What is the Most Common Dry Eye Reason?

Do you experience discomfort throughout the day because your eyes feel dry and irritated? Dry eyes are common for people of all ages. Even though this eye condition is common, you don’t have to suffer from the symptoms forever. It is time to schedule an eye appointment with an experienced optometrist to learn about your dry eye reason, which will lead to the right treatment plan so that you can find relief.

Symptoms of Dry Eyes

For most people, they experience dry eye symptoms in both eyes simultaneously. These are some of the common symptoms that might come up:

Burning, stinging, or scratchy sensation in the eyes
Light sensitivity
Red eyes
Difficulty wearing contact lenses
Too much tear production
Blurred vision

Often, patients don’t associate with high tear production as a dry eye symptom. But if the eyes are dry or irritated, then the body will increase the production of tears as a way to overcompensate for the problem.

Reason for Dry Eyelids

Typically, dry eye symptoms are experienced for two reasons:

Insufficient Tear Production: The eyes aren’t able to produce enough tears to keep the eyes and eyelids lubricated throughout the day. Several glands are located in the eye area that creates the necessary tears, but sometimes the production is impacted by various factors.
Poor Quality Tears: Sometimes these symptoms occur due to the low quality of the tears that are produced. Natural tears consist of water, mucus, and oil. These components are important to protect the surface of the eyes. For example, the oil reduces the evaporation, and the mucus is essential for even distribution of the tears when the eyelid blinks. Deficiencies with any of these components could result in dry eye symptoms.

It is important to understand the causes of dry eyes. If you can identify these foundational factors, then it increases the likelihood that you will be able to maintain sufficient tear production and healthy quality of your tears. As a result, you will be able to manage your dry eye symptoms.

These are some of the causes of dry eye symptoms:

Age: Tear production tends to decrease with age
Medical Conditions: Other health concerns could have an impact on the eyes
Medications: Sometimes people experience dry eyes as a side effect of unrelated medications
Environment: If you live in a dry, windy climate then it could have an impact on your eye lubrication
Surgery: It is common for patients to experience dry eyes after eye surgery
Tear Gland Issues: Inflammation or radiation can damage the tear glands and affect tear production
Smoke: Exposure to cigarettes or smoke from fires can cause symptoms
Blinking Frequency: The risk of dry eyes increases when blinking happens less often, usually when a person is looking at a computer screen or TV, reading, or concentrating

Personalized Treatments for Dry Eyes

Many treatments are available to reduce your symptoms, so there is no reason why you should continue suffering from dry eyes. Access personal treatment recommendations by scheduling an eye exam with our experienced team at Vision Boutique.