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How to treat Dry Eye
Dry eye is a very common condition, we will all suffer from dry eyes at some point. Lifestyle now means we are staring at screens more than ever (which makes our natural blink rate decrease) and all of our cars have air conditioning blowing into our faces. It seems everything we do now is drying out our eyes.
We also develop dry eye disease due to changes in our meibomian glands - these are little glands that run straight up and down the inside of our eyelids and secret an oily substance called meibum which forms the basis of our tears. Unfortunately, if this has gone wrong then we can suffer from dry eye and blepharitis. (Blepharitis is the inflammation of the lid margins and the lashes). This is all part of Meibomian Gland Disfunction (MGD).
As Optometrists we would recommend people use artificial tear drops but that is not the best way to treat the dry eye. It should be looked at as a 3 step process.
- Heat. Heat is needed to melt the meibum and get it flowing properly again. There are a few things to think about when heating the lids. So many patients will say they'll use a wet hot flannel, but, we need a temperature higher than our natural body temperature for 8 to 10 minutes to get it to melt - a flannel isn't hot enough. We recommend using a heat mask or something like the Eyewand Pro from Peep Club. Like so many products you can buy there are some heat masks that are better than others. You also need to give a little massage to get the meibum flowing. (*This sort of treatment only works if you have complete meibomian glands - this can only be assessed using specific imaging equipment - if you don't then you won't produce and decent meibum)
- Cleanse. You need to clean the lids and lashes. Sometimes it's obvious that you need to clean due to blepharitis with visible debris in the lashes but cleaning after heat treatment should always be part of the routine. There are many different wipes available (Please don't use baby shampoo because prolonged usage has been shown to damage the cells that secret the oil we need) or gels or solutions to use instead. An extra step can be to use a Hypochlorous spray to control the bacteria on and around the lids (also great if you are going for cataract surgery).
- Hydrate. This is where the artificial tear drops come in. So many patients will tell me they use their tear drops everyday but it doesn't help. When questioned they are using them once in the morning and maybe once in the evening. You need to think about using them like staying hydrated through the day, drink little and often and you'll be hydrated, drinking one glass of water in one go for the day will not keep you hydrated. Do the same with the eye drops! You can't over use them.
I hope this has helped some of you to understand a little more about dry eye and how to treat it to get better relief from your symptoms!
If you need to ask your optometrist about having a specific dry eye appointment and treatment plan.
