What is Dry Eye?

Dry eye is a combination of symptoms that arise from your eyes not getting enough moisture. Your eyes rely on your tear glands to provide hydration for cleanliness, lubrication, and proper vision. Without enough quantity or poor quality of tears, eyes feel irritated, red, itchy, or even as though there is grit under your lids.

There are two reasons you may experience dry eye:

Not Enough Tears

Your tear glands are designed to produce enough hydration for your eyes to feel lubricated, and to keep them clean. If you tears glands fall behind your eyes will feel dry. Even fewer tears create more irritation, as though there is sand or dirt underneath your eyelids.

Inferior Quality of Tears

Your natural tears are made up of more than water, they include a special oil called meibum. Your eyes rely on a sufficient amount of meibum in your tears to keep them from evaporating too fast. If there is insufficient meibum your eyes become dry and irritated.

Symptoms of Dry Eye Disease

The most obvious symptom is actually dry eyes, however, there are a number of other indications of dry eye disease.

• Dryness
• Foreign body sensation, or grit or sand, in the eye
• Bursts of excessive watering
• Burning or itching
• Redness
• Light sensitivity
• Stringy discharge
• Excessive glare or halos around lights
• Uncomfortable contact lenses

Long-Term Effects of Dry Eye

Over time, dry eye can do more than just frustrate. This condition is hard on the corneas and mucous membranes of your eyes. Left untreated, dry eye disease may do permanent damage such as scars, perforation, and corneal ulcers.

The best strategy for dry eye disease is a management plan, created by you and your optometrist.

Managing Dry Eye

Relief may come from a combination of treatments that best suit your eyes and your particular case of dry eye disease. The doctors at Stonebridge are proud to provide an array of solutions for short and long-term help.