Many people suffer from dry eyes.
There are two types of dry eye – evaporative and aqueous deficient dry eye.
Evaporative is mainly from environmental factors such as spending long spells of time working on computers, driving with the air con even studying or watching TV. During these times of focus we forget to blink as much as we should and so we are naturally drying out our eyes. Every time you blink you renew your tear film, when focusing whether it be on your favourite programme on TV or getting an assignment done for work, we naturally blink about 5 times less, so our tear film isn’t being renewed and the eyes dry out over the course of the day.
The other form of dry eye is aqueous deficient dry eye. This type of dry eye is harder to treat because it’s due to systemic causes – for example Sjogren’s syndrome. With this your eyes can’t produce enough tears to adequately lubricate the front surface of the eye and so it remains dry. This form is generally more irritating and when coupled with computer work etc. you have increased dry eye irritation to combat.
In all cases of dry eye education and preparation is key. Keep track of when you notice the symptoms – is it early morning after waking or perhaps after watching TV before bed. Does it occur about 1-2 hours into starting work on your computer or after 30mins of driving.
Professionals recommend taking flaxseed oil daily and orally – not into the eye – just in case there is any confusion! Once ingested flaxseed oil has benefits for all the extremities – not just the eyes. It’s amazing for the hair, skin, and nails.
In addition, we advise having lubricating eye drops to for those times when you notice your eyes feeling gritty and stingy. Just top them up with one drop and a few good blinks of the eye and you’re back in business. You can also use lubricating gels however we advise those at night time as they can blur your vision for a few minutes.
Next up is the famous 20-20-20 rule. Take a 20 second break every 20 minutes and look 20 meters away (or just as far away as you can in that given moment). By looking away you’re relaxing the eyes and increase your blinks renewing your tear film.
If your eyes are irritated in the morning, we recommend using a lubricating gel at night. This will lubricate the ocular surface as you sleep, and your eyes will feel fresh and renewed on waking.
If after all this, you are still suffering we always advise an appointment to investigate the problem further. A referral to an Ophthalmologist may be warranted for further treatment.
Contact us or request an appointment online if you are experiencing any of the symptoms.
