If my eyes are dry, can I just put in some eye drops?

"My eyes are dry, so I can just put in some eye drops?"

Nowadays, many people's eyes tend to become dry when looking at electronic products. This is dry eye syndrome. There are many eye drops that can relieve dryness and you can use them at will.

Rumor Analysis

This statement is not rigorous.

Dry and astringent eyes may be caused by dry eye syndrome. For mild dry eye syndrome, you can choose eye drops to relieve the symptoms, but for more severe dry eye syndrome, you must seek help from a doctor to avoid delaying the disease and affecting eye health.

Nowadays, many people have to look at computer screens for a long time when they are working. Even if they are not engaged in such work, they will definitely use electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets every day. Many people may feel that their eyes are dry and astringent after using their eyes for a long time and are very uncomfortable. In this regard, there is a saying on the Internet that this situation is "dry eye syndrome" and it can be solved by dropping eye drops. Is this statement correct? Let's talk about it in detail.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

What is dry eye?

When it comes to dry eye, we must first understand the composition and function of the tear film, so that we can better understand the definition, cause, classification and treatment of dry eye. The so-called "tear film" is a thin liquid film covering the front surface of the eyeball, which is important for lubricating and nourishing the eye surface and forming clear vision. The normal tear film thickness is about 6-10 microns. Although the tear film is thin, it can be divided into a lipid layer, an aqueous layer, and a mucin layer from the outside to the inside. The aqueous layer accounts for about 98% of the thickness of the entire tear film, which is mainly secreted by the lacrimal glands and accessory lacrimal glands; the lipid layer on the surface is mainly secreted by the meibomian glands; the innermost mucin layer is mainly secreted by the conjunctival goblet cells; the inner mucin layer and the surface lipid layer only account for 2% of the tear film thickness, but they are crucial to maintaining the stability of the tear film; any abnormality in any layer of the tear film will cause instability of the tear film, resulting in discomfort in the eyes and/or visual dysfunction, which is what we call dry eye. These uncomfortable symptoms mainly manifest as a feeling as if sand or pepper water has entered the eyes, or a feeling like being pricked by needles, frequent blinking, red eyes, unclear vision, etc. Quoting the discussion of dry eyes in the 2020 "Definition and Classification of Chinese Dry Eye Experts Consensus", the definition is as follows: Dry eyes are a chronic ocular surface disease caused by multiple factors. It is caused by abnormalities in the quality, quantity and dynamics of tears, resulting in tear film instability or imbalance of the ocular surface microenvironment. It may be accompanied by ocular surface inflammation, tissue damage and nerve abnormalities, causing a variety of ocular discomfort symptoms and/or visual dysfunction.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

Of course, for most people who don't have a medical background, there is no need to argue with this text. Let's talk directly about the issues that everyone is most concerned about. Including what are the specific causes of dry eye? How to prevent it? How to get effective treatment and relieve your dry eye symptoms?

What kind of people are more likely to suffer from dry eyes?

The risk factors for dry eyes can be roughly divided into the following types. In most cases, the occurrence of dry eyes is the result of the participation of multiple factors.

1. Systemic factors

People with certain systemic diseases are more likely to suffer from dry eyes, especially those with systemic immune and endocrine system diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, thyroid dysfunction, diabetes, etc. Postmenopausal women are also prone to dry eyes due to changes in hormone levels and a decrease in the body's own tear secretion function.

2. Local factors of the eye

People with some eye diseases are more likely to suffer from dry eyes. These eye diseases include local infections and immune-related diseases, such as infectious conjunctivitis, allergic conjunctivitis, blepharitis, etc. After the tears are secreted by the lacrimal glands, they enter the lacrimal canaliculi through the siphon effect of the lacrimal puncta, and then finally flow into the nasal cavity through the nasolacrimal duct; some diseases that affect tear dynamics can also lead to the occurrence of dry eyes, such as eyelid skin and conjunctival relaxation, lacrimal caruncle hyperplasia, blepharospasm, etc.

3. Environmental factors

Environmental factors mainly include air pollution, high temperature, radiation, high altitude, low humidity and strong wind. For example, workers who work in an environment with heavy air pollution for a long time and those who work in a high temperature environment such as smelting for a long time are more likely to suffer from dry eyes.

