Dry Eye: Reason, Treatment, and Tips

Dry eye happens when your eyes lack to make enough tears to stay wet or when your tears do not work. It can be brief and passing, or it could be chronic.

Lifestyle and home remedies changes may help with dry eyes. One thing to note is that your healthcare provider may also recommend you with artificial tears or over-the-counter eye drops as treatment. If the condition persists, there’s a possibility you may require prescription medications or other procedures like placing punctual plugs to block your tear ducts.

The cause of your dry eye will dictate the most effective kind of treatment for your condition.

Lifestyle and home remedies

If you struggle with the conditions such as dry eye, here are a few things you can do at home that may help to bring relief:

Apply a warm compress to your eyes. It can help to release oil in your eyelids’ glands and help to improve the quality of tears.
Protect your eyes from wind and sun with proper eyewear or sunglasses.
Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated throughout the day.
Avoid alcohol and reduce consumption of other substances that can result in dehydration.
Avoid smoking and exposure to cigarette smoke.
Give rest to your eyes, especially if you look at the computer monitor for a long time.
A humidifier can help to keep the air in your home from getting too dry.
Add a high-quality air filter to your home to remove irritants and allergens from the air.
Take a break from contact lenses if you wear them. You can also go for eyeglasses.
It is good to have a conversation with your healthcare provider about the medications that may cause your dry eyes to worsen. Like, antidepressants, opioids, and aspirin.

Over-the-counter therapies

When home remedies are not enough to treat dry eyes, here are some OTC treatments that can help.

Artificial tears

It is crucial to keep lubricating your eyes, and you can do this with eye drops referred to as artificial tears. They are popular to treat dry eyes due to temporary causes such as being in a dry climate or tied. It also helps to relieve dry eyes by adding moisture to the eyes.

Ointments

Ointments are one of the best over-the-counter options to treat dry eyes. The formulas are thicker and stay in the eyes longer. Ointments may temporarily blur the vision. But after applying, many people prefer to use them right before bed.

Prescription

If home remedies and over-the-counter solutions do not help, try to talk to your healthcare provider. They will prescribe you the medications that can help, including:

Ointments or antibiotics including, macrolides and tetracyclines can help alleviate symptoms of blepharitis and reduce inflammation that causes dry eye.
The autologous serum eye drop is made from serum from your blood combined with saline to create a lubricating fluid-rich growth and nutrient factors that could be missing in dry eyes. Your practitioner may recommend these drops if your dry eye is not responding to other forms of treatment.
Cyclosporine or lifitegrast can reduce inflammation and help your eyes to produce more tears. These are given in chronic and severe cases of dry eye.
Topical corticosteroid drops can effectively and rapidly relieve the signs and symptoms of severe and moderate dry eye. They work by treating the inflammation of the cornea.

Specialist-driven procedures and surgeries

When none of the above treatments helps out your dry eyes or if any anatomical issues can cause the condition, there are procedures performed by a surgeon or an ophthalmologist that can treat your condition. These include:

Cleaning the eyelids
Blocking tear ducts
Getting special contact lenses

Other alternative medicines

As holistic and functional healthcare practices become more popular, more research looking into the benefits of these therapies has been conducted. Several alternative and complementary treatments can relieve dry eye including:

Omega – 3 supplements
Acupuncture

Conclusion

There are many ways to approach dry eye, but the first step towards finding the right solution is to figure out the reason for dry eye. Make sure that you talk to your practitioner firsthand to rule out any chances of chronic disease or serious eye conditions.

If doctors recommend costly prescriptions, don’t worry, you can get good discounts on prescriptions through Wiserx discount cards.