What Happens If I Have Dry Eye?

Woman wiping eyes from dry eye

Do you find that your eyes feel dry? Are your eyes often red and irritated? Dry eye is a very common condition that happens when your tears do not lubricate your eyes as they should. There are many reasons that this happens.

We understand that dry eyes are uncomfortable. Your dry eyes could be because of a medical condition or a specific situation.

Keep reading to learn more about dry eye and what happens if you have it!

What Are The Common Symptoms Of Dry Eye?

There are many different symptoms associated with dry eye. Dry eye usually impacts both eyes. Some common symptoms include redness, light sensitivity, burning sensation, and foreign body sensation.

If you have dry eye, you may find it more difficult to wear contacts, and driving at night will be more challenging. You may also experience blurry vision, eye fatigue, and watery eyes.

What Happens If You Do Not Treat Dry Eye?

Deciding to not treat dry eye can lead to more serious conditions or discomfort.

Decreased Quality of Life

Having dry eyes can distract you from what you are trying to focus on. It can also make it hard to perform everyday activities, like reading or working.

Eye Infections

Tears protect the surface of your eye from infection. If you do not produce tears or enough of them, you run a higher risk of getting eye infections.

Damage to the Surface of Your Eyes

When you do not treat severe dry eye symptoms, your eyes suffer. This includes irritations on the corneal surface, inflammation, vision problems, or corneal ulcers.

What Are Some Treatment Options for Dry Eye?

There are a variety of ways to treat dry eye. Some of them are over the counter treatments and others are medical procedures. Here are some of the different treatment options.

Eye Drops

Eye drops are great for the more mild or occasional case of dry eye. There are plenty of over the counter brands of eye drops that will help ease your symptoms.

You want to pick out one will help lubricate your eyes. If over the counter eye drops do not work, you can talk to your doctor about other prescription options. These can include punctal plugs, meibomian gland expression therapy, and other options.

Refer to Another Doctor

Depending on what the cause of your dry eye is, it could be linked to another condition. If you have an eyelid condition, your doctor could refer you to an ophthalmic plastic surgeon.

Also, if you have rheumatoid arthritis, your doctor will refer you to a rheumatologist. This is a better way to solve your dry eye problems.

These are a small sample of the different treatments out there for dry eye. Make sure to talk to your doctor to find the right one.

Do you need help treating your dry eye? Deciding to treat your dry eye will improve your quality of life.

Schedule an appointment at Ginsberg Eye in Naples, FL now! It’s time to get relief from your frustrating dry eye symptoms and live your life without pain anymore!