June 25, 2021

When your tears cannot sufficiently lubricate your eyes, you could be suffering from dry eyes. Many reasons could lead up to having dry eye, inflammation, and other forms of irritation.

 

This condition will make you feel uncomfortable and have a burning or stinging feeling in your eyes. However, some treatments alleviate the symptoms of dry eyes. There are other various causes and treatments to deal with it. Here are a few.

 

Medication

If you use medication to deal with a medical condition, you could experience dry eyes. This is because tears are composed of water, mucus, and oil, to name a few. Some medications might reduce the level of your eyes’ lubrication, making the situation worse.

 

To avoid this, avoid medication that makes your eyes dry. Read and analyze the fine print to know what the side effects of the medication are.

 

Age

The older you get, the more you are likely to get dry eye. According to experts, you are more likely to get this condition if you are over fifty. Moreover, if you are in this age bracket and have this condition, you cannot avoid it. However, you may use artificial tears regularly to give you extra lubrication to relieve dryness and lubricate your eyes.

 

Sjögren’s Syndrome

This is an autoimmune disorder that is not commonly known. It causes your tear and salivary glands to reduce tear reduction. To remedy this situation, you can buy over-the-counter (OTC) medications and prescriptions that are effective.

 

Also, your doctor might prescribe steroid eye drops to treat dry eyes. When the situation becomes dire, contact your doctor. They may recommend eye surgery involving the insertion of special silicone plugs into your eyes’ tear ducts. This helps maintain some of your tears.

 

Hormones and Menopause

Hormones play a major role in dry eye. During pregnancy or menopause, some women might experience this condition too. It could be because of using birth control pills or through natural aging causes. Experiencing a reduced tear production and an imbalance in eye lubrication is directly related to your hormone levels. 

 

One of the best treatments for this issue is known as hormone replacement therapy. It is a treatment requiring you to get a diagnosis from a specialist to get the best solution.

 

Laser Surgery

It is common to experience dry eyes after getting laser vision correction surgery. The procedure involves cutting through your cornea’s nerves. In turn, it makes your eyes produce fewer tears.

 

However, this condition is usually temporary. In a few days or weeks, it clears out. You may also use lubricating eye drops to ease your eyes’ lubrication before a couple of weeks are over.

 

Eye Allergies

Allergies have been known to trigger dry eye syndrome. If your eyes become itchy, watery, or red, you could be suffering from red-eye. Oral antihistamine solutions are effective but only to a point. This solution has been known to worsen the symptoms of dry eye. It is prudent to consult your doctor before using this solution.


 

To learn more about dry eye causes and symptoms, call Modern iCare Optometry at our office in Palm Desert, California at 760-674-7272.