Dry Eye Syndrome occurs when your eye is not producing enough tears to keep your eyes lubricated. Common symptoms can leave you experiencing itchy or burning sensations in your eyes, feeling like you have sand in them, redness or irritation, or even blurry vision after periods of reading, watching TV or using a computer. Another common symptom is watery eyes.

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How can it be that you have Dry Eye Syndrome when your eyes are watering excessively?

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Your eye makes two different types of tears – lubricating and reflex. The lubricating tears are produced continuously and they contain mucous, oils, water, nutrients and antibodies to nourish. They also protect the surface of your eyes.

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Reflex tears serve as a kind of emergency response to flood the eye when it is suddenly irritated or injured. Reflex tears might occur when you get something in your eye, when you’re cutting onions, when you’re around smoke, or when you accidentally scratch your eye. The reflex tears gush out in such large quantities that the tear drainage system can’t handle them all and they spill out onto your cheek. Still another cause of reflex tearing is irritation of the eye from lack of lubricating tears. If your eye is not producing enough lubricating tears, you have dry eye.

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Common Causes of Dry Eye

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• Age: As we get older, the gland that creates watery tears becomes less productive.
• Diseases including diabetes, Sjogren’s and Parkinson’s
• Hormonal changes, especially after menopause
• Prescription medications: These include some high blood pressure medications, antihistamines, diuretics, antidepressants, anti-anxiety pills, sleeping pills and pain medications. Over-the-counter medications including some cold and allergy products, motion sickness remedies, and sleep aids can also cause dry eye.
• Hot, dry or windy conditions: High altitude and air-conditioning can also cause dry eye by increasing the evaporation of the tears.
• Reading, using a computer or watching TV: by decreasing the blink frequency and thus increasing evaporation of the tears.
• Eye surgery: Some types of eye surgery, including LASIK can aggravate dry eye and this gradually improves over the first 6 months after surgery.
• Inflammation: Some people have chronic inflammation in the meibomian glands, the glands in the eyelids that produce the oily part of the tears. Oil keeps the watery part of the tears from evaporating too quickly. The inflamed oil glands produce less of, and a poorer quality of the oil.  Decreased oil production allows tears to evaporate too quickly, leaving the eye too dry.

Treatments for Dry Eye

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While there are many options to treat Dry Eye Syndrome, patients should first consult a physician and receive a full exam. Dry Eye can be caused by multiple sources, so it is important to first diagnose the source of the issue so that it may be properly treated. During the exam, Dr. Walters will take a patient’s history, examine their eyes, and test the quality of the patient’s tears. The cornea and eyelids will also be examined to determine options for treatment.

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Once a proper medical examination has been performed, Dr. Walters will then prescribe a course of treatment. These treatments range from artificial tears (eye drops) to steroids and possibly surgery.

If you feel that you may be suffering from Dry Eye Syndrome, please call us immediately for a appointment.

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