Dry Eye Treatment

While dry eye isn’t a serious condition, it can have a major impact on your quality of life. You may find your eyes get tired faster or you have difficulty reading. Not to mention the discomfort of a burning sensation or blurry vision. Let’s take a look at dry eye treatments – from simple self-care to innovative prescriptions and therapies – to help you see clearly and comfortably.
 

What is Dry Eye?

Understanding dry eye will help you determine the best treatment option. Dry eye occurs when a person doesn't have enough quality tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears reduce eye infections, wash away foreign matter, and keep the eye’s surface smooth and clear. People with dry eyes either do not produce enough tears or their tears are poor quality. It’s a common and often chronic problem, especially in older adults.
 

Preventive Self-Care

Before we delve into more serious dry eye treatment options, here are a few simple self-care options that can manage minor cases of dry eye.

• Blink regularly when reading or staring at a computer screen for a long time.

• Make sure there’s adequate humidity in the air at work and at home.

• Wear sunglasses outside to reduce sun and wind exposure. Wraparound glasses are best.

• Take supplements with essential fatty acids as these may decrease dry eye symptoms.

• Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day to avoid dehydration.

• Find out if any of your prescriptions have dry eye as a side effect and if so, see if you can take an alternative.
   

Artificial Tears

For mild cases of dry eyes, the best option is over-the-counter eye drops. Here are a few tips for selecting the right one:

• Low viscosity – These artificial tears are watery. They often provide quick relief with little or no blurring of your vision, but their effect can be brief, and sometimes you must use these drops frequently to get adequate relief.

• High viscosity – These are more gel-like and provide longer-lasting lubrication. However, these drops can cause significant blurring of your vision for several minutes. For this reason, high-viscosity artificial tears are recommended at bedtime.
   

Dry Eye Treatments Available

There are several treatments that treat dry eye differently. Your eye doctor can advise the best option for your situation.
 

• Daily disposable lenses: Even when contacts are cleaned daily, they can develop build-up over time. This can lead to irritation, especially in those with dry eyes. Since Daily Disposable Lenses are changed daily, build-up isn't an issue. 

• Silicone hydrogel lenses: These soft contact lenses are more porous than other types of contacts, making them an excellent choice for those with dry eyes. They're made from a flexible material that can comfortably be worn all day.

• Scleral lenses: Most contacts aren't suitable for people with severely dry eyes, but that's not true of scleral lenses. These lenses are made from a hard material and don't touch the cornea. Thanks to that, they don't remove moisture or oxygen from the eyes. 

• Anti-inflammatory eye drops – are eye drops to control inflammation on the surface of your eyes. A common type of Anti-inflammatory drop is Restasis.  RESTASIS® helps increase tear production in patients with a type of Chronic Dry Eye that causes decreased tear production due to inflammation.

• Over-the-counter eye drops: Artificial tears are eye drops used to lubricate dry eyes and help keep moisture on the outer surface of the eyes.

 Dry Eye Procedures 

• Punctal Plugs – Punctal plugs block the drainage of tears from the eyes, allowing them to remain on the ocular surface longer. This helps to increase moisture and reduce dryness, irritation, and burning.
   

You don’t have to suffer from the symptoms of dry eye. Talk to your optometrist about dry eye treatment options designed to address the underlying cause of your condition.