Many people experience the feeling of dry eyes. One question many doctors hear is, “why are my eyes so dry and what is the reason behind dry eyes? This condition is caused due to the breakdown or destabilization in the tear film of eyes.
Tears are actually quite complicated and they are made up of many things like minerals, proteins, natural antibiotics, and few other chemicals other than water mucus, and oil.
When any mentioned component is lacking or if any component is in excess the tear film becomes unstable. Most likely the result of this situation is a dry eye condition. But what causes dry eyes to occur?
What are its symptoms? Here we have answered all your queries related to dry eyes.
Symptoms
If you are suffering from this condition then eyes are not able to eliminate dust and dust and other irritants. This can lead to the following symptoms:
- Burning sensation
- Stinging
- Pain and irritation
- Redness
- Watery eyes
- Mucus
- You can easily catch the bacterial infection in the surface of your eyes
- Scarring on cornea
- Tiredness in eyes
- The feeling of having sand in eyes
- Blurry vision in extreme cases
If you find any of these symptoms you should immediately see the doctor.
Causes
There are three layers of tears. The outer layer is oil; the middle layer is watery while the inner layer is of mucus. If the glands producing these three elements get inflamed or the stop producing enough of any elements dry eyes syndrome develops.
Following are the reasons for dry eyes syndrome:
- Reading continuously for long hours
- Working on a computer for long hours
- Working in a dry environment for a long time
- Working in extreme cold or hot environment
- Harmon replacement therapy
- LASIK surgery
- Long and constant exposure to windy air
- Antihistamines, nasal decongestants, birth control pills, and antidepressants can cause dry eyes
- Age factor
- Not liking frequently
Who Is Affected By This Syndrome?
- People above 50 years
- Pregnant woman
- People with chronic allergies
- People with thyroid, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other immune system disorders
- People with exposure keratitis, which means sleeping with your eyes partially open
- People with vitamin A deficiency.
- People with high blood pressure
- People with Sjogren’s syndrome ‘
- People with diabetes.
What Are The Tests To Detect The Problem?
You will have to go through the tests to examine the number of tears in your eyes.
- Slit lamp, or biomicroscope, exam
- A Schirmer’s test
Remedies
Here are a few things that can help in healing your eyes condition:
- Avoid smoking
- Change your environment
- Avoid going out during a windy day
- Use eye wear to protect your eyes
- Add moisture in the air with the humidifier
- Eat food rich in nutrients omega 3 and fatty acids. for example flax seed, palm oil, chia seeds, fatty fish, walnuts and eggs
- Try drops as and ointments as suggested by the doctor
- Give adequate rest to your eyes
- Use a warm compress on a regular basis and wash your eyes after that
Dry eyes are temporary and most likely related to the factor of ageing. But sometimes the condition is serious and it is seen in youngsters.
You should not overlook this problem of dry eyes because it can even make your vision blurred so if you are facing dryness in your eyes you should immediately get in touch with an eye doctor and explain everything in details.
If it will be left untreated you will start feeling light sensitivity in your eyes.
