Chronic Dry eyes develop due to the eyes not producing adequate amount of tears. The key purpose of tears is lubricating the eyes and shielding them from bacterial and environmental irritant forms like dust. This needs adequate quantity of tears and equilibrium in-between the several constituents which make up tears.
Symptoms of Chronic Dry Eyes
Symptoms of chronic dry eyes could differ vastly in each case, mostly varying all through the day, generally worsening later on during the day, and might comprise of itchiness, prickliness, sensitiveness to light, blurry eyesight, dryness and sensation of some foreign object lodged in the eyes. Dry eye could be an advancing condition which in case not treated could raise the likelihood of infections or optical impediment.
Causes of Chronic Dry Eyes:
Chronic dry eyes frequently develop due to hormonal fluctuations because of aging, during menopausal phase or medical disorders and might be aggravated due to exposure to environment conditions.
Sultry, arid or turbulent weather conditions, smoke, air-conditioners and heaters could be the several external factors which could intensify dry eyes. Several individuals additionally experience irritation in their eyes when they read or work on their laptops.
Those wearing contact lenses could additionally ail from visual dryness. Particular drugs, thyroid problems, vitamin A deficit and conditions like Parkinson’s disease, RA (rheumatoid arthritis), sarcoidosis, lupus could additionally be contributory to dry eyes.
Risk factors of Chronic Dry Eyes:
In case one’s eyes are feeling dryness or one is experiencing symptoms like hazy vision, scratchiness and sensitiveness to light or if one has been on the course of OTC (over-the-counter) eye drop medicines or their frequent usage with no improvement being observed then one might be having chronic dry eyes. Although huger populaces of U.S. citizens ail from chronic dry eyes, it has greater prevalence in particular sets of individuals which comprise of:
- Women who have entered menopause.
- Elderly individuals since lesser tears are produced as one ages.
- Individuals that reside in high elevations or in bright, arid, gusty weather conditions due to greater amounts of tears evaporating.
- Individuals having autoimmune disorders like RA, diabetics, lupus, sarcoidosis among several others.
- People using computers on a regular basis since there is a tendency of lesser blinking when one concentrates on the screen.
- People who wear contact lenses due to excess tears evaporating.
- Individuals on a course of particular types of medicines like antihistamine, anti-depressant, diuretics, oral birth control pills or HRT (hormone replacement therapy).
Diagnosis & Tests:
Ophthalmologists or optometrists could assess the symptoms employing numerous fast and pain-free tests for measuring optical clearness, tears being produced, optical surface dryness and harm to corneal or conjunctiva (the fine membrane lining the eyelids).
Several tests an ophthalmologist might employ for diagnosing chronic dry eyes would do a measurement of how much tears are being produced, their rates of evaporation and quality of the tear layer. Specialized diagnostics eye drops are employed for highlighting issues which would generally not have been visible, that are especially beneficial in diagnosing the existence and degree of dryness. Such tests help in ascertaining how severe the condition is.
