Why Are My Eyes So Dry? 

 Your eyes are itchy and you feel like there’s something gritty on the surface. Or perhaps you’re having trouble with blurry vision, especially when you’re reading. 

Together, these symptoms usually spell dry eye, which is one of the most common eye conditions, affecting millions of people around the globe.

As part of the wide range of health services here at LaSante Health Center, we have an optometry department, where our staff routinely treats people with dry eye. In the following, we review dry eye and how we can bring you relief.

An explanation of dry eye

To understand dry eye, you need to know a little bit about your lacrimal apparatus, which is the medical term for your tear system.

This system includes glands, sacs, and ducts that produce tears and allow old ones to drain away. The reason each of your eyes features a tear system is to keep your eyes nourished and well lubricated, and to flush away foreign debris.

When this system functions well, you have a layer of mucus that covers and protects your eyes and also provides a surface for the tears to spread easily. Ducts around your eyes produce the tears, which mix with oils that help keep the water from evaporating too quickly.

When you have dry eye, typically one of two problems (or both) are at play:

• Your ducts aren’t producing enough tears
• There's an imbalance in your tears 

While the first item is self-explanatory, we want to explain the second a little further. 

By imbalance, it might refer to a lack of oil, which means your tears are evaporating too quickly. Or the imbalance can stem from a lack of mucus. Any imbalance among the three main ingredients in your tears — oil, water, and mucus — can lead to dry eye.

Who gets dry eye

When it comes to who gets dry eye, there are some factors that place you more at risk, starting with age. A majority of people over the age of 65 have some degree of dry eye thanks to reduced tear production, as well as blocked oil glands.

In addition to age, dry eye can develop for other reasons, including:

• Hormone changes in women
• Certain medications, such as antihistamines, that reduce tears
• Rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, or thyroid issues
• Environmental factors, such as secondhand smoke

Some people report issues with dry eye after LASIK surgery.

Remedies for dry eye

Our eye health experts offer a number of different remedies for dry eye based on what’s causing the issue.

For example, if we find that your meibomian glands (which produce the oil in your tears) are blocked, we open them up again. 

Or if insufficient tear production is the culprit, we can prescribe artificial tears or medications that promote tear production. 

We can also block your drainage ducts so that tears rest on your eyes for longer.

In addition to these treatments, we also recommend helpful lifestyle changes, such as avoiding smoke or protecting your eyes in the wind.

As you can see, we certainly don’t lack for options when it comes to addressing dry eye, and we’re sure to find the right solution for you.

For relief from your dry eye, please contact our clinic in Brooklyn, New York, today. We serve the Flatbush and East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Park Slope, Little Haiti, Little Caribbean, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens communities.