3 Signs You Could Have Dry Eye
While we all experience dry eyes from time to time, how do you know when it’s dry eye? Chronic dry eye is usually the result of many different factors. Keep reading for 3 signs that you could have dry eye!
Itchy Eyes
Whenever your eyes aren’t receiving the moisture that they need, they become inflamed. This causes some major discomfort.
Got itchy eyes? Your first instinct may be to rub them with your hands. Stop right there!
Rubbing your itchy eyes with your grimy hands is a bad idea. Your hands can carry germs and bacteria, leading to infection.
Even worse, the physical act of rubbing your eyes can cause physical harm to them. Instead, try using eye drops with a higher viscosity.
Your eyes might be blurry for a few extra minutes but you’ll get longer lasting relief!
Light Sensitivity
If you have dry eye, lights and the sun may cause painful glare. You can cope with this by wearing a wide brimmed hat and sunglasses outside.
Make sure that the sunglasses guarantee 100% UV protection before purchasing them. Tinted lenses that don’t protect against UV rays actually do more harm than good.
This is because they “trick” your eyes into thinking that it’s dark, which causes your pupils to enlarge. This allows more unfiltered UV rays to enter your eyes.
This often makes your dry eye worse and can lead to a whole other set of eye problems. Make sure to read all labels on sunglasses before purchasing them to combat this problem.
Difficulty Seeing in Low Light
Your dry eye may not affect you much until you try driving at night. It’s in low light situations where this becomes the most obvious.
Having light sensitivity and dealing with glare from oncoming traffic makes driving dangerous. If you’re struggling to see while driving at night, or bothered by glare, you shouldn’t be driving.
Get the relief you’ve been looking for by seeing Dr. Pinke at the Pinke Eye Center.
The Many Causes of Dry Eye
Dry eye is usually not the result of a single root cause. Rather, it is almost always caused by a combination of many different sources.
These sources break down into three categories: environment, lifestyle, and medical issues.
Some examples of environment would be the climate you live in. Dry eye problems are often started if you live in a place that’s windy, lacking humidity, or too hot.
Lifestyle is the choices that you make. 2 common lifestyle choices that contribute to dry eye are nutrition and smoking. Although you wouldn’t think about it, diet can play a big role in dry eye.
Eating foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids like salmon or leafy greens can help! If you’re a smoker, it’s easy to help your dry eye. The solution: stop smoking!
Medical issues can be diseases, injuries, or surgery side effects to glandular disorders.
Frustrated with dry eye symptoms that are taking over your life? Schedule an appointment today at the Pinke Eye Center in Shelton, CT!
