Dry Eye Disease
Overview
Symptoms: Dryness, burning, stinging, itching, tearing, fluctuating vision, sandy/gritty feeling, foreign body sensation
Diagnosis: Slit lamp examination with fluorescein staining
Treatments: Multi-factorial treatment including eye drops and lifestyle changes
What is Dry Eye?
Dry eye is a condition where your eyes either don’t produce enough tears or the tears that you do have are either harmful to the front of the eye or evaporate too quickly. Dry eye is a condition that affects millions of Americans every year. It has a wide range of symptoms which can make it hard to identify from a patient’s perspective. Most often it is a multi-factorial problem that can be influenced by allergies, bacteria, computer screen time, medications, and poor eyelid health. This is a condition that is treatable but often requires strict adherence to a treatment regimen.
Who is at risk for Dry Eye Disease?
- Patients over the age of 50
- Women are more likely to experience dryness than men
- Contact lens patients
- Patients with certain auto-immune disorders (Sjögren’s syndrome or Lupus)
- Active smokers
Treatment options
- Over the counter artificial tears
- Prescription dry eye drops (Restasis, Xiidra, etc.)
- Warm compresses
- Eyelid cleaning agents
- Lifestyle Changes
- Frequent breaks from screen time
- Blinking exercises
- Humidifiers
- Drink plenty of water
- Vitamins
- Punctal Plugs
- Surgery
Dry Eye Rescue
We are proud to partner with Dry Eye Rescue! It is an online website that contains any product that a patient would need to help treat their dry eye disease. By following the link below and using the code ECO10 at checkout you can save 10% on any product that is recommended by the doctors at Eyecare Center of Oneida!