Are you looking for relief from dry eye symptoms? You may benefit from eye drops.
While the right treatment for you will depend on the severity and root cause of your dry eye, over-the-counter and prescription eye drops are often the first-line treatment recommended by eye doctors. Keep reading to learn more about whether eye drops really help with dry eye.
What is Dry Eye?
Dry eye or dry eye syndrome is an eye condition that occurs when your eyes don’t make enough tears or the tears you produce are poor quality and evaporate too quickly. To maintain moisture in the eye, you must have a healthy tear film consisting of enough of the three main components: water, mucus, and oil.
When you’re missing one of them, it can cause dry eye symptoms. Besides having dry eyes, some of the most common symptoms of dry eye include:
- Itchiness, redness, and irritation
- Stinging, burning, and grittiness
- Eye fatigue
- Mucus in and around your eyes
- Difficulty wearing contact lenses due to discomfort and dryness
- Light sensitivity
- Blurry vision
- Feeling like there’s something in your eye
While many patients experience these symptoms from time to time, dry eye syndrome is when they become a chronic issue and do not go away. If you think you may have dry eye, you should schedule an appointment with your eye doctor at Metro Eye Care so they can provide a personalized diagnosis and treatment plan.
Do Eye Drops Help Relieve Dry Eye?
Eye drops are often the preferred treatment for dry eye. Artificial tears can be purchased over-the-counter for temporary treatment of mild dry eye and applied as needed.
However, if your dry eye isn’t responding to over-the-counter options, your eye doctor may recommend prescription eye drops like Restasis or Xiidra. They help relieve dry eye symptoms by decreasing inflammation, which promotes the creation of a healthy tear film.
Are There Dry Eye Treatments Besides Eye Drops?
There are many other treatments available for dry eye. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, your eye doctor may recommend treatments including:
Lifestyle Changes
There are many ways to treat your symptoms at home for milder dry eye cases. These include:
- Applying a warm compress to your eyelids to release blockages in the meibomian glands
- Using a humidifier in dry environments
- Incorporating more omega-3 fatty acids into your diet
- Limiting screen time
- Wearing less eye makeup
- Drinking more water, especially during the hot, humid summer months
- Avoiding environments with potential irritants like smoke or wind
- Switching to glasses if contacts are irritating your eyes
Doxycycline
Doxycycline can be used in low doses to decrease inflammation in the eye. Besides treating dry eye, it also helps with blepharitis, styes, and rosacea.
Punctal Plugs
Punctal plugs are helpful for patients who aren’t responding to lifestyle changes and eyedrops alone or cannot keep up with the application schedule for eye drops. They are tiny silicone inserts that your eye doctor places in the tear duct to prevent drainage through a simple, in-office procedure.
This increases moisture in the eye and helps relieve dry eye symptoms. Some are temporary and dissolve on their own, while others are permanent.
MiBoThermoflo
For patients with dry eye caused by blockages in the meibomian glands, MiBoThermolfo can effectively restore oil levels in the tear film and improve symptoms. The treatment involves applying controlled heat and gentle massage to the eyelids to break down oils in the meibomian glands.
Autologous Serum Eye Drops
This advanced treatment uses the patient’s blood to make customized eye drops containing natural growth factors, vitamins, and immunoglobulins that help promote a healthy tear film.
Amniotic Membrane
Amniotic membrane is a biological tissue placed over the eye to reduce inflammation and rejuvenate the eye’s surface for patients with dry eye.
TrueTear Neurostimulator
TrueTear is an advanced device that sends tiny pulses of energy to the brain in a process called neurostimulation. This causes the tear glands to increase tear production and helps relieve dry eye.
Do you want to find out whether eye drops are the right dry eye treatment for you? Schedule an appointment at Metro Eye Care in Paramus, NJ, today!
