Dry Eye

These tips help manage your ocular surface by changing your environment and naturally lubricating your eyes. They are easy and if practiced regularly highly effective.

She glares intently into the light shining before her.  Her eyes pulling, twitching, yet she dare not turn away.  She stares on. A dull pain again sets in, her vision begins to cloud over, but relentlessly she stares on, daring each blink.  The rumble of the old air conditioner erupts blowing cool air across her face.  Her glare does not waiver.  The pain now like fire ­burning in her eyes, but she pushes on and focuses towards the light.  Suddenly, a burst of tears well up and shower her eyes ­running down her face.  She cannot see!  The feeling of sand in her eyes is overwhelming!  She must turn away, the light is too bright, her eyes now bloodshot from the intensity of…of…of working on her business report.  What?  What may sound like an outtake from a hollywood script may actually be an everyday phenomenon called dry eye.

Dry eye is a common syndrome that affects well over 30% of our global population causing a significant burden in everyday lives of those suffering from it. It may take on different names such as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, xerophthalmia, dysfunctional tear syndrome, and dry eye syndrome. For the sake of simplicity, in this article, we will refer to the irritating eye symptoms of itching, burning, blurry vision, pulling, foreign body sensation, tiredness, redness, heaviness, puffiness, stinging, tearing, and grittiness simply as dry eye.

The advent of technology is great but has increased and widened our perspective of dry eye. Using a computer, text messaging, driving, reading and watching TV, also working in a dryer environment (created with air conditioners or furnaces) can exacerbate dryness. Add not blinking regularly or completely with not sleeping enough or sleeping with our eyes partially open (20% of us do it!), and you have one delicious recipe for dry eye.

So what is one to do? Dry eye can be a complex, inflammatory ocular surface disorder stemming from many environmental, genetic and other medical factors. While it may be fun (for me) to discuss all the biology, chemistry, and immunology of why, how, and when dry eye is happening, most of you would feel it is just another dry topic. Instead, I offer some easy tips to reduce your symptoms and let you get on with the enjoyment of work and play in your life. I recommend these safe and simple tips to my dry eye patients. In due time (one month or so), with adherence to a routine, the plethora of dry symptoms may disappear or become greatly reduced.

Whether your dry eye symptoms are associated with a medical illness or due to your environment factors, these tips can benefit everyone. They also will work to help prevent dry eye symptoms from occurring on those longer, strenuous workdays. However, there are a number of ways to treat dry eyes. All dry eye syndromes are not the same, and thus, one treatment plan doesn’t work for everyone.

Artificial tears, gels, lid hygiene, warm compresses, medications, advanced drop formulations, and minor surgeries are all great options as well. These treatments are best used in conjunction with the appropriate eye care professional.

The underlying reasons for dry eye are vast and when properly identified, the correct treatment plan is usually successful. An eye care professional can offer specific treatment for your dry eye condition. If you have seen a physician or an eye care professional and are still suffering from significant dry eye symptoms, please seek out your friendly, neighborhood ophthalmologist (with cornea and/or external disease training) via a referral from your optometrist or family physician.

In some cases, dry eye may be linked to underlying whole body medical problems. Many treatment options are available to help these kinds of individuals. I recommend seeing an ophthalmologist trained in cornea and external disease if this applies to you. However, most of the great people that I see experience dry eye because of what they do or where they do it on a daily basis.

I hope you will find a benefit from this article and also relief especially if dry eye has been bogging you down. Remember, take time to take care of your health now or your health may take over your time in the future.

Turn Up The Humidity

Creating a humid environment (60% humidity) with a humidifier may drastically reduce symptoms. Higher humidity decreases the evaporation of moisture from the ocular surface. Moving to Hawaii would work well too, but unfortunately that’s not possible for most of us!

Message the Eyelids

Don’t I go to the spa for this? An easy way to naturally lubricate the ocular surface is with eyelid massage. While showering, gently place your face in the shower spray for 20 seconds. Next, gently massage your upper eyelids (following the shape of your eye) with your baby finger in a top down fashion. Start just under your eyebrows and gently rub down towards your eyelashes 20 times, keeping your eye closed the whole time. Repeat for the bottom eyelids, except in the opposite direction. The eyelids contain an oily like layer and through massaging it is pushed out onto the ocular surface.

Close Your Eyes

This tip works in conjunction with blinking more often and completely. Closing your eyes limits ocular surface evaporation and holds fluid on the surface. Eye closure and blinking forces an oil-like tear layer onto your eyes preventing evaporation. I recommend closing your eyes for one minute every hour if you are doing a “marathon” computer, reading, or TV session. Just kindly let the boss know what’s up or else you may be thought to be napping!

Eye Up Your Monitor, Book, Or TV

Setting your monitor at eye level decreases the height of your intrapalpebral fissure (distance between your upper and lower eyelid). This reduces the evaporation rate of tears as less of the ocular surface is exposed. Be sure not to strain your neck with this new positioning, as we don’t want to trade one problem for another.

Stop Squinting

Your mother was right! Squinting may cause problems especially with dry eye. We squint to help us see clearer, so if you are squinting you may need glasses. Squinting also reduces our blink rate. When we squint, we stop blinking which leads to sore, tired, burning red eyes and blurring of vision all in keeping with dry eye.

Get Your Zzzzz

Sleep seems to be the answer for a lot of health issues. Sleeping helps the ocular surface heal and inflammation to cool down reducing symptoms.

Wear Sunglasses

Sunglasses make you look cool! Sure, but they also provide a barrier to UV light, wind, and debris all which can dry and lead to inflammation on your ocular surface.

Blink More And Completely

I know that this sounds ridiculous. Most of us blink an average of 10–15 times per minute. When using computers, reading, text messaging, or focusing attention, blinking frequency goes down to 2–3 times per minute! A lot of us (30%) don’t blink completely either. Imagine your vehicle’s windshield wipers only traveling halfway across your windshield, 2–3 times per minute when needed. The other half of the windshield would be covered in debris. This is sort of what happens to the eye’s surface leading to inflammation and dry eye symptoms. Taking mini breaks or setting a timer (every five minutes) to help remember to close our eyes completely and regularly works well. This tip alone has allowed many of my happy patients to stop using dry eye drops or medications.