Dry eye is very common among people at all ages, resulted from chronic lack of sufficient lubrication and moisture in the eye. Dry eye syndrome has various symptoms such as persistent dryness, foreign body sensation, scratching and burning eyes, which may lead to subtle but constant irritation or ocular inflammation of the front eye tissue. To diagnose dry eye syndrome, your doctor may use a Schirmer test to measure the amount of tears.

The direct reason for dry eye is insufficient or rapidly evaporating tears. Tears are critical for good eye health because they can wash out dust and debris and keep the eye moist. In this case, problems with any of the tears' layers including oily lipid layer, watery lacrimal layer and mucous layer can lead to dry eye. Dry eye syndrome can result from natural aging, side effects from certain medications such as antihistamines, certain blood pressure medicines and so on. Dry environments such as dusty or windy climate and air conditioning system can also dry out your eyes. Incomplete closure of eyelids, eye diseases and even long-term contact lenses wearing are some of the other reasons for dry eye.

While dry eye syndrome is hard to cure, its symptoms such as dryness, scratchiness and burning can be alleviated using artificial tears. Restasis and "get the red out" eye drops that help the eye produce more tears are also useful for dry eye symptoms. But you should be careful of some red reduction formulas, because they may perform by contracting the eye's blood vessels and make you addictive to them.

In most cases, contact rewetting drops are sufficient for people wearing contact lenses to achieve temporary effects. If you want to take eye drops for longer comfort, remember to take off you lenses before applying drops. Check with your optometrist or ophthalmologist to determine which type of drop and its common price.plastic glasses can protect your eyes from direct sunlight shine, so that tears are also under protection from accelerated evaporation. An air cleaner can filter out dust and a humidifier adds moisture to air, all of which are helpful.

Another treatment for dry eye involves tears draining prevention. Lacrimal plugs or punctal plugs will be plugged in the lacrimal ducts to keep tears in your eyes, which can be conducted in the doctor's office painlessly. These plugs can be made of silicone, acrylic or hydrogel. For those can not get enough effects from these plugs, their ducts should be closed surgically.

Nutritional supplement is another helpful solution to dry eye. Consumption of cold-water fish such as sardines, cod, herring and salmon that contain fatty acids is reported to help alleviate eye dryness. If your dry eye is caused by certain types of medications, you should consult your doctor for a possible switch to another medication.

Antibiotic or steroid drops are also treatments if your dry eye is caused by underlying eyelid diseases such as blepharitis. Contact lenses may also result in dry eye, in which case you should stop wearing them and probably switch to another type of lenses. Good outcome of a LASIK surgery always depends on the absence ofdry eye.

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