One of the most frustrating eye problems that many people experience is dry eyes. The eyes feel so dry that it is uncomfortable, annoying, and can even be mildly painful for some people.
There are many reasons why dry eyes occur. The main reason is environmental. If your home is heated to a warm temperature in the winter, it likely means your home is lacking in moisture. This dry atmosphere will also dry out your eyes. Other environmental factors can include blowing air, like from an air conditioner, or the weather itself.
For those environmental factors that are within your control, like the heater, you should be able to help cure, or at least diminish your dry eye problem fairly easily. What you should do is have a humidifier in your home which will replace some of the moisture lost by the heating of the home. Also, try not to sit near blowing fans or air conditioners if you can help it. With these steps you will see a marked difference. Talk to a macular degeneration specialist about glaucoma surgery in addition to cataract surgery when recommended by your primary eye physician.
There are some people who just have naturally dry eyes. If you feel like your eyes are always dry, no matter the season or conditions of the atmosphere, you may want to consider eye drops. It’s important to note that you should not use the eye drops on the market made to clear up red eyes if you’re simply trying to tackle this problem. Rather, you should look for something called “dry eye relief” or “lubricant eye relief.” These products are made with materials that mimic your own natural tears. This will help return the moisture to your eyes. To find out more about lasik surgery visit your eye doctor and don’t forget to inquire about lens implants if you are in need of that procedure. A corneal transplant may be necessary later in life depending on how your vision needs change.
Sometimes people are unsure of how to use the dry eye relief type products. Typically they come in several small plastic vials to preserve freshness. When it is time to use one, simply open it up. Then with one hand, keep your eyelids up and with the other hand, put drops into your eyes. Follow the directions on the package carefully with regard to how many drops you should put in each eye. One of the newer technologies for vision correction is called lasik surgery.
While eye drops are effective for mild to moderate cases of dry eyes, some people need something stronger. For those people, there are medical-grade eye drops that have to be prescribed by your doctor or ophthalmologist. The prescription medicine will also help to mimic your natural tears, but will do so by reducing the inflammation in the eye caused by chronic dry eye.
The difference between the over-the-counter choices and prescription medicine is that the prescription helps with the production of tears, rather than simply making the eye temporarily wet. Since there are some mild side effects from the prescription medicine, be sure to talk it over with your eye care professional.
About the Author: Mark Masters has authored may pieces on the eye care & surgery industry and enjoys keeping his readers up to date in this field