What is Dry Eye?
Dry Eye happens when you have problems with the tear film, the surface of your eye, or the tear glands around your eye. This can cause discomfort, blurry/misty vision and watering eyes.
If it is untreated, it can sometimes cause damage to the front of the eye.
What causes Dry Eye?
Dry Eye is more common as we get older.
Sometimes, Dry Eye will be made worse by your environment. For example, if you are in a hot, windy or dusty environment, this can make your dry eye feel worse.
Rarely, Dry Eye is caused by an underlying health condition such as Sjogrens Disease or Parkinson’s. This is something to be discussed in an appointment with your optometrist and GP.
How do I treat Dry Eye?
Dry Eye can be treated to make you more comfortable by reducing the symptoms.
Hot compresses
Hot compresses (either an EyeBag or a hot towel) can be used to open the glands which produce important components of the tears.
The compress should be hot, but never painful. Lie back with your eyes shut and place the compress over your closed eyelids. Leave it there for ten minutes.
Lid Massage
After the hot compress, gently massage the eyelids with your fingertips to stimulate the tears. Do this for about 30 seconds.
Eyelid Cleaning
Boil some water and allow it to cool.
Once the water is cool, use it to gently clean along the eyelashes to remove any debris that may be irritating the eyes.
Diet
What you eat affects the tear film and the rest of your health. Below are listed some of the best foods to improve your tear film health
Omega-3
Omega-3 fatty acids may have a role in the tear film. They can be found in nuts and seeds, for example walnuts and flax, chia and hemp seeds. They are also found in salmon, tuna and sardines.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is found in sweet potato and carrots, as well as leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale. Vitamin A may be important for healthy tears.
Vitamin C
It’s not just for colds! Vitamin C could help your tears last longer and can be found in blueberries, bananas and apples as well as citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruit and lemons.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D may also be crucial to tear film health and can be found in egg yolk, fortified milk, sardines, cheese, salmon and yoghurt.
Vitamin E
Peanuts, sunflower seeds and almonds contain Vitamin E, which may help protect the eyes from damage.
Water
It may sound obvious, but staying hydrated is vital to maintaining healthy tears. Make sure you drink plenty of water to keep your tears working well.
Will my Dry Eye ever go away?
Unfortunately, Dry Eye never goes away. The treatment helps to manage the discomfort and keep you more comfortable, but if you stop doing the treatment then the Dry Eye symptoms will usually come back.
Environment
As mentioned above, your environment can affect your Dry Eye Symptoms.
If you work on a computer, concentrating on the screen may mean that you blink less often. This can make your eyes feel more uncomfortable. Try to consciously blink regularly, for example every time you press the space bar or the Enter key.
Working in dry, dusty or windy environments can cause Dry Eye symptoms to feel worse. Safety glasses can help with this as they shield your eyes from debris, which can irritate the eyes and stop the tears from evaporating so quickly in blustery weather.
If you are in a place with heavy pollution, this can make your eyes feel worse. Try to avoid being in polluted areas for extended periods of time if at all possible.
Smoking can also irritate the eyes. If at all possible, stopping smoking is the best thing to do for your eye health. You can find help from Help Me Quit here.