4. Lifestyle-related factors

The occurrence of some dry eyes is related to personal lifestyles and habits. With the popularization of electronics, electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers, and tablets have become an indispensable part of our lives. When using these electronic devices for a long time, our blinking frequency will involuntarily decrease. The reduction in blinking frequency will lead to insufficient tear secretion and excessive tear evaporation. At the same time, the blue light radiation of electronic devices can also cause dry eyes through other mechanisms. In addition, the accelerated pace of life is gradually compressing our sleep time and outdoor activity time; some people suffer from insomnia due to anxiety, which leads to insufficient sleep and insufficient outdoor exercise time. These living habits will lead to the occurrence of dry eyes. Some young women like to put on makeup and wear contact lenses. These living habits are also predisposing factors for dry eyes. Therefore, the factors that cause dry eyes in life are everywhere. Most of us can start with our own living habits when preventing dry eyes.

5. Surgery-related factors

Some eye surgeries may damage the goblet cells of the conjunctiva and the nerves of the cornea, thereby affecting the stability of the tear film and causing dry eyes. For example, the incidence of dry eyes after laser corneal refractive surgery and cataract surgery is relatively high, and most patients can recover in 3-6 months.

6. Drug-related factors

Some systemic and topical medications may induce dry eyes. Systemic medications, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, contraceptives, systemic chemotherapy drugs, etc.; topical eye medications, such as long-term use of antiviral drugs, anti-glaucoma drugs, and eye drops and ointments containing preservatives.

7. Other factors

In addition to the above factors, there are other factors, such as anxiety, depression and other emotions can also cause dry eyes. From the above, we can see that, apart from those uncontrollable factors, to prevent dry eyes, we still have to start by paying attention to and improving our lifestyle.

Can dry eyes be cured by using eye drops?

With the changes in people's living environment and living habits and the emphasis on eye health, the incidence of dry eyes is gradually increasing. In addition to the preventive measures we mentioned above, how should dry eyes be treated? Treatments for dry eyes include physical therapy, instrument-assisted therapy, drug therapy, and surgical treatment. Physical therapy includes eyelid margin cleaning, hot compress fumigation, and meibomian gland massage. The eye SPA we hear about daily belongs to this type of treatment. Instrument-assisted therapy includes intense pulsed light therapy (OPT therapy), thermal pulsation therapy (lipiflow), and other methods; most of these two methods are based on improving the function of the meibomian glands, thereby improving the lipid layer of the tear film.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

The drug treatment for dry eyes is mainly artificial tears; there are many types of artificial tears, such as the common sodium hyaluronate eye drops, polyethylene glycol eye drops, carboxymethyl cellulose eye drops, etc.; there are various products of different concentrations produced by different manufacturers on the market. This type of drug is mainly used to improve the aqueous layer of the tear film. At the same time, there are also some artificial tears on the market that supplement the lipid layer of the tear film and promote the secretion of mucin. For mild dry eyes, buying and using this type of artificial tears on your own can help relieve the symptoms of dry eyes. However, when dry eyes develop to a certain extent, artificial tears alone will not be able to relieve the symptoms. According to the pathogenesis of dry eyes, some anti-inflammatory drugs need to be added at this time. These drugs include glucocorticoids (such as low-concentration fluorometholone), non-steroidal drugs, immunosuppressants and other drugs. This type of drug needs to be used under the guidance of an ophthalmologist. Therefore, if you suffer from dry eyes and there is no obvious relief by applying artificial tears on your own, you must go to a specialist hospital for further medical treatment. As for the surgical treatment of dry eyes, it is generally a treatment plan adopted when ordinary methods cannot achieve therapeutic effects or dry eyes develop to a more serious degree and seriously affect the patient's vision. This type of surgery includes conjunctival relaxation resection, tear duct embolization or tear punctum closure, amniotic membrane transplantation and other surgical methods. In addition to the above methods, wearing wet chamber lenses and therapeutic corneal contact lenses can also help relieve dry eye symptoms. With the accelerated pace of life, general anxiety, bad living and eye habits, and people's attention to eye health, the incidence of dry eyes has increased year by year. For most young and middle-aged dry eye patients, developing good work and rest habits, ensuring adequate sleep time, and reducing the use of video terminals such as mobile phones and computers can effectively alleviate the occurrence and development of dry eyes. If symptoms such as dryness and discomfort appear in the eyes, and the use of artificial tears on your own cannot be relieved or even tends to worsen, it is recommended to go to the hospital in time for treatment and let the ophthalmologist help you find the relevant causes and develop a suitable treatment plan.

Looking in the mirror of rumors

When you feel unwell, there are indeed some ways to relieve symptoms and make yourself "comfortable", but we must not forget to find out what is going on and seek medical attention decisively when necessary. Never delay a minor illness until it becomes a major one.

Author: Jia Changkai, deputy chief physician of Xiamen Eye Center affiliated to Xiamen University

Review丨Jin Xiuming, Deputy Director of the Ophthalmology Center, Zhejiang University Second Hospital