The eyes play a prominent role in everyone’s life. We often see people rubbing their eyes when they feel exhausted or when there is more irritation. But does that mean you have dry eyes? Dry eyes are one of the medical conditions where your eyes do not provide enough lubrication. Do you know that your tears are the lubricator for your eyes? Yes, you heard it right. Eye tears are essential for your eyes to maintain vision health and clear sight. Hence, in this post, let us know why lubrication is necessary for your eyes and why it is difficult to treat dry eyes.

The Three Types of tear:

Before knowing the treatment, let us know the three types of tears produced by the eyes. They are,

• Basal Tears:

The foremost type of tear produced by our body is the basal tear. It is a type of tear that is present constantly in your eyes. These tears will nourish and lubricate your eyesight to maintain your vision health. Moreover, these tears act as a shield between you and the rest of the world, protecting your eyes from dirt and debris.

• Reflex Tears:

These types of tears are the outcome reflex. For example, harmful irritants like dust, smoke, or even fumes while chopping onions will cause these reflex tears. Your body will release the reflex tears much larger than the basal tears. It is interesting to know that these tears have antibodies associated with them.

• Emotional Tears:

Emotional tears are released during the outburst of emotions for being happy, sad, and related emotions. Even scientists have found that emotional tears have additional hormones and proteins that you cannot find in reflex or basal tears. So, knowing about the different types of tears, you have an idea of how tears play a vital role in maintaining your eyesight. 

What Causes Dry Eyes?

If your body produces inadequate tears, there is a high chance of developing a dry eye condition. However, there is more than one cause for the dry eye condition. They are:

• Low humidity and other environmental conditions
• Sleep apnea masks 
• Drugs
• Health conditions

Environmental Conditions:

The foremost condition that causes dry eyes is the environmental condition. Lower humidity and extreme weather conditions are the major reasons that cause dry eyes. So, the lower humidity can also be caused due to air conditioner or humidifier. Hence, as a result, these conditions cause lips to crack, eyes to sting, and knuckles to split. Similarly, the other low-pressure conditions are hospitals, office buildings,  airplanes, shopping malls, etc.

Sleep Apnea Masks:

People use this mask to streamline their breathing and prevent blocks in the airways. It is one of the common offenders of dry eye because a small amount of air leakage can cause dry eyes through the space between the eyelids. Similarly, the smoke and allergens can cause eye dryness.

Drugs:

Thirdly, drugs also play a vital role in the case of dry eyes. Some of the medications or drugs that are the major causes of these conditions are sedatives, blood pressure medications, allergy pills, and even eye drops. These medications contain chemicals that are harmful to eyesight. 

Health Conditions:

In some cases, health conditions are also the major cause of your dry eyes. The primary health conditions for the root cause of dry eyes are thyroid dysfunction, diabetes, previous eye surgeries, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, and rosacea. Even less blinking also produces extreme stress and strain in your eyes. For example, reading a book or staring at a phone can make you blink less and provide pressure on your eye. Hence, in turn, it may lead to dry eyes.

Symptoms of Dry Eyes:

The symptoms include:

• Burning, scratchy, and stinging sensation in the eyes
• Light sensitivity
• Redness in one or both eyes
• Watery eyes
• Mucus around your eyes
• Difficulty in night driving and wearing contact lenses

Treatments for Dry Eyes:

The major treatment for dry eyes is deep cleaning them. Many doctors use various devices to treat dry eyes by cleaning the dirt or blockages present in the oil glands along the edges of eyelids. 

Usually, these tears contain protective oil layers called meibum and allow the tear to dry very fast. However, in the case of dry eyes, the meibum is thick and clogs the gland effectively. 

The treatments include various types of devices like lipiflow, TearCare, iLox, and many more. However, you can always find the best ophthalmologist in the town by exploring Gatello, the online business directory.

Is it difficult?

Treating eyes dryness is a bit tricky but not impossible. The primary reason people find it difficult to treat dry eyes is diagonization. Many people associate any eye condition with dry eyes and get treatment. But they might not be getting better because other things are happening around it. 

So, when the evaluation goes wrong, you can never be satisfied with any treatment for a lasting relief. However, so many medications and devices are available today, but treating them with accurate evaluation can improve things. 

The second difficulty in treating dry eyes is the type of condition. For example, the dry eye is caused due to environmental conditions like humidity, low pressure, or using the laptop for a longer time, you can treat them with regular medications and devices. 

In the case of medication, the condition can fade away once you stop your medication. However, in some cases, dry eyes can be a chronic condition, and you can feel better with treatment but cannot be cured completely. Chronic dry eyes are a condition where your eyes cannot further produce tears for a healthy tear film or lubrications.

So, the condition from person to person differs and identifying the right reason takes a longer time.

However, changing your lifestyle can make tremendous miracles in your life.

• Drinking plenty of water
• Having a humidifier in the workplace and home
• Blinking often
• Having limited screen time or adjusting it below your eye level.

Hence, there are many effective treatments available, but finding the right solution may include some trial and error method. It may consist of a combination of therapies or specific lifestyle changes. 

So, turn to your ophthalmologist San Jose for more knowledge and guidance for dry eyes.