces inflammation around the meibomian glands, meaning less of that “rip your contacts out by 5pm” feeling.

These recos aren’t just for me — they’re for all you fellow dry eye goblins 😈 I know you’re out there, and here’s why: women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop chronic eye conditions like dry eye disease.

Layer on the hormonal shifts of pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause, which directly affect tear production, vision clarity, and overall eye comfort, and suddenly we’re staring down a very gendered problem. Yet most of us aren’t talking about it, let alone treating it. After a quick scan of the market, I found almost no brands innovating here.

For something this common, the puzzle pieces for women — education, products, and services — are shockingly absent.

What It Means

Eye health is women’s health. And right now, it’s falling through the cracks. If half the population is more prone to chronic conditions like dry eye, yet has little awareness, few solutions, and almost no culturally relevant conversation, that’s not just a medical gap, it’s a market one, compounded by the fact that only ~45-60% of women even get an annual eye exam.

For women, this means struggling in silence with blurry vision, burning eyes, or contact lenses you fantasize about dousing in lighter fluid, often chalking it up to “just getting older” instead of recognizing a treatable health condition.

And here’s the human side of it: glasses are hawt (see: Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, OBVI), but I still want to wear my contacts well into my 70s — because at the end of the day, I just feel more beautiful without glasses. And there’s certainly something to be said for that.

That desire — for comfort, confidence, and choice — is exactly why this space matters, and why it’s ripe for innovation.

With more signal and less noise, Spotting is your weekly lens on what’s next in women’s health and why. See you right here next time, in your inbox (and if a friend sent this your way, hit subscribe!).

With hugs, science & freedom,
Abby

P.S. Whether this hits or misses for you, I’d love to hear your thoughts — just hit reply. Thanks for being here 🤗

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