Matthew Maxilian Formosa from the Malta Medical Students Association highlights the numerous treatments available for dry eyes, none of which involve chopping up an onion to hasten the arrival of tears or watching your preferred football team lose!
How many times have you sat at your desk, rubbing your weary eyes in an attempt to relieve the discomfort brought on by staring at a computer screen for hours on end?
Moreover, how often have you had to remove your contact lenses to alleviate the burning sensation they induce when worn for a long time?
Do your eyes feel uncomfortable when you spend some time in a place with air conditioning, or on an aeroplane?
If you can relate to any of these situations, then you may be suffering from dry eyes.
In the medical world, dry eyes are referred to as keratoconjunctivitis sicca and the symptoms of this exceedingly common condition (found in over 50 per cent of Americans in one study) are manifest.
They include feeling a burning or stinging sensation in your eyes, persistent dryness, a sensation of having something like a grain of sand stuck in your eye, a feeling of pressure behind the eye, eye redness, sensitivity to light, and blurred vision at the end of the day or after a task that required intense focus (such as reading a book or driving).
These symptoms are usually exacerbated by dry, windy, or dusty environments – much like those found locally!
The root cause of dry eyes lies in tears, specifically the lack of. Tears keep the surface of the eye moist and in good working order.
Logically, it follows that a decrease in tear production results in less tears coating the outer layer of the eyeball, which, in turn, results in dryness and other symptoms.
Symptoms are usually exacerbated by dry, windy, or dusty environments – much like those found locally
A decrease in tear production is usually seen with advancing age and is especially common in post-menopausal women.
Furthermore, certain medications have been known to cause a decrease in tear production, examples being some types of blood pressure, allergy and depression medication, among others. In some cases, the tear glands may be producing poor quality tears.
People who have diseases such as diabetes and lupus have a propensity to develop dry eyes. Furthermore, both thyroid disease (in which the eyes pop out slightly) and cosmetic surgery (in which the eyelids are opened more widely) have been associated with this condition.
Other possible causes are laser eye surgery and long-term use of contact lenses. These cause dry eyes because they decrease the sensitivity of the corneal nerves within the eye, causing less tears to be produced. It must be said that this effect is usually temporary.
Finally, people who eat diets that contain little vitamin A (which is found in liver, cheese and broccoli among other foods) have been found to have a greater chance of developing this condition.
If you can identify with many of the aforementioned symptoms, it is possible that you may have dry eyes. In that case, it is best that you visit an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) so that you can check your eyes and get a definitive diagnosis.
The tests for this condition are painless and non-invasive, and the doctor may check the quantity and quality of your tears as well as the state of your eye, among other tests.
There are numerous treatments available for this condition, none of which involve chopping up an onion so as to hasten the arrival of tears or watching your preferred football team lose! One of the best treatments available on the market is the use of artificial tears and eye drops, which can be used from time to time to prevent eyes from drying out.
Eating oily fish, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, or taking fish oil supplements have been found to improve the condition.
Wearing glasses as opposed to contact lenses also helps. It is advisable to avoid staring at bright screens for long periods of time because we blink less when doing so.
Research has shown blinking rates decrease from 22 times a minute to as little as four times a minute when focusing intently on a computer screen.
If you take medications that cause this condition, you may want to talk to your doctor so that he or she can prescribe an alternative.
Stopping smoking is essential, since smokers have a much higher chance of developing this condition. It is advisable to avoid dry and smoky areas and to take special precautions when visiting such areas, especially if you work in these environments. Wrap-around glasses (similar to undersea goggles) are available.
If you’re using an air conditioner or heater for long periods of time, you may want to leave a bowl of water out so as to keep the area humid.
Many readers will be happy to know sleep does alleviate symptoms of this condition since it gives the body time to coat the eye with tears!
For those patients who exhibit more serious cases of dry eyes, it is important to consult an eye specialist, who may prescribe specific medication and/or contact lenses, refer you for surgery, or treat an underlying eye condition that is causing the symptoms.
The good news is that this condition is easily diagnosed and remedied, as long as patients are wise enough to pay attention to their eyes.