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Dry eye is a fairly common condition that occurs when the eyes do not produce enough tears, the tears are of poor quality or evaporate too quickly. It affects the ocular surface, due to lack of lubrication, and can cause visual problems.
Symptoms
Some of the symptoms of dry eye are:
- Feeling of having “sand in your eyes”..
- Stinging eyes.
- Red eyes.
- Blurred vision that improves after blinking.
- Tearing: paradoxically, the eye tries to protect itself by reflexively producing tears.
Causes
These are some of the main causes of dry eye:
– Age: although it can be observed at any age, the probability of suffering from dry eye increases with age and is more frequent in women.
– Hormonal changes: menopause, contraceptives, pregnancy…
– Environmental factors: wind, sun, dry environment…
– Activities such as reading, writing or working with computers, as blinking decreases and the tear film evaporates more quickly.
– Medications: antihistamines, antidepressants, B-blockers, diuretics, antihistamines, antidepressants, B-blockers, diuretics…
– Certain ocular interventions.
– Use of contact lenses.
– Certain systemic diseases (Sjögren, arthritis reumatoide, lupus erythematosus…)
– Blepharitis (inflammation of the eyelids).
– Some scarring diseases of the ocular surface.
How can it be diagnosed?
The diagnosis of dry eye can be made by using specific dyes (fluorescein) to assess damage to the ocular surface and to calculate the time it takes for the tear film to “break down” (tear breakup time).
It is also possible to calculate the amount of tears produced with strips of paper left inside the lower eyelid for a few minutes (Schirmer’s test).
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