The Benefits of Regular Eye Exams for Dry Eye Syndrome

Dry eye is a common condition that can affect anyone at any time of life. The symptoms can range from mild to life-changing. One of the key methods to manage the condition is to attend regular eye examinations.

The following looks at why this can help and the range of treatments that can help manage the condition.

What is Dry Eye Syndrome?

• Dry eye syndrome: the condition
• Dry eye syndrome: the symptoms

Dry eye syndrome: the condition

Dry eye syndrome is generally caused by either an external trigger, such as an allergy to pollen, pet dander, smoke, dust, or something similar. It can also be secondary to a reaction to something you’ve eaten or touched. Other exacerbations include wind and extremes of temperature.

Another reason for dry eye syndrome is mechanical, such as having a blocked tear duct. It can also be the result of the tears you produce not being of the right quality to sufficiently lubricate the eye.

If it’s allergy related, the key is to determine what’s causing it and, once known, a combination of avoidance and managing the symptoms.

Dry eye syndrome: the symptoms

Bizarrely, dry eye has the opposite symptoms of what you might expect. It doesn’t cause dryness—instead, it causes the eye or eyes to water too much. You might also experience crusting and scaling around the eyes, redness, itching, blurred vision, swelling, and pain. When allergy-related, you might also find you sneeze a lot and get a runny or blocked nose.

Managing Dry Eye Syndrome

• The benefits of regular eye exams
• Treatments for dry eye syndrome

The benefits of regular eye exams

Regular eye examinations are key to both diagnosing and treating dry eye syndrome. They mean that:

• The condition can be speedily diagnosed
• Your clinician can determine the cause
• Treatment can be instigated and followed up 
• If necessary, further treatments can be put in place—something that’s often the case to provide maximum relief from symptoms
• You benefit from options that can only be prescribed by an eye doctor

Treatments for dry eye syndrome

Once diagnosed, ophthalmologists have a range of treatments for dry eye syndrome. These include:

Simple, over-the-counter medications, such as artificial tears, oral antihistamines, and decongestants

• Antihistamine eye drops
• Mast cell stabilizer eye drops
• NSAID eye drops
• Steroid eye drops
• Immunotherapy injections

Your eye doctor will use a stepwise treatment plan, starting with the mildest option—usually OTC medications. If they fail to control the symptoms effectively, then further options will be explored. While dry eye syndrome can’t be cured, with the right ophthalmologist’s advice and treatment you should be able to get effective relief from the symptoms. 

If your symptoms are caused by a blocked tear duct, then your eye doctor has a couple of options. If infection-related, antibiotics might be prescribed. If these fail to work effectively, then a minor operation—called a dacryocystorhinostomy—can be performed. This re-opens the tear duct, allowing the fluid to flow freely once again. It’s done on an outpatient basis (meaning you don’t need to stay overnight) and under either a local or general anesthetic.

Get Specialist Care for Dry Eye Syndrome at the West Boca Eye Center

Whether you’ve only just begun to experience symptoms or you’ve suffered for many years, our expertise in treating the condition will help get to the root of the problem. 

Whatever the reason and/or trigger, our specialist dry eye care provides a range of diagnosis and treatment options to dramatically reduce the symptoms. Regular eye examinations are a key component of dry eye care—just one of the reasons so many people trust the quality of their precious vision to one of the US’s foremost eye clinics.

Read more about the condition at https://westbocaeyecenter.com/services/dry-eyes-allergies/

Dry eye is a common condition that can affect anyone at any time of life. The symptoms can range from mild to life-changing. One of the key methods to manage the condition is to attend regular eye examinations.

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