Dry eyes are common in 50% of all adults. It is an uncomfortable condition that can range from a mild inconvenience to a chronic condition. Dry eyes can affect the way you live everyday life, and depending on the severity, can even affect your work performance. Dry eye treatment is available in both over the counter and natural forms, and both have been deemed effective depending on your lifestyle and condition.
What Are Dry Eyes?
When your body doesn’t produce enough tears to lubricate the eyes, you develop a dry eye condition. Tears are an essential and nourishing necessity for maintaining the health of the eye’s surface. This lubrication provides clear vision and reduces the risk of eye infection, by washing away foreign objects to keep the eyes clear and clean. When the tear production and drainage is not in balance, dry eyes will most likely occur.
Without proper diagnosis from your eye doctor, it is possible to come up with many solutions and factors as to why dry eye is occurring. More often than not, the causes for dry eye can develop for many reasons, such as medical conditions, medications, environmental factors, gender, and age. Other factors for dry eye could be using long-term contact lenses or having refractive eye surgeries. Again, your eye doctor can diagnose the problem right away.
You may experience a variety of symptoms along with your dry eye condition. From watery eyes and blurry vision to redness and stinging or burning sensations, people experience a wide variety of symptoms depending on their condition and their lifestyle.
Natural Dry Eye Treatment
If you’d like to take a more natural route for dry eye treatment, there are a few things you can do to relieve your symptoms. Diet is a big factor in our quality of life. Meals that include healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids are said to decrease the symptoms of dry eyes. It can also reduce inflammation and increase tear quantity. Omega-3s are found in common substances, such as tuna, salmon, and fish oil supplements. If you don’t eat meat, flaxseeds, walnuts, and chia seeds also provide adequate amounts of omega-3s.
Drinking plenty of water
about 8 cups a day will not only hydrate your bod, but contribute to healthy tear production. Staying hydrated is an essential part of staying healthy.
Avoid toxic substances
like alcohol and smoking. Alcohol can cause dry eye symptoms and increase the dehydration level of your body. Smoking irritates your skin and your eyes, which will also affect the quality of your tears.
Boost your vitamin levels.
Vitamins D and B12 are essential for ocular health. These vitamins, along with riboflavin and niacin, are found in a variety of vegetables, dairy, meat, and fruit products.
Wearing appropriate eyewear
Sometimes it’s as simple as protecting your eyes from the environment. Wearing appropriate eyewear when you’re skiing or at the beach will reduce irritation.
Break from devices
Give yourself a break from electronics like the computer, cell phone, and television. When we are engulfed in a TV show or scrolling through our feed, we often forget to blink. This can cause dry eyes, because the tears evaporate quickly.
Diagnosis
If dry eye condition is a concern of yours, the best course of action is to schedule a comprehensive eye examination with your local eye doctor. They will have the best solutions and dry eye treatment for your current state and health. They’ll externally examine the eye while evaluating the cornea and the eyelids.
Don’t wait to schedule your eye exam. If you have any one of these symptoms, contact the team at Elevation Vision for a comprehensive eye exam and dry eye treatment today.
