Can you cure dry eyes permanently?

Can you cure dry eyes permanently?

Dry eyes can be a temporary or permanent problem and are always uncomfortable, causing stinging and itchy eyes that don’t seem to get relief. Fortunately, there are ways of relieving symptoms and treating dry eyes, but they’re never usually a permanent fix.

If your dry eyes are caused by environmental factors or your lifestyle, you can make simple changes to cure your dry eyes, but if your dry eyes are simply a result of getting older or another health condition, curing dry eyes is much more difficult.

To see if you can treat your dry eyes effectively and permanently, let’s first look at the symptoms and potential causes.

Symptoms of dry eyes

When you have dry eyes, you may not notice that they actually feel dry, as they may just feel different or itchy, like you’ve got conjunctivitis or another eye issue, such as blepharitis. That’s why it’s important to be aware of the other symptoms of dry eyes, so you know what the issue is and can treat it more easily.

Symptoms of dry eyes include:

• A stinging, itching or burning sensation in your eyes.
• Stringy mucus in your eyes.
• Red or bloodshot eyes.
• Feeling like there’s something in your eyes and blinking frequently.
• Sensitivity to light.
• Difficulty with driving at night.
• Very watery eyes, as your body tries to ease irritation.
• Blurred vision.
• Tired eyes.
• Difficulty wearing contact lenses.

If you have any of these symptoms, it’s possible that you’ve got dry eyes. You should see your GP or eye specialist as soon as possible to find the cause of your dry eyes.

Potential causes of dry eyes

As dry eyes can be a short-term problem or a long-term health problem, the potential cause of your dry eyes can vary greatly.

If you have recently started working from a computer more than before, travelled by air, walked or ridden a bike in the cold or simply spent some time in an air-conditioned room, it’s highly likely that these factors are causing your eyes to feel dry. Try to take breaks away from the computer screen every 20 minutes (follow the 20-20-20 rule), wear glasses to protect your eyes when outside in the cold and wind, rest your eyes after air travel and avoid air conditioning where possible to relieve your eyes, and you should see them starting to get better.

If your dry eyes are a more permanent problem, there are numerous health conditions that may be causing your eyes to be dry, including:

• Vitamin A deficiency.
• A chalazion is blocking your tear gland.
• Thyroid disorder.
• Lupus.
• Medication, such as one to treat high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease, or antidepressants.
• Rheumatoid arthritis.

Some of these conditions are easier to treat than others. For example, you may benefit from changing your medication; however, you should speak to your healthcare provider before trying to treat your dry eyes yourself.

Factors increasing the risk of dry eyes

As well as health conditions causing dry eyes, there are some factors which are harder to control that may cause you to have dry eyes. These risk factors include:

• Ageing.
• Being female.
• Having laser eye surgery.
• Wearing contact lenses frequently.

Each of these factors may increase your risk of getting dry eyes; as we age, our bodies naturally stop producing as much fluid in our eyes, and we’re more likely to need laser eye surgery or cataract removal later in life, increasing the risk of irritation and dry eyes.

Women are also more prone to experiencing dry eye,s as dry eyes can be a symptom of hormonal changes. Women experience many hormonal changes throughout their lives, so dry eyes can be particularly common in women on birth control, through pregnancy and post-partum, and during the menopause. While these risk factors cannot be changed, the symptoms can be eased – and should be eased, to prevent other conditions as a result of having dry eyes.

Risks of dry eyes

Dry eyes can be a result of many different conditions, so you should see a GP or an eye specialist to get to the root of the problem and treat the issue rather than just the symptoms. However, you should still treat the symptoms of dry eyes, whether you have a more serious health condition or not, as dry eyes may cause more serious issues if untreated.

Our eyes need to be moist to allow for comfortable blinking, moisturising the eyeball and helping to remove any dust or dirt that may have blown into our eyes. Without the moisture, blinking and being outside or in a windy or dusty environment can irritate our eyes, causing the surface to become inflamed and red. Prolonged irritation will significantly impact your quality of life, make reading and driving increasingly difficult, and may even result in vision loss.

What’s more, without being able to effectively clear our eyes of dirt and debris, we have an increased risk of eye infections and eye complaints.

Treating dry eyes is therefore imperative for the overall health of our eyes as well as our general well-being.

Can dry eyes go away naturally?

Depending on the cause of your dry eyes, it is possible for the symptoms of dry eyes to go away on their own. For example, if you are taking a particular medication which is causing you to have dry eyes, the symptoms will normally go away once you’ve stopped taking the medicine. Or if you have dry eyes in winter due to the cold air, once spring arrives, you will find your dry eyes become more moist and more comfortable.

However, if you have dry eyes because you are getting older or have a chronic illness such as a thyroid disorder, you may find the symptoms do not fully go away. Whether you have temporary or permanent dry eyes, however, you should always seek treatment to avoid further complications.

How to treat dry eyes

You may be able to treat your dry eyes or at least ease the symptoms by making simple changes to your work or home life. Some useful changes include:

• Drinking sufficient fluids to avoid dehydration (at least 1.5-2 litres a day).
• Adjusting your computer’s distance and screen brightness to avoid eye strain.
• Having a humidifier prevents the dry air from hurting your eyes.
• Avoiding air conditioning.
• Wearing glasses in cold and windy weather.

These changes will ease mild symptoms and help reduce dry eyes caused by environmental and lifestyle factors. However, in more serious or chronic cases, you may benefit from medicine.

Eye drops such as artificial tears can help rehydrate the surface of your eyes and prevent the symptoms of having dry eyes, helping you blink and reduce dirt and dust in your eyes. However, this is not a permanent fix, and some people may not feel the benefit of using eye drops as much as others. In this case, there are some more serious treatments that a doctor or eye specialist may recommend instead.

Can you cure dry eyes?

There is no cure for dry eyes, so eye drops are the best way to reduce inflammation and lubricate your eyes enough to clear them of dust. However, if you have preservative allergies or artificial tears simply aren’t reducing your symptoms, a doctor may recommend a procedure known as Minor Gland Salivary Autotransplant.

This procedure involves grafting salivary glands from your mouth and placing them near the tear ducts to replicate the production of tears and has been shown to be effective in relieving the symptoms of dry eyes more permanently than other procedures. Surgeons can also place punctal plugs into your tear ducts to help retain tears and keep your eyes lubricated. Both of these procedures are only used in very severe cases of dry eyes.

However, while they greatly relieve symptoms, some people still have to use artificial tears to keep their eyes sufficiently moist.

The Eye and Dental Clinic

The Eye and Dental Clinic is a specialist clinic in Bury, Lancashire, that has two teams of experts ready to treat your ophthalmic and dental complaints. With routine appointments and emergency treatments available, we’re sure we’ve got your health concerns covered. Read more in our latest news or contact us today to learn more about how we can help you.

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