What Is Dry Eye And How Is Dry Eye Treated | Trillium Vision Care.
Have your eyes been dry, stinging, burning, red, or some other bothersome issue? If so, you might have dry eye and need to see an optometrist in Zanesville, Newark and New Lexington, OH.
What Is Dry Eye?
Dry eye is a disease that affects many people. It occurs when your eyes don’t produce enough tears to provide adequate lubrication for your eyes. In turn, your eyes will feel dry and uncomfortable.
What Are the Symptoms of Dry Eye?
There are many symptoms of dry eye.
- Dry itchy eyes
- Stinging, burning, or scratchy sensation
- Sensitivity to light
- Redness of the eyes
- Blurred vision
- Eye fatigue
- Stringy mucus in your eyes
- Difficulty driving at night
These are just a few of the symptoms of dry eye.
What Causes Dry Eye?
Dry eye is caused by a problem with one of the layers of your eyes’ tear film. A problem with the fatty oils, mucus, or aqueous fluid in your tear layers and the imbalance could result in dry eye.
Tear film problems could be caused by aging, a medical condition, one of your medications, or even corneal nerve desensitivity that comes from using contact lenses. It could also be the result of nerve damage from laser surgery; however, this is usually temporary.
How Do You Treat Dry Eye?
If you want to effectively treat dry eye, you should see a Zanesville, Newark or New Lexington, OH optometrist or ophthalmologist. Your doctor will use a Schirmer test to measure the quality and quantity of the tear production in your eyes.
This test is performed by putting a paper blotting strip under each of your eyes for about five minutes or so. Then your doctor will measure the moisture percentage of each tear-soaked strip.
There are other tests your optometrist might perform which include using eye drops with a special dye together with a tear osmolarity test. This test measures the water and particles in your eyes.
Some people experience minimal relief using over-the-counter products. However, medication to reduce inflammation in your eyelids, tear-stimulating drugs, or eye inserts that work by acting like artificial tears might be better.
Talk with your optometrist to determine which solution is best for your particular situation.
What’s Next?
If you want more information or want to learn about the treatment for dry eye, please Contact Trillium Vision Care today. We are optometrists in Zanesville, Newark and New Lexington, OH, and offer eye-care solutions for every stage of life.
