What is Dry Eye Syndrome?
Our eyes need tears to stay healthy and comfortable, dry eye is a condition which causes symptoms of burning, scratchy and irritated eyes. It actually affects your vision because the tears are part of your refracting system.
Dry Eye Symptoms
Some of the symptoms of dry eye are:
- Your eyes feel like they are stinging and burning
- Mucus in or around your eyes
- Your eyes are red and irritated
- Wearing contact lenses becomes painful
What Causes Dry Eyes?
Your tear film has three layers: fatty oils, aqueous fluid and mucus. A healthy combination of these ingredients keeps the surface of your eyes lubricated, smooth and clear.
Problems with any of these layers can cause dry eyes. Essentially, dry eyes result from inadequate lubrication of the eyeball.
Most patients with dry eye syndrome have swelling in the tear glands that line the eyelid and the thin lining on the inside of the eyelids on the front part of the eye.
Environmental conditions such as A/C or extreme heat are often the root cause of drying out of the tear film.
Overall, there are quite a few causes for dry eye, including age, gender (women are more susceptible than men), certain medications, our environment, contact lens use, LASIK, and working on the computer.
What is the Remedy for Dry Eyes?
While there is no complete cure for dry eye, there are many tactics you can implement to help decrease the occurrence such as; artificial tears, prescription eye drops, lid hygiene, Omega 3’s, and drinking a lot of water while decreasing caffeine intake often helps keep you comfortable and seeing well.
Schedule your consultation with the vision care experts at Blaine Eye Clinic today.
