St Paul’s Eye Clinic
Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Fairfield Independent
Hospital
Hospital
Some people have dry eye, which is also called dry eye syndrome or keratoconjunctivitis sicca.
Some people have dry eye, which is also called dry eye syndrome or keratoconjunctivitis sicca. This happens when the eyes don't make enough tears or the tears vanish too fast, damaging the surface of the eye and making it swell. This condition can be very painful and make it hard to do normal things like reading, using a computer, or even driving. Dry eyes can be caused by many things, such as getting older, changes in hormones, environmental factors, some medicines, and medical problems.
Tear production tends to go down with age, and hormonal changes, especially in women going through menopause, can make the problem worse. Things in the environment, like smoke, wind, and dry areas, can also make your eyes dry by evaporating your tears faster. Medications such as antihistamines, decongestants, blood pressure drugs, and stimulants can also stop the body from making tears.
Dry eyes can also be caused by diseases like Sjögren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes. Dry eyes can sometimes be caused by problems with the eyelids, like them not closing all the way while you sleep or blinking in the wrong way.
Having dry eyes can mean different things to different people, but some of the most common signs are eyes that hurt or burn, feel dry or gritty, and feel like something is in the eyes. Some other common signs are heat, sensitivity to light, and blurred vision, which usually gets better when you blink. People who have dry eyes may also have watery eyes, which may not make sense but is a reaction to irritability.
Dry eyes that don't go away can cause more serious problems, like eye inflammation, corneal sores, and damage to the corneal surface. The pain and trouble seeing that come from dry eye can really lower your quality of life, so it's important to get the right treatment.
A full eye exam is usually needed to diagnose dry eye. During this test, an eye care worker will look at the patient's medical background and symptoms. Several tests can be used to find out how many and what kind of tears someone has. Putting a strip of filter paper under the lower eyelid and measuring how much water it soaks up over a few minutes is how the Schirmer test measures tear output.
The tear breakup time (TBUT) test checks how stable the tear film is by putting a special dye on the eye and watching how long it takes for dry spots to show up on the cornea. Besides ocular surface stains, which shows damage to the eye's surface, and meibography, which looks at the meibomian glands that make the sticky part of tears, there are other ways to diagnose eye problems. Figuring out what causes dry eyes is important for coming up with a good treatment plan.
The goal of treating dry eye is to get or keep the normal amount of tears in the eye, lessen the dryness and pain, and stop the surface of the eye from getting worse. The treatment plan can include changes to the person's habits, over-the-counter medicines, and medical help. Since you can get fake tears without a prescription, they are often the first thing that people try and they can help with symptoms for a short time.
Prescription drugs like cyclosporine (Restasis) and lifitegrast (Xiidra) can help people with more serious dry eye make more tears and lessen swelling. Punctal plugs, which are tiny devices that are put into the tear ducts to stop flow and keep tears on the surface of the eye, can also work. To get better symptoms in some cases, you need to fix underlying conditions like blepharitis or meibomian gland problems.
Making changes to your lifestyle, like using humidifiers, staying away from smoke and wind, taking breaks from screens, and drinking plenty of water, can also help handle dry eye conditions. Advanced treatments like donated blood serum drops, scleral lenses, or thermal pulsation therapy may be suggested for people whose dry eyes are serious or don't go away. For long-term control and comfort, it is important to teach patients about how dry eye is a chronic condition and how important it is to stick to their treatment plan.
