Dry Eye: Symptoms, Causes and Home Remedies
The eyes are quite an important organ of the body and one of the most crucial sense organs of the body that allows human beings to have vision or sight. It is important for all of us to take proper care of the eyes and to make sure that we are taking proper steps that will help to avoid the risks of developing any type of critical condition in the eyes. Eye care is important because if there is any kind of severity that develops in your eyes and if the treatment lingers for a longer duration, then there are greater chances that you might suffer from vision problems. In fact, in lethal conditions, there are also chances that you might even lose your eyesight. So, it is crucial to be careful about your eye health and the moment you feel that you are facing problems, you need to consult your ophthalmologist (eye care expert) as soon as possible. Sometimes, you might face several types of problems with the eyes, one of them being dryness in the eyes. Dryness in the eyes is a type of chronic condition, that is quite often clinically referred to as the dry eye condition. But you do not need to worry about it because dry eyes are a condition that is quite temporary, and it can be easily cured once you follow the advice of your medical professional. Though you need to keep one thing in mind, that is, if you feel that you are having dry eye conditions, then you should never ignore or delay this type of eye condition, because if the treatment of dry eye is delayed, your eyes might be damaged. To treat your dry eye conditions, you will have to know first, what dry is all about, what the condition looks like, what can be some of the most common symptoms of dry eye conditions, what can be the possible reasons behind the occurrence, and most importantly, how you can treat chronic dry eye conditions. If you are a person who has problems like dryness in the eyes, then this one is the most important article for you. This article will help you to get an in-depth idea about what dry eye conditions is and how you can deal with them so that you will be able to keep your eyes safe and free from these types of conditions.
What Is All About Dry Eye?
Dry eye is a condition, the occurrence of which might differ from one person to the other. For some people, dry eye is a mild condition that can be cured with maybe, eye drops, but for some people, the condition might be severe, and it can be cured by treatment, but if it is chronic, the disorder will not subside permanently. A dry eye is a condition when the eyes cannot produce enough amounts of tears. Tears are a type of fluid that is produced by certain glands known as tear glands that are present in the inner portions of your eyes. If dry eye condition occurs as a temporary problem in your eyes, most possibly, it is occurring due to several types of factors, such as changes in temperature, environment, and other changes, such as if you are wearing contact lenses, that are usually worn directly on the eyes, then you have a probability of suffering from dry eyes. But chronic dry eye is a much more serious condition when the dryness is not at all temporary. There are underlying reasons and several types of health conditions that can also be responsible to result into chronic dry eye conditions, some of those health conditions include problems in the glands present in your eyes, disorders in the areas of skin that are located nearer to the eyes, and several cases of allergic conditions.
Possible Symptoms Of Dry Eye Syndrome:
Many of you might be confused about the fact that how would you be able to identify whether you have dry eye syndrome at all or not? Though the symptoms of dry eye will differ from one person there are still certain common symptoms of dry eye syndrome. Some such symptoms may be listed here as follows:
- A sensation of burning in the eyes
- The eyeballs might become painful
- The appearance of redness in the eyes
The ones that are mentioned above are some of the most important symptoms of dry eye syndrome. other conditions of this type of eye disorder may be listed here as follows:
- Blurring of vision
- After reading or watching the screen for a long time, your eyes become painful or tired
- You cannot read or look at screens for long
- Occurrence of watery tearing
- Irritation in the eyes
Reasons Behind The Occurrence Of Dry Eye Conditions:
Now that you already know what dry eye is all about and what can be the common conditions behind the occurrence of dry eye problems, it is also quite important for you to know what the possible reasons behind the occurrence of dry eye conditions can be. Some of the reasons can be given here as follows:
1. Age factors:
Age is considered one of the most prominent factors that are often responsible for leading to several types of problems in the eyes, just not dry eye syndrome, but also other disorders such as blurring of vision, formation of cataracts, and so on. According to recent studies and experiments, it has already been revealed that the secretion of a fluid called tears, the one that helps to keep the eyes wet, gradually gets lowered as your age increases. This is a chronic condition of dryness that develops in the eyes that cannot be fully recovered. But, with the help of eye drops and the regular use of artificial tears, you can add better lubrication to your eyes. But you must keep one thing in mind, you should always use tear drops only with prior suggestions from your ophthalmologist or a concerned health care expert.
2. High Screen Time:
In the present world, the usage of screens has increased rapidly. Today, a major portion of a person’s day is spent in front of the screen- be it the screen of a mobile phone, a laptop, a computer, or any electronic device. You need to remember one thing, that is, all electronic objects emit a blue light that is not good for your eyes. This light can often be responsible for the occurrence of several types of problems, including dry eye conditions. If you feel that you are suffering from dry eye conditions or you have developed symptoms of dry eye, then you should try to limit or lower your average screen timing, if that is possible. You should also get help from your healthcare expert and ophthalmologist as well.
3. Menopause:
Dry eye conditions are often commonly found among women who are either approaching or having conditions such as menopause. When a woman experiences menopause, there are rapid changes in hormones in the body and such physiological changes can have a serious impact on the eyes she might develop conditions such as dry eye because of lower production of tears caused by hormonal changes. One can also develop dry eye conditions during pregnancy or when there are severe hormonal changes in the body.
4. Deficiency of Vitamin A:
Vitamin A is considered the most vital nutrient that is important for maintaining eye health. A low intake of foods containing vitamin A can lead to a good number of problems related to the eyes, one of them being dry eye conditions. So, to have an adequate amount of vitamin A in your body have food components that are rich in vitamin A in your daily diet, such as carrots, fish and fish oil, spinach, broccoli, bell peppers, eggs, and so on.
Home Remedies For Treating Dry Eye Conditions:
If you feel that your dry eye conditions are mild, then you must treat them as soon as possible. There are certain easy methods, such as:
1. Applying warm compress:
The most important thing that you must do to treat dry eye conditions is to make the eyes moist. You can apply a warm compress or warm water using a clean cloth on your eyes to keep them moist and avoid drying them up.
2. Have fish and fish oil:
As it is said, healthy eating will always keep your eyes in good condition and free from any kind of disorders. Try to add food components in your diet that are not only healthy, but also help to risks of developing dry eye conditions, such as fatty fish, oil of fish, and lots of vitamins, mostly vitamin A.
3. Stay hydrated:
Drinking a lot of water will help you to stay hydrated and can reduce the risks of getting dry eye conditions.