Dry Eye is a very common condition that happens to people when their eyes can’t produce enough quality lubricant, i.e. tears. Tears are essential for the nourishment of your eyes and for maintaining a healthy surface of your eye. They also help to provide clear vision.
Every time you blink, the front surface of your eye (the cornea) is spread with tears. These tears protect your eye from infection, wash away any foreign material, and keep the surface smooth and clear. Any excess tears will flow into small drainage channels in the inner corners of your eyelids. If this production and drainage process falls out of balance, then you could suffer from Dry Eye.
What are the symptoms of Dry Eye?
If you experience any or a few of these symptoms, you may have Dry Eye.
Your eyes may be:
- Itchy or sore
- Gritty
- Red
- Blurry
- Sensitive to light
- More watery than usual
The causes of Dry Eye
There are lots of things that can cause Dry Eye, including:
- Contact lenses
- Looking at computer screens for lengthy periods
- Weather conditions (wind, cold, dry or dusty)
- Air conditioning or heating
- Smoking and/or drinking alcohol
- Certain medicines (like blood pressure medication)
How to manage your Dry Eye symptoms
Depending on how severe your condition is, Dry Eye can usually be managed and successfully kept under control. Here are a few tips:
- Use lubricating eye drops
There are plenty of brands of eye drops that can be purchased without a subscription. However different brands are suitable for different types of dry eyes. So, it is best to seek advice from your optician.
- Be more conscious about keeping your eyes clean
- If you use a computer for work, take regular breaks
- Get plenty of sleep, so that your eyes can rest
- If you wear contact lenses, take them out and wear glasses from time to time
Dry Eye is very common and usually manageable but can cause some significant discomfort. We have a specialist in-house Dry Eye Clinic, so if you think you have this condition, book an appointment with us. We’ll be able to take a look and depending on the results we advise on a tailor-made plan to treat your dry eye symptoms. These could be daily treatments to carry out at home including eye masks, compress masks and omega oil supplements. Or specialist in-house treatments such as Meibomian Gland Expression or BlephEx™ intensive lid treatment.
Blephartis
Another condition that is commonly associated with Dry Eye is Blephartis. This happens when the edges of your eyelids get red and swollen. There’s more information about this here, so if you’d like to know more, then take a look.
While we have you here…
We’d like to take the opportunity to let you know that we are taking bookings for back to school appointments. For your children, it’s very important to keep up with their vision. If a problem goes undetected, then their educational performance could be affected.
Now is perfect time to get your child booked in for an eye test, so they can start the year bright eyed and bushy tailed!
Get in touch with us today and we’ll get your child booked in.