What Is Dry Eye? How Is It Treated?
Maintaining a certain level of moisture in the eyes, one of the most important organs of the human body, is essential for eye health. There is a layer in the eye structure that protects it from various external factors; when this layer is deficient or irregular, dry eye symptoms can occur. Dry eye can also occur due to a decrease in tear volume. Caused by many different factors, dry eye is a very important problem that threatens eye health. Dry eye, which shows itself with many different symptoms, should be treated as quickly as possible.
For a healthy eye structure, tears must be at a certain quality level and quantity in terms of biochemical content. In a healthy eye, tears nourish the cornea and moisturize the surface epithelium. Thanks to this moisturizing, the cornea becomes a smooth optical surface, providing both a healthy eye structure and healthy vision. Therefore, dry eye occurs due to a deterioration in tear quality or a decrease in tear volume.
Dry eye is a significant threat to eye health. For this reason, it should be treated as quickly as possible, and the moisture the eye needs should be restored. For this purpose, diagnosis and treatment of dry eye is carried out by specialist physicians in the field of ophthalmology.
What Causes Dry Eye?
Dry eye can often occur due to external and environmental factors. There are also some other factors that can cause dry eye. Some of the most common causes of dry eye are as follows;
- Aging,
- Vitamin A deficiency
- Medications used regularly
- Prolonged use of technological devices such as computers and television
- Eyelid inflammation
- Insufficient water consumption
- Continuous contact lens use
- Climate conditions
The risk of dry eye developing is quite high in eyes exposed to these factors.
What Are the Symptoms of Dry Eye?
Dry eye, which develops due to many different causes, shows very important symptoms from the moment it begins to develop. The symptoms of dry eye, which is usually characterized by burning, stinging, and itching in the eyes, vary depending on age and, rarely, on gender.
- Some of the most important symptoms of dry eye are as follows;
- Blurred vision,
- Light sensitivity,
- Eye redness,
- A stinging and burning sensation in the eyes,
- Difficulty driving at night,
- Watering of the eyes due to irritation,
- A constant feeling of a foreign object, like sand, in the eye,
- Eye pain,
- The eyelids sticking together.
If you are experiencing several of these symptoms in your eyes at the same time, you should have a detailed examination by a Kayseri eye doctor to investigate dry eye.
Dry Eye Treatment Methods
Many different treatment methods are applied for dry eye, which significantly threatens our eye health. After a diagnosis of dry eye is made by the specialist physicians of İdeal Göz, one of the options among Kayseri eye hospitals, the most suitable treatment method is chosen and applied according to the severity of the dryness and the patient's general condition.
When it comes to dry eye treatment methods, artificial tear drops and gels are among the most commonly applied treatments. Following an examination and a diagnosis of dry eye, the physician selects the most suitable artificial tear preparation for the patient. With regular use, dry eye is treated.
In addition to artificial tear preparations, medication treatment can also be applied for dry eye. If all of these are not enough, the patient's tear ducts can be temporarily blocked with plugs, allowing the patient's own tears to remain in the eye for a longer period.
You can make an appointment with the experienced physicians of İdeal Göz Clinic for the diagnosis and treatment of dry eye.
