More than 16 million Americans suffer from dry eye disease, but the number of people who suffer from it may be much higher. The disease, which is almost Twice as common in women and people assigned female at birth that men and people assigned male at birth — can be difficult to diagnose, and misinformation about dry eye often adds to the confusion.
In an effort to clear up any confusion, we reached out to Katherine Rachon, OD., an optometrist at Virginia Eye Consultants, to answer some common questions about dry eye disease.
What is dry eye disease?
Dry eye disease is a broad term for a dry eye disorder. tear filmthe layers of fluid that protect and moisturize your eyes. In dry eye disease, one or more layers of the tear film don’t work properly. This can lead to symptoms such as redness, watering, itching, gritty feeling, blurred vision, and redness of the eyelids.
There are two main types of dry eye disease: water deficient and evaporativeIn water-deficient dry eye, the eye does not produce enough of the watery part of the tear film to keep the eyes moist. Evaporative dry eye occurs when there are enough tears, but the tear film does not adhere properly. Some people have a combination of both, sometimes called mixed dry eye.
Dry eye disease often comes in waves, meaning it may come and go for a while. While most people with dry eye have symptoms, some don’t know they have it until it shows up during an eye exam.
Read: Women’s Eye Health 101 >>
What causes dry eye disease?
People used to think that dry eye disease mainly affected older and/or postmenopausal people, and indeed, age and biological sex are risk factors for developing dry eye disease. (People assigned female at birth are more likely to develop dry eye disease.) likely (Most people who have dry eye are more likely to develop it, mainly because of hormonal changes that occur throughout life.) However, we now know that there are several additional factors that can affect development. For example, several medications (including chemotherapy drugs and over-the-counter antihistamines used to treat allergies) can trigger dry eye.
What are the different layers of tears?
There is three layers of tears that form the tear film, and they all have different functions:
- The aqueous layer is the watery part of tears and contains all the nutrients needed by the tear film and the front of the eye.
- The lipid layer is the oily layer that prevents the tear film from evaporating too quickly.
- The mucus layer is the part of the tear film that holds everything together.
How does a healthy eye produce these tears?
A healthy eye produces enough of all three tear layers to create what is called a tear lake, which can be thought of as a small reservoir in the lower eyelid. This reservoir contains just the right amount: not too small to cause dryness, and not too large to cause tear overflow.
What health conditions can cause dry eyes (or make them worse)?
One of the main causes is diabetes, which damages nerves (including those in the eye). When the nerves in the eye don’t work well enough to detect dry eyes, they don’t send signals to the brain to produce more tears.
Another condition we see with dry eye disease is Sjögren’s syndromean autoimmune disease that affects the glands responsible for helping to moisten the eyes and other parts of the body. This syndrome, which primarily affects women and people born female, can occur on its own or in conjunction with other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Can cosmetics make dry eyes worse?
Eye cosmetics can cause and trigger dry eyes because many makeup products contain chemicals called parabens that have been shown to irritate the tissue and front surface of the eyes. Parabens can also clog the glands that produce the oily part of the tear film. The good news is that there are many paraben-free cosmetics out there. Changing my makeup routine made a huge difference in my own eye health.
What complications can dry eye disease cause?
In addition to irritation and discomfort, which can be very frustrating, dry eye disease can cause blurred vision. In the long term, dryness can also lead to eye infections because it destroys the protective tissue that prevents viruses and bacteria from infecting the eyes.
Are most dry eye treatments covered by insurance? Will I have to try older treatments first before I can get newer ones?
Recently, dry eye disease has been gaining more awareness and treatment options have increased greatly, which is a good thing. Insurance companies may need a little time to catch up and you may need to try an older treatment before a new one may be covered. With a little persuasion (and paperwork), I can usually get most treatments covered.
How should I prepare for an appointment with an eye care professional?
I encourage patients to keep a diary or log of their symptoms. For example, is the dryness worse in the morning or at night? Do you have other symptoms such as blurred vision or itching? What activities aggravate the dryness: going outside in the wind or using the computer?
Also, and this is very important: what treatments have you tried before? Maybe you were recommended a treatment at another eye care provider and it didn’t work, or maybe you’ve tried different eye drops from the pharmacy and none of them worked. All of these things are important so that we can start treatment and also to prove to the insurance company that a particular treatment has already been tried so that they will approve coverage for a different option.
Why is dry eye disease sometimes difficult to treat?
It is a very frustrating condition to treat, both for patients and healthcare professionals, because there are many factors that can influence the onset of dry eye. The healthcare professional can make an informed estimate of what treatments will be best, but each person is different and what may work for one person may not work for another.
For more information on dry eye disease, visit the site More real. More substance. YouTube Channel.
This educational resource was created with sponsorship support from Viatris, Inc.
USA-NON-2024-00011 05/24
Articles from your site
Related articles on the Web
