Dry eye is a condition in which a person doesn’t have enough quality tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears are necessary for maintaining the health of the front surface of the eye and for providing clear vision.
If you don’t produce enough tears or you have poor quality tears, the surface of the eye will become dry and uncomfortable. Several factors can cause this and these frequently occur together so the treatment is often the same. It can be difficult to find permanent relief from the symptoms as the condition is usually on-going
Your tears are made up of three layers:
Dry eyes due to insufficient tears can get worse with age, or environmental factors like air conditioning. They may also be associated with other conditions such as Sjögrens Syndrome / arthritis / thyroid disease.
This is a common eyelid inflammation with several different causes. Most types need simple regular lid care at home, but severe cases may need further treatment for example, demodex blepharitis.
If the meibomian glands in the eyelid are blocked; not functioning properly, or are infected, the tears will evaporate too quickly. You may notice this if your eyes water on a windy day. Nutritional supplements with omega-3 may improve healthy function of the meibomian glands.
These supplement your own tears and drain away through your tear duct. We use preservative-free drops whenever possible as preservatives may aggravate your symptoms. You may need thicker drops which last longer. As these make your vision blurry, they are generally used at night time. Different drops are used depending on the severity and underlying problem (see below):
This will help to open the glands and soften the lipid oils within them. Use a hot compress eg. Eye Bag. Follow heating instructions and then rest over your closed eyes for a minimum of 5 minutes.
This helps to express the oils out of the meibomian glands. Gently but firmly run your (clean) finger along the edge of your lower eyelid and then up towards the margin. Repeat with the top lid.
Use lid wipes or a lid scrub like blephaclean or blephagel to help clean and remove any hard deposits or debris around the eyelid margin and reduce infections.
Here at the Kingsbridge Eye Care Group we aim to give all our patients the best choice when it comes to eye health.
1 The Promenade,
The Quay,
Kingsbridge
TQ7 1JD
01548 856854
reception@kingsbridgeeyecare.co.uk
3 Chene Court
Poundwell Street
Modbury
PL21 0QJ
01548 830944
reception@nigelfrostoptometrist.co.uk
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