Dry Eye

	Artificial tears may help dry eye

What is Dry Eye?

Sometimes people do not produce enough tears or the appropriate quality of tears to keep their eyes healthy and comfortable. This condition is known as dry eye.

Signs to Look For/Symptoms

Symptoms of dry eye include:

• Stinging or burning eyes;
• Scratchiness;
• Stringy mucus in or around the eyes;
• Excessive eye irritation from smoke or wind;
• Excess tearing; and 
• Discomfort when wearing contact lenses.

Risk Factors

Tear production normally decreases as we age. Although dry eye can occur in both men and women at any age, women are most often affected. This is especially true after menopause. Dry eye can also be caused by a medical condition called Sjogren’s syndrome and by common medications. Your doctor should know all the medications you are taking. In particular, medications such as diuretics, beta-blockers, antihistamines, sleeping pills, medications for “nerves” and pain relievers have been known to cause dry eye.

Preventative Measures

Preventing evaporation of your tears can help with dry eye. Using a humidifier adds moisture to dry air, and wrap-around glasses may reduce the drying effect of the wind. It also may help to avoid things that cause dryness, like an overly warm room, hair dryers, wind and smoking.

Treatment Options

A type of eyedrops called artificial tears can be effective at treating dry eye. They lubricate your eyes and help maintain moisture. Artificial tears are available without a prescription. There are many brands on the market, so you may want to try several to find the one you like best.

Preservative-free eyedrops are available for people who are sensitive to the preservatives in artificial tears. If you need to use artificial tears more than every two hours, preservative-free brands may be better for you.

You can use the artificial tears as often as necessary -- once or twice a day or as often as several times an hour.

Conserving your tears is another approach to keeping the eyes moist. Should you and your ophthalmologist decide that this is the right treatment option for you, your ophthalmologist can do this by temporarily or permanently closing the channels from which tears drain. The closure conserves your own tears and makes artificial tears last longer.