A dry eye is a condition when the eyes don’t make enough tears or evaporate too quickly. This can cause them to feel dry, irritated, and uncomfortable. Dry eye is common—it affects millions of Americans every year. The good news is that—if you suffer from this syndrome—you can do many things to keep your eyes healthy and stay comfortable, such as heating eye pads. 

First, let’s look at its symptoms and causes. 

Dry Eye Symptoms

You’ll know you’re suffering from dry eye when you experience these symptoms:

• A scratchy discomfort as if something’s inside your eye.
• A stinging or burning sensation.
• Redness.
• Light sensitivity.
• Blurred vision.

Dry Eye Causes

• Aging: As we age, the proteins that help make up the tear film decline, and the volume of tears produced gets smaller. This leads to degeneration of the eyes and conditions like dry eye.

• Hormones: Dry eyes can be a side effect of hormonal changes during pregnancy, menopause, and hormonal birth control.

• Diabetes or other systemic and autoimmune diseases: Diabetes can cause damage to the nerves, which can lead to dry eyes. Autoimmune disorders such as Sjögren's syndrome, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis can also cause dry eyes.

• Medicines: Many medications have been linked to dry eyes, including antihistamines, decongestants, antidepressants, birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, anxiety medication, Parkinson's disease medication, and high blood pressure medication.

• Environment or lifestyle: Environmental factors are environmental elements that can affect a person's health. These include air pollution, water pollution, and exposure to toxic substances.

Prolonged screen time can lead to dry eyes because people tend to blink less when looking at screens. Dry eyes can also be caused by windy, smoky, or dry environments and by laser refractive eye surgery.

Prevention Methods

Dry eyes can be chronic, but treatments can help keep your eyes healthy and prevent your vision from being affected. Remember these prevention methods:

• Many medications may result in dry eyes as a side effect. If you are taking any of those, your doctor may recommend changing to a different medication that does not lead to dry eyes.

• You can use over-the-counter artificial tears, gels, or ointments if you have mild dry eye symptoms.

• This means you should reduce your time looking at screens and take breaks often to rest your eyes. During those offscreen breaks, you can close your eyes for a few minutes or repeatedly blink for a few seconds. This will help to replenish your tears and keep them evenly spread across your eyes.

• Sunglasses that wrap around the face and have side shields can help protect your eyes from the wind and dry air.

• Use a heating eye pad.

• If you have Meibomian gland dysfunction, which causes your tears to evaporate too quickly, you may want to try warm lid compresses and scrubs.

• Quit smoking and stay away from places where people are smoking.

• Omega-3 fatty acids that are beneficial for overall health can be found in oily fish and flaxseeds. Including them in your diet could improve health in various ways, especially for the eyes.

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped relieve and prevent dry eye from ever happening to you again. Contact Dry Eye Mask today if you’d like to try a new remedy like a heating eye pad! We’re a specialty eye care provider that fully treats and prevents dry eye syndrome. Learn more by visiting our website, emailing help@dryeyemask.com, or calling 213-471-8050.