Dry Eye Management
Get personalized treatment for your dry eye condition. While dry eye isn’t a serious condition, it can have a major impact on your quality of life. You may find your eyes get tired faster or you have difficulty reading. Not to mention the discomfort of a burning sensation or blurry vision. Let’s take a look at dry eye treatments – from simple self-care to innovative prescriptions and therapies – to help you see clearly and comfortably.
What is Dry Eye?
Understanding dry eye will help you determine the best treatment option. Dry eye occurs when a person doesn't have enough quality tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears reduce eye infections, wash away foreign matter, and keep the eye’s surface smooth and clear. People with dry eyes either do not produce enough tears or their tears are poor quality. It’s a common and often chronic problem, especially in older adults.
Preventive Self-Care
Before we delve into more serious dry eye treatment options, here are a few simple self-care options that can manage minor cases of dry eye.
- Blink regularly when reading or staring at a computer screen for a long time.
- Make sure there’s adequate humidity in the air at work and at home.
- Wear sunglasses outside to reduce sun and wind exposure. Wraparound glasses are best.
- Take supplements with essential fatty acids as these may decrease dry eye symptoms.
- Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day to avoid dehydration.
- Find out if any of your prescriptions have dry eye as a side effect and if so, see if you can take an alternative.
Artificial Tears
- For mild cases of dry eyes, the best option is over-the-counter eye drops. The amount of options is a little overwhelming, so book a consult with our team today!
Other Prescription Dry Eye Treatments
There are several prescriptions that treat dry eye differently. Your eye doctor can advise the best option for your situation.
- Anti-inflammatory drugs – These are eye drops to control inflammation on the surface of your eyes (cornea) using the immune-suppressing medication; ex: Restasis, Xiidra or other corticosteroids.
- Punctal Plugs - tiny silicone devices that are inserted into the puncta, or openings, of the tear ducts in the eyes to treat dry eyes. The plugs are about the size of a grain of rice and block tears from draining, which helps keep the eyes moist and comfortable.
- And more!!
Book your appointment now!