Prima Medical Center Saigon, Eyecare & Aesthetic, Eye Diseases

Dry Eye – Causes and Solutions

26 August, 2023

Table of Contents

1. What is dry eye?

Dry eye is a collection of diseases of the tears and ocular surface, caused by an imbalance in the eye’s ability to secrete and drain water.

Dry Eye: Causes and Solutions

Dry eye disease is a common manifestation of many people today, especially office workers who often have to sit in front of a computer screen. Although dry eyes are not too dangerous, they will cause symptoms of eye fatigue, redness, burning, and reduced work performance.

In the most severe cases, the patient may gradually lose vision.

Signs of Possible Eye Problem in Children

When the eyes are dry, the patient always feels the eyes are burning, hot, tired and heavy. Common symptoms are blurred vision after blinking, continuous tearing, white discharge in the eye sockets.

2. Causes of dry eyes

Dry eyes due to insufficiency of tears: The lacrimal glands in and around the eyelids are responsible for producing water to wet the eyes. This ability will decrease with age, or people with eye disease.
Dry eyes due to increased evaporation: For people who are often exposed to computers such as office workers, the frequency of blinking will decrease, increasing the evaporation rate of tears, leading to dry eyes.
Or because the patient has a disorder of the Meibomius gland, malnutrition, wearing contact lenses, allergic conjunctivitis… In addition, factors such as wind, polluted weather and environment also make the eyes dry.

3. Tests to check for dry eyes

Clinical test
Test Schirmer
Test BUT
Measure blink frequency
Test Rose-Bengal
Ancillary test: test to check physio-chemical properties of tear film, histological test.

4. Diagnosis and treatment of dry eye disease

When there are symptoms such as itchy eyes, light sensitivity, transient blurred vision, or medical conditions such as blepharitis, eyelash loss, keratitis, open eyelids, the patient needs to go to the hospital for examination. for medical advice and treatment for dry eye syndromes.
In addition, the working environment and age, along with systemic diseases such as eczema, psoriasis also need to be clearly stated during the examination with an ophthalmologist for the correct course of treatment.
Depending on the pathogenesis, our ophthalmologists @ Prima Saigon will have appropriate treatment indications such as adding artificial tears, closing the tear maintenance rate, anti-inflammatory, or supplementing with essential vitamins and fatty acids.