Do you suffer from dry eye syndrome? This is a fairly common condition where the eye doesn’t produce enough tears.
Dry eye can cause eye irritation, dryness (obviously), burning, and may give rise to a feeling that a foreign body is in the eye.
Before attempting to treat dry eye, it’s important you rule out more serious eye conditions such as a corneal abrasion, foreign body in the eye (a real one) or glaucoma. You can concentrate on the best remedy for relieving what ails you.
Dry eye syndrome can be caused by a variety of underlying conditions. In fact, the symptoms are more common in people who suffer from autoimmune disorders as well as those who take certain medications such as anti-hypertensives, antihistamines and antidepressants.
If you’re taking medications of any type, contact your doctor to see if they could be contributing to your dry eyes. Dry eyes are also commonly seen in contact lens wearers and smokers. Sometimes dry eye syndrome is a part of the normal aging process, possibly related to fluctuation in hormone levels that occur with menopause.
It’s important to understand that dry eye syndrome unrelated to medications or contact lens usage may not be curable. That doesn’t mean it can’t be treated and controlled. Here are some of the best treatments for dry eye syndrome…
Best Dry Eye Remedies: If you wear contacts
If your dry eyes are related to the use of contact lenses, the symptoms can be temporarily relieved by using contact lens re-wetting drops available at your drugstore. Sometimes switching to a contact lens made of a different material can remedy dry eyes as well as cleaning lenses more frequently and wearing them less frequently.
You may want to check with your optometrist and opthamologist to see if a different lens material could help to relieve your symptoms. In severe cases, an ophthalmologist can prescribe anti-inflammatory eye drops to relieve the symptoms of dry eye syndrome.
Best Dry Eye Remedies: Artificial tears
A product known as “artificial tears” lubricates the eye and can help relieve some of the irritation and dryness. While artificial tears can soothe the symptoms of dry eyes, over-the-counter eye drops such as Visine are not effective for this condition and should not be used. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a good lubricating eye drop.
Best Dry Eye Remedies: Simple measures that can reduce symptoms
Some natural steps that can help relieve dry eyes include drinking more water, to keep the eye as hydrated as possible, as well as increasing the humidity in your home. Even dietary changes can make a difference.
Some studies have shown that the symptoms of dry eye improve with the dietary addition of flax seed oil and the omega three fatty acids found in fish oils. These can be purchased in supplement form at your local health food store.
Limiting computer use, taking frequent breaks, and adjusting monitor settings so there’s less glare can help to relieve dry eye symptoms.
Best Dry Eye Remedies: If others fail to do the trick
If you try the above measures and fail to note improvement in your dry eye symptoms, an ophthalmologist may recommend a prescription eye drop known as Restasis® which helps increase tear production.
There are other options that involve plugging the ducts to release the tears.
