Sometimes you may wake up in the morning and feel like your eyes were somehow left open all night to dry out. Or, perhaps you’ve felt the times that you were super tired and your eyes almost seem to make a sound as the eyelids such because there is just no lubricant on the eyeball whatsoever. When this is the case, you are suffering from dry eye. Thankfully, there are ways to treat dry eyes that you can do yourself or discuss with your eye doctor. Either way, here is how to effectively relieve dry eye.
First, what causes dry eye?
Perhaps obviously, dry eye occurs when there are not enough tears being produced from the tear duct. However, do you know why tear ducts sometimes stop producing the amount they need to? Sometimes this occurs if the meibomian glands located at the edges of the eyelids are blocked or clogged by either debris or thick mucus. Dry eye can also be caused by weather factors like dry wind, forced air (A/C or heaters), and the amount of screen time you consume.
What can you do to relieve dry eye?
- Stay hydrated. If you are dehydrated then your tears are not produced at the same rate they need to be. Therefor, make sure you are always drinking enough water.
- Turn your phone off. When we look at our phone we tend to keep our eyes open for extended periods of time, leaving them to dry out. Be sure to take lengthy breaks from your phone that you don’t injure your eye tissues.
- Avoid dry air sources. If you sleep with a fan on at night or have your A/C blowing right on at work, try to avoid have direct streams of air blown into your eyes when possible.
Conclusion
Dry eye is alleviated through simple measure on your part to protect your eye’s moisture levels. If you feel like you have dry eye regardless of what you do, it may be an indicator of a different issue and you should speak to your eye doctor about it right away.
Call Whitney Eye Care to send up an appointment today to get a comprehensive eye exam.
