Do your eyes always feel irritated and dry? Are you worried that you’ll go blind from having dry eyes?
Keep reading to learn more about dry eyes and if it’s possible to lose your vision because of it!
What Is Dry Eye?
Dry eye is an eye condition that develops if you produce low-quality tears or you’re not producing enough tears. Tears are normally made up of three components: water, oil, and mucous.
If tears are missing any of these components, it leads to poor-quality or not enough tears. If you have dry eyes, your eyes will feel uncomfortable.
It might even feel like they are burning. Though dry eyes are not usually a serious condition, it does need treatment.
How Can I Treat My Dry Eye?
It is important to treat your dry eye. While dry eye rarely causes blindness, you need to treat it. At-home treatments include:
Keeping Your Eyelashes Clean
Keeping your eyes and eyelashes clean helps reduce inflammation. To keep your eyelashes clean, use a minimal amount of natural baby shampoo or soap on your fingers.
Massage the baby shampoo or soap around your closed eye, especially your eyelashes. Keeping them free of debris is beneficial for your eye health.
Warm Compresses
When your eyes are inflamed and you have flaky eyelids, your oil glands can become clogged near your eye. This causes dry eye.
To unclog the glands and reduce irritation, try using a warm compress. A warm compress is a washcloth with warm water.
You need to wet the washcloth, wring it out, and keep your eyes covered for at least a minute. Press the warm compress around your eyelid to help unclog your oil glands.
Warm water can break up the debris clogging your glands. Using a warm compress daily reduces inflammation. Continue using them even if your eyes start to feel better.
Increase Blinking
Did you know that looking at screens reduces the number of times you blink? While you’re working, remember to blink as frequently as you can.
Blinking helps keep your eyes moist, which prevents dry eye.
Eat Omega-3 Fatty Acid Rich Foods
Foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids create oil and reduce eye irritation. Foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids are salmon, tuna, sardines, trout, mackerel, flaxseed, walnuts, and soybean/canola oil.
Also, you can take an omega-3 supplement to add more omega-3 fatty acids into your diet. Check with your doctor before doing so.
It is important to make sure the supplement won’t react with medications you take or cause any adverse side effects.
Stay Hydrated
Like the rest of your body, your eyes need water to stay healthy. Staying hydrated is an easy way to keep your eyes moist.
Aim to drink at least 8-10 glasses of water every day to stay hydrated.
Don’t Smoke
You know smoking is bad for you but did you know it’s bad for your eyes as well? Smoking dries out your eyes. By not smoking, you can keep your eyes moist and lubricated.
If these at-home remedies don’t work, please contact your doctor. It is important to treat dry eye before it causes another condition to develop.
Do you think you have dry eye? Schedule a dry eye appointment at Omaha Eye & Laser Institute in Lincoln, NE and get your dry eye symptoms under control!
