If your eyes have been niggling you then it is time for action - here’s what you need to know
There is a lot of information about dry eye available and it can be a bit overwhelming, particularly if you are busy juggling family, work and more. Dry Eye Zone prides itself on providing accurate and accessible information to those who need it. Here are the dry eye fundamentals you should know.
What exactly is dry eye?
Put simply dry eye is a condition in which the quantity or quality of your natural tears becomes compromised. Your tears are there to lubricate, protect and nourish your eyes (among other things). If you are suffering from dry eye your tears become saltier, more concentrated, which triggers an inflammatory response.
Is having dry eyes actually a disease?
The short answer is ‘yes’, dry eye disease is actually named as a condition not to be ignored in the first ever World Health Organisations (WHO) World Report on Vision. The reason it is taken so seriously is because it does not go away and if left untreated it will get gradually worse. Your eye care professional describes such conditions as ‘chronic’ and ‘progressive’.
What types of symptoms could you expect?
Symptoms can vary widely between people. The most common symptoms are sensations of dry, gritty, itchy or irritated eyes but sometimes these are described best as ‘feelings’ such as tired, sore, aching and heavy.
Because your tears are also involved in focusing light you can also encounter temporary blurring of your vision, this often corrects itself with a blink or two. It is also not uncommon to have excessively water eyes too, which seems counterintuitive for ‘dry’ eye.
Are there different types of dry eye?
Although the symptoms are pretty much the same the reasons for them can vary. Essentially, there are two main types of dry eye – you could just have one type or a combination. That is why a visit to your eye care professional is so important.
ADDE or Aqueous Deficient Dry Eyes – is caused by a reduction in the production of the watery component of your tears. You just do not have enough natural moisture. The second type of dry eye is EDE or Evaporative Dry Eyes – this means you are not producing enough of the outer protective lipid layer of your tears. This layer reduces the rate of evaporation, without it your eyes will soon start to feel dry.
The type of dry eye you have will influence the treatment recommended by your eye care professional. Just to keep them on their toes you can have ADDE, EDE or both!
What triggers dry eye?
There are many different underlying causes for dry eye, some are physical and others environmental. Top of the list has to be the aging process and hormonal changes. These are made even worse by life-style factors such as long hours on computer screens and air-conditioned or centrally heated environments. Less well understood are the impact of other health conditions such as diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, and certain medications for conditions such as acne.
Is dry eye a common?
Because the symptoms are described so differently from one person to the next diagnosis is not always easy. It is made even more tricky because some people have dry eye disease but no symptoms at all!
In the UK the incidence of dry eye was estimated at around 30% or 1-in-3 by a study from Aston University which is highly respected in the world of optometry.
What happens if I ignore it?
As already stated, dry eye disease will not go away and if left untreated it will progress. This can lead to significant levels of damage to the surface of the eye which will compromise both eye health and vision quality. One of the reasons why your eye care professional will want to get this under control is that dry eye will make it more difficult to get the best vision quality possible either with glasses or contact lenses.
Living with dry eye can take its toll emotionally too. There is an established link between dry eye and increased risk of anxiety and depression. For some it can mean poor sleep quality.
What action should I take?
That bit is easy. Contact your eye care professional and book an eye examination today to help keep you and your eyes healthy. If you think you might have dry eye then be sure to tell them about any symptoms.
You can learn more about the causes of dry eye and how your eye care professional can help you at Dry Eye Zone. If you do not have an eye care professional to can contact the
Dry Eye Zone and we will let you know of an independent practitioner with a specialist interest in dry eye in your area.
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If you are experiencing dry eye symptoms then you should ask the advice of your eye care professional. Why not book your next eye examination with an independent optician today.
Sources:
National Institute for Health. National Eye Institute. https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/dry-eye
Messmer EM. The pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of dry eye disease. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2015 Jan 30;112(5):71-81; quiz 82. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2015.0071. PMID: 25686388; PMCID: PMC4335585.
World Health Organisation. World Report on Vision. October 2019. https://www.who.int/news/item/08-10-2019-who-launches-first-world-report-on-vision
American Academy of Ophthalmology. What Is Dry Eye? Symptoms, Causes and Treatment. Written by Kierstan Boyd
Reviewed By Dr Michael A Puente, Jr. Published Oct. 15, 2024.
Vidal-Rohr M, Craig JP, Davies LN, Wolffsohn JS. The epidemiology of dry eye disease in the UK: The Aston dry eye study. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2023 Jun;46(3):101837. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2023.101837. Epub 2023 Mar 30. PMID: 37003925.
Jennifer P. Craig, Kelly K. Nichols, Esen K. Akpek, Barbara Caffery, Harminder S. Dua, Choun-Ki Joo, Zuguo Liu, J. Daniel Nelson, Jason J. Nichols, Kazuo Tsubota, Fiona Stapleton, TFOS DEWS II Definition and Classification Report, The Ocular Surface, Volume 15, Issue 3, 2017, Pages 276-283, ISSN 1542-0124, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2017.05.008.
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