Changing Corneal Sensitivity

In the October 2023 edition of the journal Cornea, Dr. Daniela Nosch and colleagues published a study that showed that corneal sensitivity may decrease with increasing age.

I think that this has long been suspected from a clinical perspective. However, the authors warn, and I agree, that this should not be taken to mean that older adults are less likely to have pain sensation from the cornea or surface of the eye. In fact, I generally think that it’s quite the opposite–that older adults tend to have more symptoms that relate to their eye’s surface. It is important to note that there are many factors at play in this interaction, including decreased tear production with increasing age, so corneal sensitivity is not the whole story for what we observe in patients.