These cold winter months may be wrecking havoc on your eyes but armed with accurate information and potential treatment options, you can keep your eyes happy and healthy in all conditions.
Dry eye syndrome (also called dry eyes) can be caused by many different factors other than weather and/or environment changes – including medications, wearing contact lenses longer than prescribed, previous eye surgery like LASIK, and pre-existing conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, Diabetes or Lupus. Estimates from the Schepens Eye Research Institute estimate around 40 million Americans are affected by dry eye each year and most experience symptoms of irritated, scratchy or burning eyes. Excess watering of the eyes and blurred vision are also common and advanced dry eye can even damage the front surface of the eye.
Often times, many people mistake the symptoms of dry eye for allergy conditions, eye fatigue or changing climate conditions. The first step in determining if you are suffering from dry eye syndrome is to schedule an appointment with your ophthalmologist to diagnose the disease. At the Eye Clinic of Austin, one of the main tests we use is the TearLab Osmolarity test, a painless process that tests a tiny tear sample to measure osmolarity (the salt content in your tears) which is the best predictive value for diagnosing dry eye disease.
Although dry eye can be a chronic problem, it can be effectively managed with proper care. Ophthalmologist Clayton Falknor, M.D. stresses, “There is a wide range of therapies available for treating the patient with dry eye syndrome, but the first step is obtaining an accurate diagnosis.”