John Cena opens up about being diagnosed with a rare eye condition.
Speaking to PEOPLE, the former Undisputed WWE Champion revealed he suffered from itchiness and redness in his eyes, which he initially assumed was due to age.
“I had a lot of redness and itchiness, and every once in a while, waking up with eye crusties and stuff,” John Cena said. “At the same time, given my age — I’m 49 now — my vision was going a little bit, so I just figured it was par for the course. But because my vision was going, I needed to see if I needed glasses or prescriptions.”
Cena added that he delayed seeing a doctor, telling himself the symptoms were caused by bright “lights,” “spending way too much time on my screen,” or “old age.” However, he eventually convinced himself to visit a doctor, which led to a diagnosis of “Demodex blepharitis, which I didn’t even know existed.”
John Cena recommends regular eye checkups
“I recommend that everybody do the same. A regular eye checkup is just as important as taking care of your teeth or anything else,” he emphasizes. “The examination was easy. It’s certainly part of a regular eye exam, and the diagnosis was simple.”
The Cleveland Clinic describes Demodex blepharitis as an eyelid disease caused by an infestation of Demodex mites, microscopic parasites that live in hair follicles and are commonly found in humans. The condition causes itchy eyes, puffy eyelids, and crusty flakes along the eyelashes.
Doctors prescribed him the FDA-approved eye drop XDEMVY, and after treatment, he said all of those symptoms quickly went away.
“Now, I still need my readers, but I don’t have that redness, that itchiness and certainly not waking up with the crusties,” Cena said.
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