Q: WHY DO MY EYES ALWAYS FEEL SO IRRITATED?
A: COULD BE DRY EYE SYNDROME
Next to blurry vision, our most common ocular problem in the Valley is dry eye, and many people don’t even know they have it! Studies show that up to 1/3 of people suffer from dry eye naturally, and our dry Valley air and high degree of allergens makes it even worse.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF DRY EYE?
Some symptoms are obvious, such as a sensation of dryness or burning. But foreign body sensation, feeling as if you have an eyelash in your eye but nothing is there, is another. How about blurry vision that varies, worse at some times more than others? And quite ironically, watery eyes is yet another symptom. Many of my patients say, “No, doctor, it’s not that I don’t have enough tears, I have too many!” That is because your eyes sense irritation and produce tears in an attempt to rinse away the irritant (Note: watery eyes can also be caused by blocked tear drainage, but that is a topic for another time).
WHO IS AT RISK FOR DRY EYE?
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO RELIEVE SYMPTOMS?
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY EYES ARE DRY? WHAT SHOULD I DO ABOUT IT?
A complete eye examination with special attention paid to evaluation of lids, ocular surface quality and tear film combined with discussion of symptomology is the only way to know. Doctors use various dyes and measurements to assess the degree and type of tear deficiency to make a customized recommendation for each patient.
If you have questions or suspect that you have dryness or tear quality problems, be sure to discuss them with your doctor at your next examination.
Dr. Rosemary Melrose has practiced optometry in Stockton with her husband,Robert, since 1982. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Northwestern University and, as a student at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Melrose performed vision research linking color vision loss to diseases such as glaucoma and diabetes.
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