Am I Suffering from Dry Eye Syndrome?

Dry eye syndrome is a common problem that can stem from anything from allergies to specific medical conditions affecting the eye. It's really a blanket term, covering a range of symptoms that can be annoyingly persistent. You can treat dry eye syndrome and soothe the redness and itchiness that comes with the condition, but if you can find out the root cause, you could have even better luck treating it. An eye doctor at Urias Eyecare in Midland can take a look at what's going on with your eyes.

The Symptoms of Dry Eye Syndrome

Sometimes people with dry eye syndrome don’t produce enough tears. Other times, the tears a person does produce don't have the right composition of water, oil, and mucus. The eyeball and eyelid become drier, and you feel grittiness, irritation, and itching. Your eyes may be red, too. Dry eye syndrome can also affect your vision.

When you blink, the movement of the eyelid over the eyeball spreads tears into a film across the eyeball. If you're not producing enough tears, if the film is evaporating too fast, or if the film's composition is off, when you blink your eyes, you won't have enough moisture to spread. Treatment for dry eye syndrome focuses on two fronts: soothing the symptoms and finding the root cause. If the cause is very low humidity, you may need artificial tears. If the cause is an allergy, you'd need to look at treating the allergy itself, such as avoiding the allergen or taking allergy medicine. If the problem is that your tear production is faulty, then you have to look at why that is the case and treat that condition.

Go to an Optometrist if You Think You Have Dry Eye

If you have itchy, red eyes and other symptoms of dry eye syndrome, get an eye exam at Urias Eyecare in Midland. Call us now at (432) 368-4102.