What is Dry Eyes?
Dry eye is an eye condition that occurs when:
1) The eyes don’t make enough tears, or
2) The tears evaporate more than usual
This makes the eyes dry and red. Treatment can be used to control your symptoms.
What are the causes of Dry Eyes?
Dry eye is caused by anything that affects tear production or tear drying.
This can result from:
- Contact lens wear
- Eye injury
- Post eye surgeries (LASIK)
- Other eye diseases
- Ageing
- Changes in hormone levels
- Systemic diseases (like Sjogren syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis etc…)
- Use of certain systemic medications
- Exposure to sun, wind, or dry climates
What are the symptoms of Dry Eyes?
Most people experience mild symptoms. In a few cases, dry eye can be more severe, with continuous symptoms:
- Dry or sore eyes
- Eye redness
- Eyelids stick together when you wake up
- Watering eyes (Your eye may briefly make too many tears to try and fix the dryness)
- Blurred vision
- Scarring of cornea
Both eyes usually show symptoms, ranging from mild to occasionally severe. If you experience mild symptoms, visit your eye doctor. They may be able to prescribe something to relieve the irritation. If your symptoms are severe or accompanied by pain and decreased vision, see an eye doctor immediately.
What is the treatment for Dry Eyes?
A variety of approaches can be taken to treat the eye. These can be summarized as avoidance of exacerbating factors, tear stimulation and supplementation, increasing tear retention, treatment of eye inflammation, and eyelid cleansing.
- Environmental control (avoidance of exacerbating factors) – dry smoky and dusty environment should be avoided.
- Rehydration (tear stimulation and supplementation) – for mild and moderate cases supplemental lubrication (artificial tears) is the most important part of treatment.
- Medication (to treat eye inflammation) – mild topical steroids or topical immunosuppressants can be used to suppress ocular surface inflammation. This is seen in more severe dry eye.
- Tear retention – This involves partial or complete blockage of openings that drain tears from the eyes (puncta / tear ducts). This includes the use of punctual plugs or cauterization of the puncta.
- If your dry eye is caused by some other systemic disease, like rheumatoid arthritis, it may be necessary to treat the underlying conditions with a rheumatologist.