WWE superstar John Cena reveals he was diagnosed with an eye condition called Demodex blepharitis (DB).
The TV personality teamed up with Tarsus Pharmaceuticals to spread awareness about the medical condition affecting 25 million Americans.
John exclusively revealed to Good Housekeeping how his diagnosis changed his outlook on health.
When John Cena decided to retire from the WWE, he expected it would impact his loyal fanbase, but he didn’t expect it to change his entire perspective on health, too.
John made his debut in the ring back in 2002 and announced his plans to step away from the sport in late 2025. And when viewers tuned in to watch his final RAW appearance, John looked like the picture of health. Behind the scenes, though, the 49-year-old was dealing with a major issue.
As I sit with John in a suite at the Equinox Hotel in New York City, he’s excited about his partnership with Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing treatments for diseases with limited treatment options. He’s dressed in a blue and white checkered suit that matches his eyes, and I wonder what his association with the brand may be. After all, he’s a WWE superstar—surely he’s got his healthcare routine down pat.
As it turns out, John wanted to share his experience with Demodex blepharitis (DB), a condition that afflicts roughly 25 million Americans, according to a recent study. Caused by an overgrowth of eye mites, DB leads to symptoms such as irritation, itchy eyes, and excessive crusting in the orbital area. For John, the diagnosis came during the final days of his WWE retirement tour.
“Oftentimes, because of my background in wrestling and fitness, I tend to get lazy and self-diagnose,” he tells me. “I started not being able to read signs, and I had trouble driving at night. Add to that red eyes, itchy eyes, and eye crusties, and I figured I was either not sleeping enough or looking at my screens for too long. I finally went to the eye doctor since I love to read, and I ended up getting diagnosed with DB.”
Because John hadn’t heard of DB before his own experience with it, he questioned how it would affect his life. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait too long for a solution. The actor went on a six-week treatment plan, taking XDEMVY, the first and only FDA-approved treatment that allows people to use eye drops twice a day to help with the condition.
“With the treatment, my symptoms were gone,” he says. “In one visit to the doctor, I had my vision back, no more irritated eyes or crusties, and it had me thinking, if only I’d gone to the eye doctor sooner.”
After listening to John talk about his DB diagnosis, I can’t help but ask him whether this was the only area of his life in which he saw major changes. After thinking about the question for a second, he tells me that his DB diagnosis was just the tipping point in a bigger reassessment of his health.
“It took me a few scares to get regular checkups now, and that’s been to my benefit. I had been lax about it all, thinking it was due to old age. But now I have a treatment plan, and I get professional advice on how to handle myself and fix the problem early.”
John notes that while it may seem scary, people should take their health seriously too. And if you can catch something early, all the better.
“I’m not perfect, and I definitely thought this was the natural process of old age and that my eyes in particular would be affected. But going to an eye doctor changed everything for me, and if you’re struggling with something similar, the through line is just go see a professional. Maybe you’ll have the same results, and it could be all for the better.”
