Dry Eye Disease Symptoms & Causes
Signs and Symptoms
Dry eye disease occurs when your tears cannot provide enough lubrication for your eyes. This tear instability leads to inflammation and damage of the eye’s surface.
When this happens you will experience these symptoms which usually affect both eyes :
- You feel like your eyes are stinging and burning.
- Blurred vision, especially when reading.
- There is a scratchy or gritty feeling like something is in your eye.
- There are strings of mucus in or around your eyes.
- Your eyes or eye lids are red or irritated.
- It is painful to wear contact lenses.
- You have lots of tears in your eyes.
- Difficulty with nighttime driving.
Causes
Some factors that can cause dry eyes:
Contact Lenses
Contact lens wearers are more prone to dry eye.
Air Conditioning
These dry out the air so reduce moisture in the eyes.
Not Blinking Enough
Screen use at work with computers or other devices can reduce the frequency of blinking five times less than normal! This reduces the spread of tears across your eye leading to damage to the protective lipid layer over the eye.
Ageing
We tend to make fewer tears as we get older so as you age you are likely to be affected more. For women, hormonal changes during the menopause can also lead to more frequent dry eyes.
Medications
Some medications can cause dry eyes as a side effect or make existing dry eyes worse (e.g. beta blockers, the pill and antihistamines)