Dry eye disease is a common condition which arises when your tears are insufficient to provide adequate lubrication for your eyes. Tears can be inadequate and unstable for a variety of reasons. For example, dry eyes can arise if you do not produce enough tears or if you produce poor-quality tears. The instability of tears causes inflammation and surface damage to the eye.
Your eyes may burn or sting if they are dry. Dry eyes feel uncomfortable and you may get it in certain circumstances, such as while riding a bike, in an air-conditioned room, on an airplane, or after staring at a computer screen for a few hours.
Dry eye can be caused by a variety of causes that interfere with your tear film's optimal function. Because of this, medical professionals view dry eye as a complex illness. There are numerous kinds of intricate risk factors and causes. Thus, it is essential to take a while to get to the root of the problem and figure out what’s causing your symptoms.
You may feel more comfortable using dry eye treatments. A change in lifestyle and eye drops are two possible treatments. You will probably need to follow these precautions for the duration of your dry eye symptoms. To effectively treat your dry eye problem, it's critical to establish care with an optometrist or ophthalmologist.
What is a Dry Eye?
Dry eye happens when your eyes do not produce sufficient tears to stay wet, or when your tears do not function correctly. In certain situations, this may result in visual issues in addition to discomforting your eyes.
What are the Symptoms of Dry Eyes?
The signs and symptoms of dry eyes include the following:
- Feeling like something is inside the eye which don’t come out which in turn feels like a scratchy, gritty or sandy sensation inside the eyes
- Light sensitivity
- The burning sensation inside the eyes
- Mucus which comes out of the eyes
- Redness in the eyes
- Difficulty driving in night
- Trouble in wearing contact lenses
- Vision abnormalities like blurred vision and fatigue in the eyes
- Watery eyes (this occurs as a body’s natural response to irritants)
What are the Causes of Dry Eyes?
The following are the causes that lead to dry eyes:
- If your eyes are not producing sufficient tears
- Your tears dry out or evaporate too quickly
- Combination of both
Other causes of dry eyes include hormonal changes, allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases, inflamed eyelid glands, medical conditions, and aging. Either by itself or in conjunction with other medical disorders, dry eye can occur. Dry eyes might sometimes indicate:
- Sjogre’s syndrome
- Thyroid eye disease
- Diabetes
- Blepharitis (condition with red, swollen, irritated and itchy eyelids)
What are the Different Types of Dry Eye Diseases?
The different types of dry eye disease include:
- Aqueous deficient dry eye: When your eyes don't make enough tears, you have aqueous deficient dry eye. The aqueous tears come from the lacrimal gland, which is located in the upper, outer corner of each eye and these tears make up the middle, watery layer of your tear film. Your lacrimal gland may become inflamed due to certain autoimmune disorders, which will hinder it from producing adequate aqueous tears.
- Evaporative dry eye: Your tears evaporate too quickly, causing evaporative dry eye. Disruption of the meibomian gland is the most frequent cause. This is an indication that there is a malfunction in the glands in your eyelids that create the greasy outer layer of your tear film. The watery layer can't be kept from drying up because of this instability in the oily layer.
- Mixed dry eye: Certain individuals have aqueous tear deficiency and tear instability. This indicates that your eyes don’t produce sufficient tears, plus your tear film is unstable. Both of these problems can cause dry eye symptoms.
How to Diagnose Dry Eyes?
A thorough dilated eye checkup by your doctor may include a dry eye test. The examination is quick and painless; after giving you some eye drops to enlarge your pupil, your doctor will examine your eyes to look for signs of dry eyes and other conditions relating to the eyes.If you suspect you may have dry eyes, make sure your doctor knows. Your doctor may examine your tear production, the duration of time it takes for your tears to evaporate, and the makeup of your eyelids to determine whether you have dry eyes.
How to Treat Dry Eyes?
