Dry Eye Care - Causes And Treatment Options

A thin film of tears lubricates our eyes constantly. Dry eye syndrome results when the tear film gets disturbed. Usually the affected are people above 60 years of age and it is more common in women than in men. Several options are available for dry eye care.

Our eyes may be dry because of three main reasons. Firstly, they may not produce enough tears. Secondly, what ever tears are produced may have faulty constituents and so cannot wet the eyes properly. And thirdly, there may be an increased absorption and evaporation of the tears from our eyes.

Irritation, grittiness, burning, redness, soreness and blurred vision in between blinking of the eyes are common symptoms of this condition. Surprisingly, excessive tearing may be a symptom too. This can commonly happen when your eyes are exposed to the wind.

Even though the condition most commonly affects older people, it may be seen in the young too. Contact lens wearers may sometimes experience this condition. Changing the lens to a different type of a lens or wearing the contacts less frequently will usually solve the problem.

People who have undergone refractive surgeries such as LASIK (laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis) may experience the condition for weeks after the surgery. Usually, it will get resolved after a few months.

Medication which we commonly use such as antihistamines can also cause dryness of your eyes. Other medications which cause dryness of your eyes include anti-depressants and diuretics.

Dryness of your eyes may sometimes be due to a medical condition which you may have. So treating the underlying medical condition is important.

Tear substitutes or artificial tears designed to act like normal tears are used to treat mild to moderate dryness. They are available as over-the-counter (OTC) eye drops from pharmacies. There are several different types of these drops and you may have to try and find out which ones are effective for you.

Sometimes anti-inflammatory drugs may have to be added for they reduce the inflammation associated with severe dryness.

Specialized eye ware can help to reduce the amount of dryness of your eyes by retaining the moisture in the special chamber and protecting your eyes from irritants. The modern designs of these special eye ware looks like sports sun glasses.

When all else fails, surgery is resorted to. One surgical procedure involves occlusion of the tear ducts which drain the tears. This enables what ever tears produced available for a longer period of time. Another surgery transplants salivary gland in the eye so that saliva produced from the transplanted glands act like tears.

Complications of dry eyes include damage to the cornea leading to ulceration and scarring and disrupting vision. Another complication is conjunctivitis or inflammation of the thin membrane covering the "white" of our eyes.

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