Frequently Asked Questions Answered By Your Optometrist in Mesa and Scottsdale
Dry eye is a condition that affects millions of individuals around the country. Once your eyes stop producing tears, you’re susceptible to dry eye symptoms. Severe dry eye can impact your daily routine, making it difficult to enjoy life to the fullest. These FAQs from our Mesa/Scottsdale optometrist at Riviera Opticare shed more light on this condition.
What Is Dry Eye?
Dry eye occurs when your eyes stop producing or produce too few quality tears to keep them lubricated. Tears protect your eyes from infections and aid in providing you with clear vision. Insufficient tears, poor quality tears, or rapid evaporation of tears can leave your eyes dry, irritated, and prone to abrasions and infections.
What’s Causing My Dry Eye?
There are numerous causes of dry eye, beginning with age. As you grow older, your eyes will produce fewer tears, making you more susceptible to this condition. Clogged eye glands can reduce tear production, leading to dry eye. Other culprits that can alter tear production include environmental elements like wind, sun and air pollution, certain autoimmune diseases, and certain types of medications. Computer overuse can cause dry eye, as you blink less when staring at a screen. Hormonal changes in pregnant and nursing mothers can also alter tear production, causing dry eye syndrome.
What Are the Symptoms of Dry Eye?
Eye dryness is the most prominent symptom followed by irritation, burning sensation, mild pain, blurred vision, and mucus in or around the eyes. In some cases, your eye glands may produce an abundance of low quality tears to try to compensate for the dryness.
How Can I Tell if I Have Dry Eye?
If you’re experiencing dry, itchy, scratchy eyes, and blurred vision, you may very well have dry eye syndrome. A visit to our optometry specialist can confirm this condition. We’ll test your eyes for tear production, composition, and evaporation, and review your medical history to determine what’s causing your symptoms. If you do have dry eye, we’ll recommend proper treatment.
What’s the Treatment for Dry Eye?
Mild symptoms can often be soothed with regular use of over the counter eye drops. For severe dry eye cases, we may recommend prescription eye drops or topical creams to help manage symptoms. Once your optometry specialist has uncovered the cause of your dry eye, we’ll have a better idea of how to treat your condition.
Visit Our Mesa/Scottsdale Optometrist for Dry Eye Treatment
If you’re having trouble with dry eye symptoms, contact your Mesa/Scottsdale optometrist today for diagnosis and treatment of this eye condition. To schedule an appointment at Riviera Opticare in Mesa, call 480-827-9184. For our Scottsdale clinic, call 480-991-6432. At Riviera Opticare, quality vision is well within your reach.