Dry eyes may seem like a minor inconvenience, but leaving symptoms unmanaged leads to further irritation and annoyance, and increases the likelihood of developing serious complications.
Dry eyes alone don’t directly cause blindness, but the uneven corneal surface from ongoing dryness can lead to blurry and distorted vision.
While rare, leaving dry eyes unmanaged can lead to serious complications, like corneal ulcers, abrasions, and infections, which can severely damage the eyes, resulting in partial or complete vision loss.
About Dry Eye Disease
Dry eye disease is a chronic eye condition that occurs when your tears aren’t able to provide adequate moisture and lubrication for your eyes. Experiencing dry eyes is common for millions of Canadians, and is often overlooked, but not always considered serious.
There are two main types of dry eye:
- Aqueous Tear-deficient Dry Eye: This develops when the tear film cannot produce enough tear fluid to keep the eye’s surface lubricated.
- Evaporative Dry Eye: This develops when tears evaporate too quickly from the eye’s surface because of insufficient oil production in the tear film.
Symptoms of dry eye vary and range from mild to severe but most commonly include:
- Stinging or burning sensation in the eyes
- Redness of the eyes
- Sensitivity to light
- Feelings of having something in the eye
- Blurry vision
- Eye fatigue
Dry eyes have been associated with several underlying causes that include:
- Age: The natural production of tears tends to decrease as we grow older, increasing our risk of developing dry eyes.
- Environmental factors: Wind, smoke, and dry air can increase tear evaporation, aggravating dry eye symptoms.
- Prolonged use of digital devices: Staring at digital screens like computers and smartphones can reduce how frequently we blink, decreasing tear distribution and causing increased tear evaporation.
- Improper contact lens wear: Overwearing contact lenses or other forms of improper use, can absorb tear film and increase tear evaporation.
- Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD): The meibomian glands, located in the eyelids, secrete oils that prevent the evaporation of tears. Dysfunction in these glands can lead to insufficient oil secretion. MGD is one of the most common causes of evaporative dry eye.
Dry Eyes & Vision
Dry eyes can impact visual clarity, comfort, and ocular health, all of which significantly affect your quality of life if symptoms remain unmanaged.
This happens because tears play an important role in maintaining a smooth corneal surface, which helps provide clear vision.
An unstable tear film leads to an uneven corneal surface. The uneven surface causes light to scatter in different directions, rather than focusing precisely on the retina, causing symptoms like blurry vision.
While dry eye disease is uncomfortable and affects visual clarity, it rarely causes blindness.
Instead, as the dryness remains unmanaged, it can damage the corneal surface over time, increasing the risk of serious complications like corneal ulcers, infections, and abrasions. If these conditions remain unmanaged it can lead to partial or complete vision loss.
While rare, these complications highlight the importance of treating dry eyes, as neglecting these symptoms heightens the risk of developing more severe ocular concerns, which can then impair vision.
Treating Dry Eyes
Dry eyes cannot be cured but symptoms can be effectively managed to reduce symptoms, prevent complications, and provide long-term relief from dryness.
These treatments focus on relieving discomfort, improving tear quality, and addressing the underlying cause of dry eyes.
From at-home remedies to advanced treatments, there are numerous options to explore for dry eye therapy, but consulting with your optometrist is key.
During your dry eye consultation, your optometrist will assess the quality of your tear film, severity of dryness, and vision quality, and monitor your treatment progress. This helps your optometrist develop a dry eye therapy plan tailored to your unique needs.
At-home Remedies for Dry Eyes
- Artificial Tears: These over-the-counter lubricating eye drops mimic natural tears to hydrate the eye’s surface. Look for preservative-free options for ongoing relief.
- Warm Compresses: Gently place the warm compress over your eyes and massage the surrounding skin to help unclog any blocked oil glands along the eyelids to improve tear quality.
- Humidifiers: Using a humidifier helps maintain good humidity, preventing excessive dryness in the air which can aggravate dry eye symptoms.
- Stay Hydrated: Drinking plenty of water throughout the day helps maintain adequate body and tear fluid levels. Adults should aim to drink around 8 glasses of water daily!
- Take Frequent Breaks: Using digital screens for long periods can aggravate dryness and lead to eye strain. Taking frequent breaks by applying the 20-20-20 rule helps offer relief. Stare at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
Advanced Dry Eye Therapies
Depending on the severity of dryness, your optometrist may suggest advanced therapies to provide long-term relief from symptoms.
These treatments are relatively gentle, non-invasive, and performed in the clinic by your optometrist. The duration of your treatment plan will be discussed during your dry eye consultation, but it’s normal to require multiple sessions to continue alleviating symptoms.
These therapies can be combined with at-home remedies, like artificial tears or warm compress masks to maintain treatment progress.
- Radiofrequency treatment: This treatment uses electromagnetic waves to generate heat to help unclog blocked oil glands to improve tear quality.
- Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) therapy: IPL therapy uses different wavelengths of pulsating light to generate heat to unclog and restore normal gland function responsible for tear production.
- Lipiflow treatment: This device uses thermal pulsation to unblock and clear obstructed oil glands, enhancing gland function and stabilizing the tear film by combining controlled heat with gentle pressure.
- AB Max BlepharoExfoliation: This procedure involves cleaning debris along eyelid margins to help unclog oil glands and improve tear film stability.
Visit Our Dry Eye Clinic
Taking care of our ocular health is necessary for our overall well-being, and extends far beyond visiting your optometrist for a vision prescription.
Managing dry eye symptoms means addressing the underlying issue before symptoms progress and the risk for serious complications increases.
Connect with our team at Bayside Eye Care to schedule your dry eye consultation.
