What Makeup To Use For Dry Eyes

In that location are two unopened boxes of contact lenses in the chiffonier nether my sink. I'grand not using those tiny disposables anymore; wearing them makes my optics then dry they feel like they're being sucked out of their sockets. Really, it's not the contacts — those have many benefits, and I've worn some version of them since my teens. Only equally a middle-ager now, the contacts aggravate a condition I have that's apparently pretty common: dry eye syndrome. "I'd say at least a quarter of my patients have some degree of complaint nearly dryness," says Dr. Matthew Gardiner, an ophthalmologist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Heart and Ear Hospital.

The eyes accept it

Our eyes accept a few sources of moisture. One is the lacrimal gland in the upper outer quadrant of the eye. That's the gland that produces buckets of tears if you cry or something gets in your eye.

Other sources include

• a network of glands embedded in the conjunctiva (the white surface of the middle and the undersurface of the eyelids) that produces water and mucus

• glands at the edge of the lids that produce an oily substance.

The cocktail of water, mucus, and oil from these last two sources make upward the tear flick on the eye surface. We need information technology to see properly. "Each time you blink, you reapply a new wet surface," explains Dr. Gardiner.

No more than tears?

Every bit nosotros age, our tear production slows. If the lacrimal glands don't make equally many tears, you'll have a problem with tear quantity. If some of the other glands irksome, such equally those that produce oil, y'all'll take a problem with tear quality, since you need all three tear components for the tear pic. The result is dry center syndrome, with symptoms that include burning and a feeling of grittiness in the optics.

But it'southward not just aging that can cause dry middle syndrome. Other causes include

• side effects from medications (such as antihistamines or blood pressure medications)

• underlying conditions (such every bit thyroid problems; diabetes; rheumatoid arthritis; Sjögren'due south syndrome, an immune system disorder; or Parkinson's disease)

• your environs (exposure to dust, fume, and other pollutants)

• heart surgery

• contact lens use

• looking at electronic gadgets too long without blinking (if you go also long without blinking, you're not giving your optics a adventure to furnish the tear moving picture).

This concluding condition linked to electronic gadget apply is known every bit reckoner vision syndrome, and Dr. Gardiner is seeing it more than oft. "People tend to stare at their screens and glimmer less. Their eyes get dry because they're open more than of the time, and they dry out considering at that place's not as much blinking to refresh the surface the eye," he explains. Computer vision syndrome can also include symptoms such as blurry or double vision.

Don't let dry out optics go untreated

Taking care of dry eyes non simply relieves discomfort simply can aid yous avoid infection or even scarred corneas. Treatment is pretty elementary, too.

For people who make plenty tears but have dry eye symptoms, Dr. Gardiner recommends

• warm compresses

• gentle center massage to stimulate the oil glands on the hat margins.

For people who aren't making enough tears, Dr. Gardiner recommends

• artificial tears (there are many types and brands)

• medicines that increase tear production, such every bit ophthalmic cyclosporine (Restasis)

• an in-office procedure to block tear drainage past inserting plugs into the tear drainage ducts.

Some inquiry has fifty-fifty suggested that caffeine tin help dry eyes. "Caffeine does increment the product of the lacrimal glands," says Dr. Gardiner, "but be careful near increasing your caffeine intake. Too much caffeine tin can cause jitters and insomnia." In other words, don't guzzle coffee in an attempt to fix dry eyes.

My own fix for dry optics has been using bogus tears, leaving my contacts in their boxes (except for special occasions), and wearing eyeglasses. It'southward not as user-friendly as wearing contact lenses, but it's a lot more than comfortable on these middle-aged optics.

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Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-fix-for-dry-eyes-201702102505

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