Dry Eyes makes the quality of life Low, which effects the overall wellness and wellbeing. The effect of dry eye disease on daily life is very significant.
Untreated Dry Eyes leads to eye inflammation, scratches on corneal surface, corneal ulcer, and vision loss.
Dry Eyes is a condition when the natural tears in the eyes are insufficient to provide the necessary lubrication to the eyes. It can be due to less production of tears, poor quality of tears or quickly evaporation of tears from the eyes. The effect of dry eyes on daily life is very significant, it can lead to permanent visual changes.
Let’s see how dry eyes effect our daily life
-
Decreased Work Efficiency:
During the work on computer, mobile phones or tablet you may feel the eye itchiness, blurred vision, watery eyes, light sensitivity, headache and sometimes body ache. This happen due to the digital eye strain which effects the 90% of people using screens with dry eyes. It is called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). This is the very common effect of dry eye disease on daily life.
Long time book or newspaper reading can also be challenging because of burning sensation and blurred vision.
-
Difficulty in Wearing Contact Lenses:
Dry eyes can make it difficult to wear the contact lenses comfortably, which can reduce the vision correction options and affect the people’s appearance in their social gatherings.
-
Slow Reading:
A study shows that dry eyes can slow the reading speed by 10% and make it difficult to read more than 30 minutes due to irritation, and blurred vision.
-
Reduce Concentration and Focus:
Constant irritation, discomfort, and gritty sensation may reduce someone concentration to perform their work accurately. It can refrain people to perform their daily activities and tasks.
-
Increased Light Sensitivity:
Photophobia (increased light sensitivity) can cause poor driving performance, missing the road signs due to light sensitivity which may be associated with dry eyes.
-
Sleep Deprivation:
Presence of dry eyes symptoms into the evening can contribute to the sleep deprivation as well.
-
Mood Swings:
Chronic eye discomfort can cause frustration and stress which can potentially leads to mood disturbance such as irritability and anxiety.
-
Deterioration Of Mental Health:
Some studies believe that dry eye symptoms are also associated with social and physiological factors such as depression, feeling irritable, tense or restless.
-
Insecure Social Interactions:
Red or bloodshot eyes are the common symptom of dry eyes, which can negatively impact on someone’s confidence and appearance in social settings.
-
Lack of Physical Activities:
Exercise, sweat, water exposure or wind can worsen the dry eye symptoms which can discourage anyone for doing outdoor sport activities or hobbies.
Management of Dry Eyes
We can manage dry eyes with different methods such as making little changes in lifestyle, over the shelf treatment and sometimes it needs medical intention.
The simple and easy management for dry eyes is as fellow;
-
Small Changes In Lifestyle:
- Adding moisture in the air we can use humidifier to avoid dry and windy environment.
- We should use sunglasses during day time to avoid our eyes from sunlight and evaporation.
- Drink eight litters of water daily to stay your body hydrated can prevent dry eyes and dry skin.
- Frequent blinking especially during long time exposure or reading will help to spread the tears evenly over the eye surface which will make our eyes comfortable.
- Taking regular breaks during screen time will relax the eye muscles. For this purpose the 20, 20, 20 rule is the best rule to follow. According to this rule after spend every 20 mints in front of the screen look 20 meter away for 20 seconds.
- Taking Omega-3 fatty acid rich food can reduce the inflammation and improve the tear quality.
-
Over The Shelf Treatment:
- Artificial tears are available in the form of eye drops. They are the best solution to lubricate the eyes and keep them moisture and hydrated. However, for long term use the preservative free eye drops are the best.
- For long lasting lubrication, gels and ointments are good for use but make it sure to apply them right before sleeping because they will make the vision blurry due to thick consistency.
- To relive the dry eye symptoms, a hot compress by warm and damp cloth or towel for 10 minutes can help to open the blocked oil glands and reduce the symptoms.
- Lid hygiene is very important. Regular clean the eye lids with diluted baby shampoo can reduce the symptoms and help to unclog the oil glands.
-
Medication:
- Sometimes doctor may prescribe the anti-inflammatory eye drops such as Cyclosporine to reduce the inflammation and improve the tears production.
- To reduce the severe inflammation or redness, doctors may prescribe the Steroid eye drops for short term use. These type of eye drops must be used under medical supervision.
- To reduce the tear drainage through naso lacrimal duct, tiny plugs are inserted into the opening of tear duct (punctum) to keep more moisture on the eye surface.
-
Medical Procedure:
- A doctor can manually squeeze the eye lid margins to open the oil glands to improve the tear quality.
- A thermal pulsating device named Lipiflow also helps to clear the blockage in the meibomian glands to increase the lipid layer of the tear film.
-
Manage Underline Cause:
It’s very important to treat other health condition those cause dry eyes such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren syndrome, dermatomyosits. Managing the underlying cause with proper medical help can relieve the symptoms of dry eyes.
Final Thoughts:
Early detection and cure of dry eyes is very important to avoid the low quality of life, which effects the overall wellness and wellbeing.
However, if you are suffering from severe dry eye symptoms, you must have to see the eye care professional to make the customized treatment plan according to your condition.
