Ever wonder why your eyes feel like they have sand in them? If you have dry, itchy eyes that improve when you blink, the culprit may not be allergies or sinus problems. Instead, you could have dry eye syndrome. Dry eye syndrome most commonly affected women from ages 50 on up, but it is now affecting people of all ages and genders because of an increase in people staring at electronic devices.
National Public Radio (NPR) recently reported dry eye syndrome is widespread now because people are so glued to their phones, television screens and tablets they forget to blink. NPR cited a recent British survey, which discovered dry eye syndrome was associated with age, asthma, eczema, allergies, cataract surgery, migraine and stroke. It also found links to depression and chronic pain. However, that doesn’t con-note these factors caused dry eye.
The NPR article — titled “Dry, scratchy eyes? Staring at screens is driving this trend” — notes you release an essential oil from your meibomian glands, which are special kinds of glands that produce an oily substance preventing evaporation of the eyes’ tear films. This oil helps keeps your eyes healthy and moisturized throughout the day. If you are not blinking, then your eyes are not producing this oil that is necessary for your optimal eye health.
The American Optometric Association also reiterates the importance of blinking. It reports with each blink of the eyelids, tears are spread across the front surface of the eye known as the cornea. Tears provide lubrication, reduce the risk of eye infection, wash away foreign matter in the eye and keep the surface of the eyes smooth and clear. People who have dry eye syndrome generally do not produce enough tears or tend to have a poor quality of tears.
Treating dry eyes
There are preventative and self-care remedies that help with dry eye. When you blink regularly when staring at a computer screen or reading, you restore moisture to dry eyes. Some other self-care remedies include increasing the level of humidity in the air at work and home, wearing sunglasses outdoors and using nutritional supplements with fatty acids. Although dry eyes can be a chronic condition, your optometrist can prescribe treatment to prevent your vision from being affected and to keep your eyes healthy. Below, the American Optometric Association offers some other treatment options:
- Adding tears — Mild cases of dry eyes can often be managed using over-the-counter artificial tear solutions. These can be used as often as needed to supplement natural tear production. Preservative-free artificial tear solutions are recommended, because they contain fewer additives that could further irritate the eyes. However, some people may have persistent dry eyes that don’t respond to artificial tears alone. Additional steps need to be taken to treat their dry eyes.
- Conserving tears — An additional approach to reducing the symptoms of dry eyes is to keep natural tears in the eyes longer. This can be done by blocking the tear ducts through which the tears normally drain. The tear ducts can be blocked with tiny silicone or gel-like plugs that can be removed if needed. A surgical procedure to permanently close tear ducts can also be used. In either case, the goal is to keep the available tears in the eye longer to reduce problems related to dry eyes.
- Increasing tear production — Prescription eye drops that help to increase production of tears can be recommended by your optometrist, as well as omega-3 fatty acid nutritional supplements.
Treatment of the contributing eyelid or ocular surface inflammation — Prescription eye drops or ointments, warm compresses and lid massage, or eyelid cleaners may be recommended to help decrease inflammation around the surface of the eyes.
For more information, visit www.aoa.org or call (800) 365-2219.
