The latest thinking on dry eye treatments - Harvard Health

Eyes feeling dry, gritty, and irritated? This tin help.

Ideally, the hole for adust eyes would beryllium an casual one: if you added a small moisture to them, the occupation would beryllium solved. In reality, it’s not that simple.

"Dry oculus illness is simply a chronic, analyzable condition, and we don’t person a strict playbook to travel for treatment. We can’t cure it oregon marque it spell away, but we tin negociate it," says Dr. Thomas Dohlman, an ophthalmologist and oculus surgeon astatine Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and an adjunct prof of ophthalmology astatine Harvard Medical School.

What are the types, causes, and symptoms of adust oculus disease?

There are 2 main types of dry oculus disease.

In 1 type, called aqueous deficient adust eye, you don’t marque capable tears to support the aboveground of your oculus lubricated. "It tin hap arsenic a effect of age, environment, medicine broadside effects, oregon definite conditions specified arsenic Sjögren's syndrome," Dr. Dohlman says.

In the different type, called evaporative adust eye, you tin marque tears, but these are unstable and spell distant excessively quickly. "There are meibomian glands connected the eyelids that enactment retired lipid connected the aboveground of the oculus that stabilizes the teardrop film," Dr. Dohlman says. "Meibomian gland dysfunction is much communal than we think, and galore things tin impact the lipid glands, specified arsenic eyelid inflammation, hormonal changes, and medications."

People with adust eyes often person a operation of those 2 subtypes, which tin origin eyes to beryllium reddish oregon consciousness similar they’re

• gritty oregon sandy
• burning oregon stinging
• hurting
• tired.

Dry eyes tin besides springiness you blurry imaginativeness oregon marque your eyelids consciousness heavy.

Will food lipid assistance adust eye?

Some studies suggest that taking a food lipid supplement containing omega-3 fatty acids whitethorn beryllium utile for radical with adust eyes. However, the astir caller randomized objective trials — including a ample survey led by Harvard researchers — person recovered nary payment of food lipid supplements for dry oculus prevention oregon treatment.

Dr. Dohlman isn’t acceptable to disregard food lipid arsenic a imaginable treatment. "I deliberation much enactment needs to beryllium done arsenic acold arsenic which populations of patients are studied and which formulations of food lipid they take," helium says. "In my practice, food lipid has been a precise effectual attraction for immoderate of my adust oculus patients. And if it’s helping, it’s worthy continuing," Dr. Dohlman says.

Before trying food lipid for adust eyes, get your doctor’s okay. You wouldn’t privation to instrumentality food oil, for example, if you’re connected a humor thinner. In that case, food lipid could summation the hazard of bleeding.

If you person a greenish light, Dr. Dohlman recommends taking 2 oregon 3 grams of food lipid per time for adust eyes. "Try it for a period to spot if you announcement a quality successful adust oculus symptoms. If you don’t, you tin discontinue it," helium says.

Other approaches to assistance easiness adust eye

You tin besides effort the pursuing strategies to relieve adust eye.

• Use artificial tears. Use artificial tears periodically passim day. The drops don’t person to beryllium preservative-free unless you usage them much than six times per day.
• Try lukewarm compresses. Use a lavation cloth oregon lukewarm oculus mask. "This helps get the glands flowing and whitethorn amended the wellness of your tears," Dr. Dohlman says.
• Avoid definite environments. Your eyes volition consciousness drier if you’re successful a windy, dry, smoky environment, oregon if you’re sitting nether an aerial conditioner.
• Use a humidifier. This volition support moisture successful the air, truthful it doesn’t get excessively dry.
• Take a interruption from physics screens. "You don’t blink arsenic often erstwhile you’re looking astatine your machine oregon smartphone, truthful beryllium definite to instrumentality breaks. Blinking helps reconstruct the teardrop movie connected your eye," Dr. Dohlman says.
• Drink plentifulness of water. Staying hydrated whitethorn assistance your teardrop ducts pump retired much fluid.

What if those approaches aren’t helping? You mightiness beryllium a campaigner for:

• Medicated oculus drops. Your doc mightiness prescribe an anti-inflammatory oculus drop, specified arsenic cyclosporine (Restasis) oregon lifitegrast (Xiidra).

• Plugs. For radical who person aqueous deficient adust oculus disease, an ophthalmologist tin insert a tiny plug into your tear-drainage duct. Placed successful the interior country of each eyelid, a plug blocks teardrop drainage and helps your eyes clasp moisture. It’s a speedy process that takes spot successful your doctor’s office. The plugs are either impermanent (dissolving successful days to months) oregon semi-permanent (lasting astatine slightest a fewer years).
• Special lenses for radical who presently deterioration contacts. "Wearing contacts tin marque adust eyes worse," Dr. Dohlman says. "However, determination are peculiar types of interaction lenses that tin really assistance support the aboveground of your oculus and relieve adust oculus discomfort."

But don’t expect 1 attraction to beryllium the answer. "There isn’t a magic slug to dainty adust eye," Dr. Dohlman says. "Like different conditions, it tin necessitate a fig of strategies and tools."