Your eye doctor can help you live with dry eye
Dry eye disease is common and can develop for many reasons. Usually, the condition is chronic and cannot be cured. Instead, treatment for dry eyes focuses on relieving symptoms. Dry eye is when the front surface of your eye does not get covered with the right layer of tears and the perfect mixture of oils and water of those tears. If any of these are off, dry eye disease can develop.
Symptoms of dry eye disease may include a stinging, itchy or burning sensation in your eye, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, and mucus in or around your eye. As you’ve experienced, excess tearing can also be a symptom. Normally, tears are produced very slowly. But if that process fails to make enough tears, a different tear production system may be activated. And, unfortunately, this reflex mechanism usually produces too many tears.
Treatment can be done with several techniques, including artificial tears or even medication such as cyclosporine (Restasis). Sometimes antibiotics may even be used to reduce inflammation that can lead to oil production problems. But before you begin treatment, check with you doctor as some medications you may currently be on could be causing dry eye as a side effect.
Work with your eye care provider to find the appropriate dry eye treatment. These therapies won’t cure dry eyes, but they should help reduce symptoms enough so you can be comfortable and function normally in your daily activities.
For information on dry eye disease and treatment, contact Gordy EyeCare today.
image credit: neuroticcamel on flickr
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