Millions of people experience the symptoms of dry eye every day. Whether it is the result of long hours in the office or a medical condition impacting your ability to produce tears, dry eye is a real condition that can impact day to day life. Below, let's take a closer look at some frequently asked questions about dry eye.
What is dry eye?
Dry eye is a medical condition that is extremely common. The condition occurs when a person does not have enough tears, or tears of high enough quality, to properly lubricate the eye. Your eye needs regular lubrication to comfortably move around the eye socket and allow your eyelid to blink without pain. There can be several reasons why the body is not producing enough tears including poor tear production, a clogged gland, or damaged tear ducts.
What causes dry eye?
Dry eye can be a result of a physical limitation or a situational setting. Some people have trouble producing high-quality tears within the eye. Tears are made up of water, oil, and mucus produced from the body. If perhaps a gland responsible for releasing oil is clogged, the tears will not have the right chemical balance. Sometimes, situations can cause dry eye in people. Working for sustained hours with intense focus, such as typing on a computer or doing highly detailed work, can cause the symptoms of dry eye. Certain activities, like riding a bike without eye protection can also cause the symptoms of dry eye.
What are the symptoms of dry eye?
People usually report a dry sensation in the eye, with mild pain when moving the eye or blinking. People can have blurred vision or have stringy, mucus production coming from the eye. A light burning sensation in the eyes is also quite common.
Is there a cure?
Visiting with your eye doctor, you will be able to come up with a solution to help improve or even eliminate symptoms of dry eye. An optometry specialist will help diagnose the root cause of the problem creating the dry eye conditions, and work to help improve the symptoms. There are many medicated eye drops that work as synthetic replacements to natural tears. In extreme cases, plugs can be used to help clear the tear duct passages to help create more plentiful, and better quality tears.
Call Advanced Eye Care Associates Today
Advanced Eye Care Associates cares about helping you see clearly with healthy eyes. We regularly work with patients that experience dry eye and have a range of solutions to help combat this disease. Our optometrist is caring and knowledgeable, treating each patient as the individual he or she is. Our office is located at 780 North Main Street, Providence, RI 02904. To schedule and appointment or to learn more about how we can help, call our office today at (401)-331-2020!