July 16, 2012 Dry eye is a disorder of the tear film caused by tear deficiency or heavy tear evaporation that causes damage to the ocular surface of the eyelid, which is associated with symptoms of discomfort.
The result is a reduced secretion of tears or one of the components of the tear film. It is manifested by chronic conjunctivitis and / or keratitis, redness and / or itching of the eye. Only rarely do patients complain of dry eye so the chronic dry eye is often treated for long as a chronic conjunctivitis of unknown etiology.
Causes:
Causes of dry eye are numerous. Most often it is a senile involution of the main and / or accessory lacrimal glands (the exact reason is unknown) or their inflammation. For the dentist it is practically important to know that dry eye occurs in some autoimmune diseases such as Sjögren’s disease, when severe dryness of the mouth and other mucous membranes occur.
The most common causes of dry eye include:
1) aging – 75% of the population over the age of 65 suffer from dry eye syndrome
2) sex – hormone changes in women during pregnancy, lactation, menstruation, menopause often cause dry eye syndrome
3) diseases – rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, asthma, thyroid disease, glaucoma … Causes due to the disorder of the surface of the cornea (lack of vitamin A, keratitises of various etiology…) Causes in the impaired blinking mechanism (paralysis of the facial n., contact lenses, disthyroid ophthalmopathy…) Causes due to the eyelid diseases (inflammation, twisted or inverted eyelid, scars…)
4) drugs – against depression, hypertension, contraceptives, diuretics…
5) Contact Lenses – evaporation of tears from the eyes causing discomfort in wearing, irritation, eye inflammations and pain
6) Environment – the smoke, lights, air-conditioned rooms, central heating, wind … markedly increase evaporation of tears
7) Computers – forgetting the normal process of blinking, which is important for the production of tears makes eyes dry more
Symptoms:
“Tired” eyes, blurred vision, redness, foreign body sensation, “sand” in the eyes, burning, leakage in the shape of the filaments, paradoxically tearing
Treatment:
If the primary cause of dry eye syndrome cannot be removed, it is usually treated by substitution of artificial tears. In especially severe cases of dry eye, especially processed serum of the patient in dropped in the eye.
Lack of tears, or their poor quality, is compensated by the instillation of artificial tears. These funds cover the ocular surface and thus protect, moisturize and reduce friction between the cornea and eyelids. They need to be used multiple times a day, on average 4-6 times, and the duration of therapy is very long and depending on the cause of reducing the amount of tears. Drops of artificial tears are not harmful and have no side effects even after years of use.