What is the best treatment for dry eyes?

A dry eye is a condition where your eyes face some problem in producing tears. This instability in the production of tears leads to dry eyes. This causes inflammation and damages the eye’s surface. Dry eyes feel uncomfortable and your eyes may burn too. You may experience dry eyes in certain situations such as, while riding a bike, working for hours on a computer or prolonged use of contact lenses, etc.

Treatments for dry eyes make you feel more comfortable. Treatments may include changes in your lifestyle and some eye drops. You will have to take regular measures to control the symptoms of dry eyes.

Symptoms of dry eyes

Here are some common dry eyes symptoms that usually affect both of your eyes. These may include:

• Burning sensation in the eyes
• Eye redness
• Light sensitivity
• Eye fatigue or blurred vision
• Watery eyes
• Mucus in or around your eyes

If you face prolonged symptoms of dry eyes including red eyes, tired and painful eyes then you must go and see an eye care specialist. You can also get a free eye test from the NHS if you qualify for the same.

What are the causes of dry eyes?

Dry eyes are caused by a variety of reasons. The causes may differ from person to person. Let us take a sneak peek into the causes of dry eyes:

• Aging is the most common cause of dry eyes. As you grow older, the lacrimal glands in your eyes show a decline in both the quality and quantity of your tears.
• Computer use, most people who indulge in screen time expose their eyes to the harmful blue light coming from the digital screens. You can use glasses that block blue light to prevent dry eyes from computer use.
• Vitamin A deficiency also causes dry eyes. Make sure you have enough vitamin A in your body.
• Excess of wind exposure may also cause dry eyes.

What is the best treatment for dry eyes?

For most people who experience mild symptoms of dry eyes, using eye drops regularly will help you improve the problem of dry eyes. Over-the-counter eye drops will be suitable for this purpose( artificial tears). There are some treatments that focus on managing the factor that’s causing dry eyes. Other treatments can help you improve your tear quality or will stop your tears from quickly draining away. Let us talk about them in detail:

Medications for dry eyes

Prescription medications to treat dry eyes are:

Drugs that will help reduce eyelid inflammation: Eyelid inflammation can keep oil glands from secreting oil into your tears. Your eye care specialist may recommend some antibiotics to treat this. These antibiotics are mostly in the form of pills, but some of them are used as an eye drop or as an ointment.

Eye inserts: Eye inserts also work like artificial tears. If you have severe symptoms of dry eyes and artificial tears don’t help here, then another option here will be a tiny eye insert. You will have to insert this between your lower eyelid and your eyeball. The insert will slowly start dissolving, releasing a substance that is used in the eye drops to lubricate your eyes.

Tear stimulating drugs: Drugs like pilocarpine, cevimeline help tear production. These drugs are available as pills, eye drops, or gel. You may face some side effects including sweating.

Eye drops made from your own blood: These are called autologous blood serum drops, these are a good option only for people having severe symptoms of dry eyes. These eye drops are made using your own blood. A sample of your blood is taken and is processed to remove the red blood cells and then is mixed with a salt solution. Keep this as your last option.

Other home remedies for dry eyes

You can also try some home remedies that work and also take preventive measures. Let us talk about some of the useful home remedies that will give good results.

Wash your lashes

Washing your eyelids as well as the surroundings of the eyelids will help you control any lid inflammation. Take a mild soap on your fingertips and massage near the base of your eyelashes with eyes closed. This will help you to an extent with dry eyes.

Blink more

Try to blink more often, mostly while working on any electronic gadgets. Close your eyes every 20 minutes for 20 seconds for better results.

Stay hydrated

Every single part of your body needs water to stay healthy including your eyes. Drinking enough water helps your eyes to stay moist. Aim at drinking at least eight to ten glasses of water per day, improve your daily diet by adding water-rich foods like cucumber, watermelon, etc.

This was all about dry eyes, what they are, and their symptoms, and we’ve also discussed how to treat them with medications as-well-as some natural and helpful home remedies. When you start observing symptoms of dry eyes, start taking preventive measures from the beginning to keep it in control.