Find relief from your dry eye symptoms
Few things are more distracting than dry, red, irritated eyes. It’s hard to focus when it feels like something is caught in your eye—especially when there’s nothing there!
These symptoms are more than just a simple annoyance. They’re trademarked signs of dry eye disease. And without treatment, they could develop into something much more serious like corneal ulcers or severe infections.
You can avoid the potentially devastating long-term effects of dry eyes with a diagnosis and a customized treatment plan from an optometrist at Optical Eyeworks.
Book your appointment today with an optometrist to give your eyes the relief they crave.
What is dry eye disease?
Dry eye disease is a chronic condition that prevents your eyes from producing enough high-quality tears.
Tears are an important element of your ocular health. They hydrate, clean, and protect your eyes. Tears even improve your vision by smoothing the ocular surface. Without the proper tear volume or tear quality, your eyes become dry, irritated, and vulnerable to damage.
Symptoms
Common symptoms of dry eye disease include:
- Stringy discharge
- Redness
- Irritation
- Foreign body sensation
- Periods of excessive tears
- Stinging or burning
- Glare or halos around lights
- Sensitivity to light
- Contact lens discomfort
- Blurry vision
- Tired eyes
Risk factors
You are more likely to develop dry eye disease if you:
- Are a woman
- Are over 40
- Have had laser eye surgery
- Are on hormone replacement therapy
- Have had radiation
- Have a connective tissue disease
- Have hepatitis C
- Have an androgen deficiency
- Have a vitamin A deficiency
Types of dry eye disease
There are several different types of dry eyes. The most common are evaporative dry eye and aqueous deficiency dry eye. Some patients may have one or the other, although it’s not uncommon for a patient to have a combination of both.
Your tears have 3 layers. The first layer is the mucin layer, which helps your tears stick to your eye. The second layer is the aqueous layer which is almost entirely water. The third layer is the lipid layer—the oil or meibum that sits on top.
Aqueous deficiency dry eye occurs when the eye doesn’t produce enough liquid for the tear’s aqueous layer.
Pure aqueous deficiency is less common than evaporative dry eye.
The outer surface of your tears is covered in a thin layer of oil called meibum. This oil prevents your tears from evaporating too quickly.
If the glands that produce meibum are blocked or damaged, they can’t excrete enough of the oil to coat your tears. As a result, your tears will evaporate too quickly, leaving your eyes dry and irritated.
Help is available at Optical Eyeworks
The team at Optical Eyeworks understands the frustration and discomfort of dry eye disease. We offer a range of treatments to alleviate your symptoms and help restore your tear health.
Request an appointment to find out more about our dry eye treatment options and which one might work best for you.