Typically, the course of treatment for dry eye is determined by the cause of the symptoms. Your symptoms can be reduced and your eyesight maintained with a few different kinds of treatment. The treatment for dry eyes includes:
- Over-the-counter eye drops: Artificial tears are the most popular type of eye drops used to treat mild dry eye. These eye drops are available without a prescription. Moreover, there are over-the-counter moisturizing ointments and gels that might improve the condition of your eyes.
- Prescription medicines: Your ophthalmologist might prescribe cyclosporine (Restasis) or lifitegrast (Xiidra) if your dry eye condition is more severe. You can increase the amount of tears in your eyes by using any of these medication types.
- Lifestyle change: If something in your life or your environment is causing your dry eye, or making it worse, your doctor may suggest changes to help protect your eyes. For example, if a medicine you take for another health condition is causing dry eye, your doctor may also suggest that you try a different medicine.
- Tear duct plugs: If tears are draining or evaporating too quickly from your eyes, your doctor may recommend inserting special plugs (called punctal plugs) in your tear ducts (small holes in the inner corners of your eyes). These plugs might help keep the tears in your eyes.
- Surgery: Sometimes the cause of dry eye is excessively loose lower eyelids that allow tears to leave your eyes too quickly. If this is the root of your dry eye condition, your ophthalmologist can recommend surgery to adjust your eyelids and ensure that your tears stay in your eyes. This kind of treatment is not often used.
How to Prevent Dry Eyes?
If you have dry eyes, pay attention to the circumstances that are most likely to result in your symptoms. Then, in order to stop the symptoms of dry eyes, figure out how to avoid certain circumstances. As an example:
- Avoid air blowing into your eyes: Avoid pointing fans, air conditioners, automobile heaters, and hair dryers in your eyes
- Add moisture to the air: A humidifier can add moisture to dry indoor air throughout the winter
- Take eye breaks during long tasks: Take regular eye breaks when reading or performing other tasks that call for focused vision. Take a few minutes to close your eyes. Alternatively, to assist distribute your tears equally across your eyes, blink once every few seconds.
- Be aware of your environment or recognize your surroundings: In desert regions, at high altitudes, particularly inside aircraft, the air can get very dry. To reduce the amount of tears that evaporate when you spend time in such an atmosphere, it could be beneficial to frequently close your eyes for a few minutes at a time.
- Consider wearing wraparound sunglasses or other protective eyewear: To prevent dry air and wind, safety shields can be affixed to the sides and tops of eyeglasses. Wherever you purchase your glasses, enquire about shields.
- Put the screen of your computer lower than your eyes: You will need to open your eyes wider to see the computer screen if it is higher than your eye level. To prevent your eyes from opening wide, place your computer screen below eye level. In between eye blinks, this might slow down the evaporation of your tears.
- Use artificial tears regularly: Use eye drops to keep your eyes properly moisturized if you have chronic dry eyes, even when your eyes feel fine.
- Stop smoking and avoid smoke: If you smoke, get assistance from your healthcare practitioner in creating a quit plan that will be most effective for you. Avoid being around smokers if you don't smoke. Smoke aggravates the symptoms of dry eyes.
Also, read: Eye Flu - Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
Conclusion
Dry eye disease may affect much more than the comfort of your eyes. It may interfere with your ability to work, interact with people, and have fun. Your emotions and mental health may suffer as a result of dry eyes. Though it may seem such, you are not by yourself. Make connections and exchange experiences with other people who suffer from this illness.
Finding relief requires persistence and patience, but it is undoubtedly attainable. Please contact your provider without delay if your existing therapies aren't working. Inform them about your feelings and inquire about additional treatments that will help you manage your health and improve your quality of life.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Can hydration help with dry eyes?
A: Having enough water in our bodies helps the body to create tears, which are what keep the surface of our eyes wet whether we 'switch on the waterworks' or not. Dehydration can thus result in fewer tears being produced, which exacerbates the symptoms of dry eyes.
Q: Are dry eyes serious?
A: Even though your symptoms seem modest, you should still see an ophthalmologist for quick treatment of dry eyes because it can worsen and lead to vision loss.
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