Dry Eyes
Are your eyes dry? Don't ignore your eye problems. You're not alone, and we have solutions to help you become pain free.
You may be suitable for a private 30-minute Dry Eye Assessment. Or, take our quick online quiz below to do an initial assessment.
WHY DO WE GET DRY EYES?
Dry eyes are due to the eyes producing an inadequate amount of tears and/or tears of poor quality. Typically, it’s actually a combination of both.
Check out the Dry Eye Glossary produced by MyDryEye below!
Are your eyes constantly stinging, burning, watery, gritty or red?
These are some of the symptoms of dry eyes.
Tears are made up of 3 major components:
Lipid layer
1.
produced mainly by the meibomian glands which sit on the eyelid margin. These glands are responsible for producing the oily part of the tears (meibum) which helps to slow down tear evaporation.
Aqueous layer
(watery portion)
2.
The aqueous layer is mostly water but also contains proteins, minerals and carbohydrates to help nourish the cornea.
Mucin layer
3.
The foundation layer which helps spread the tears over the surface of the eye.
Dry Eye Assessment
Here at Eye Plus we offer a private 30-minute Dry Eye Assessment to fully investigate the cause and effects of your Dry Eyes. With the results of this assessment, we are able to produce a fully customized treatment plan for your Dry Eyes.
Our Dry Eye Assessment includes the following:
Eyelid + Blink
The integrity of the eyelids as well as the quality of the blink will have a large influence on how well parts of the tears are produced as well as spread over the eye’s surface.
Tear Osmolarity
(Salt Content)
Tear osmolarity is effectively a measure of how salty your tears are. This measure of tear osmolarity is a fundamental characteristic of dry eye disease.
Tear Quality
Tears are made up of 3 major layers: the most superficial layer being the oily, the middle layer being the watery and the foundation being mucous.
Inflammation Testing
Inflammation is a key component of the dry eye cycle and we are able to do testing for MMP-9s which is one of the markers of inflammation on the surface of the eye.
Tear Volume
It’s not hard to see difficult to understand when your eyes are unable to produce the right amount of tears, they will be dry.
Meibography
Meibography allows your optometrist to image the glands (meibomian glands) that produce the oily part of your tears. This oily layer of the tears helps us by preventing excessive evaporation.
Dry Eye Treatment Options
Artificial Tears
Artificial tears help by instantly moisturizing the ocular surface. Allow us to help you find the right product for your eyes.
You can see each layer of the tears plays a vital part in keeping the surface moist, smooth and healthy. Deficiencies in any of those can lead to poor quality tears and consequently dry eyes!
Treatment for dry eyes is complex and in a lot of cases requires multiple means of therapy.
The therapy will depend on the underlying cause of the dry eyes.
If you are experiencing constant watery, red, gritty, burning eyes please feel free to give us a call or use our super simple online booking system to book an appointment with our optometrist.