Causes And Treatment Of Dry Eye Syndrome

Dry eye syndrome is caused by a lack in the production of tears. It is a very uncomfortable condition as you feel the need to blink constantly. Your eyes need lubrication and moisture in order to maintain comfort and vision. To do this it needs a constant flow of tears.

Tears consist of water, which the eye needs for moisture; oil, which it needs for lubrication; mucus, which is needed for even spreading and antibodies which is needed to resist infection. All these components are secreted by glands which are located around the eyes. Once an imbalance in this structure occurs, a person will suffer from dry eyes.

If there is incongruence in the system which controls the flow of the tears, your eyes will dry out. When your eyes are starved of lubrication, it will send a help signal to the brain region. The response will be that eyes fill up with tears in order to reduce the dryness which occurs. These tears, however, are made up of water and there will be no oils contained in it. All it will do is to clean out one’s eyes by removing debris, but the eye will not be given any lubrication.

Another cause for dry eyes could be if the tear film dries out. Spending a lot of your time in an environment that is controlled by air-conditioning can be a cause of your eye problem. Heat as well as wind can also cause dryness. The aging process and in particular menopause could also be a cause.

Medications like birth-control tablets and anti histamines also cause dryness in the eye. There are other diseases, for example rheumatoid arthritis as well as some auto immune diseases that could be responsible for this condition. Sometimes if there is a deformity of the lids of the eyes, the eyes will not be able to close properly and this could also be a cause.

Treatments for this ailment could include artificial tear drops or ointments. These are the primary treatments for this condition. There may be instances where it will be necessary to close the ducts which drain tears from the eyes. In this treatment a dissolvable plug will be put into the lower eyelids. If the temporary plugs are successful then silicone plugs will be inserted and these are removable.

The use of a humidifier can bring relief to dry eye syndrome. Point the cooling and heating vents away from where you relax or work most of the time. There are surgical methods available and one of them is where the tear passages that channel the tears into your nose will be blocked permanently. Thus the tears will be allowed to remain around and in the eyes.

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