Dry eyes may appear as a minor issue but it can be dry eye syndrome, a worse eye problem with no tear production. This very problem is difficult to identify because it has many variations and sometimes it gets mixed with other symptoms. But as eyes are the sensitive body organ and all the lights of life chiefly depend on eyes, we must know the variations they go through and what do they mean.
Dry Eye Symptoms
The so-called maxim we usually encounter is “oil and water do not get mixed” but when it comes to eyes, it leaves the ground and becomes false. The tears produced in orbs have lubricated layer of liquid watery tear and oil implies oil and water go hand in hand and without their union, eyes may become useless in the end. When production observes a fault in the process, dry eye syndrome comes in due to a variety of other options as well. The ophthalmologists divide people into two groups, one whose tear production becomes short and the other whose tears are less oily and much watery causing moisture evaporation from eyes, eventually dryness. It is to be noted some people may suffer from both of the disorders.
Natalia Warren, a founding member of Not A Dry Eye Foundation tells her symptoms were so severe as she used to feel tissues stuffed under her eyelids. It is a foundation established by dry eye syndrome patients who had suffered “untold agonies” during their times.
To let you know how severe it is, I have compiled some of the dry eye symptoms that you must identify.
Red or Bloodshot eyes
The swelling in the small veins of the whitish portion of eyes around eyeball can cause your eyes full red like bloodshot or like crimson hue. Steven Maskin, M.D, medical director of the Dry Eye and Cornea Treatment Centre in Tampa says if you are not facing any allergy or infection, then redness in the eyes is surely due to super dryness. If your eye does not produce many tears, there would be the pain in cells of the upper surface of the eye ending in pain when they are not protected. He further says chemicals are released causing inflammation while redness is a by-product. The tiny oil glands, meibomian gland dysfunction cause redness, and inflammation in eyes that implies eyelids are not producing much lubricant fluid for your eyes.
Gritty Eyes
As eyes lack lubricants, it feels gritty, sandy and gravelly like a desert. It may be caused by foreign body sensation as something is lodged in eyes. The most common causes of gritty eyes can be the dry patches on the cornea, a front layer of the eye. In the process, the transparent front layer of the eye becomes dry, cells dry out and finally causes macro abrasions. The fortunate thing with gritty eyes is temporary nature, it does not last long, Amy Lin, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Utah Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City says. She further adds to the moisturizer recovery, eyes would become fine with time and spots would heal.
Light Sensitivity
Light sensitivity, a photophobia might cause by insufficient watery tears in the eyes, viz a viz lack of tear production. Thus eyes become sensitive to light and vision is affected in the end. Not A Dry Foundation explains it can be temporary, can be constant or occur in all intensity of light. Such people when exposed to light, they may squint and shut their eyes off. According to the nature of eye issue, pain may vary nature to nature of damage and discomfort so while some may complain brightness of light only. The North American Neuro-Ophthalmology society explains the other reason for the discomfort can be the light-sensitive cells in the retina and lining the back of the eye. These sensitive cells have the connections with the main nervous system responsible for relaying sensory information to head and face.
Sensitivity or irritants
There is a safety mechanism for an eye to saving it from dust, dry air, smoke, cleaning product fumes in the form of the tear film on the eye. Ms Warren of the foundation illustrates a cornea has 300-600 times more nerve endings than any other part of the body. Thus any enclosed space with vented air can make eyes suffer and irritate.
All of the above illustration about eye syndrome gives the brief overview of the sensitive issue.
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