Dry Eye

At our Dry Eye Clinic, using simple diagnostic tests we evaluate your tears and offer expert advice on the most effective treatment for you.

How Common is Dry Eye Syndrome

Dry Eye Syndrome is a common condition and can be experienced by up to 30% of people at some point during their life.

Who is affected?

It is more likely to affect people over the age of 60 and is more common in women than in men. The symptoms can be mild to severe and include itchiness or grittiness around the eyes as well as blurred vision. Though not usually serious, if left untreated, dry eye syndrome can cause vision problems and scarring of the front surface of the eye.

Dry Eye Syndrome is a condition where your eyes do not make enough tears, or your tears evaporate too quickly. It can be induced by a number of lifestyle or health issues.

Although there is no known cure, we are able to relieve your symptoms using simple solutions.

At our Dry Eye Clinic, using simple diagnostic tests we evaluate your tears and offer expert advice on the most effective treatment for you.

If you think you may have dry eyes, the following background information may be helpful.

Dry eye symptoms
Causes
How Common is Dry Eye Syndrome
Examination & Treatment

Tear Function

Tears are made from a mix of water, proteins, fats, mucus and infection fighting cells.

Your tears serve several important functions:

They lubricate your eyes keeping them clean, moist and comfortable
They protect your eyes from infection
They aid sight by helping to stabilize vision

Dry Eye Symptoms

If you have any of the following symptoms you may well be suffering from Dry Eye Syndrome:

Feeling of dryness, grittiness or soreness in both eyes, worsening through the day
Redness of the eyes
Blurred vision
Sensitivity to light
Watery eyes; especially worse in windy conditions
Sensitivity to cigarette smoke
Eyelids stuck together on waking

Causes of Dry Eye Syndrome

There are several factors that can individually or collectively cause dry eyes:

Reduction in tear production
Change in quality of tear production
Poor blinking
Inflammation of the eyelids
Illness
Side effect of medications
Hormonal changes
Increased evaporation of tears due to environmental factors eg air conditioning, central heating
Ageing

Assessment & Management

Dry Eye Syndrome is diagnosed from your symptoms and an examination of your tears.

A slit-lamp is used to assess:

The conjunctiva for dryness
The cornea to check for dryness or damage
The quality & quantity of the tear film
The stability of the tear film
The condition of the lids and eyelashes

Different dyes or stains may be used to check for dryness in the conjunctiva and cornea.

Our new MYAH instrument has a variety of dry eye assessment tools which show tear stability, areas of meibomian gland loss, thickness of the tears, how often you blink and corneal aberrations between blinks.

Treatment

Most symptoms of dry eye can be alleviated using simple remedies:

Controlling environmental factors to reduce the evaporation of tears
Blinking better
Keeping the lids in good condition
Using artificial tears during the day
Using thicker lubricants at night

Dry Eye Management & Therapy

Identifying the main cause of dry eye symptoms is what directs the initial treatment plan.

Following a detailed dry eye assessment we can generate an action plan which can include:

Controlling environmental factors to reduce the evaporation of tears
Blinking better
Keeping the lids in good condition
Using specific artificial tears during the day
Using specific lubricants at night
Moist Heat Therapy such as BlephaSteam which works well with skin conditions like eczema.
Intense Eyelid Clean for Blepharitis
Punctal plugs to retain the tears
Nulid Therapy for meibomian gland dysfunction
Referral to GP/Ophthalmologist for prescription medication

Our ocular hygienists can show you how to look after your dry eye symptoms, from showing you a safe way of putting in eye drops to the correct method of keeping the lids in good condition.

Blepharitis Management & Therapy

Blepharitis is a chronic, inflammatory disease of the eyelids caused by an overgrowth of normal bacteria living along the lid and the base of the eyelashes.

This overgrowth of bacteria produces a biofilm that harbours bacterial exotoxins along the lid margin. These exotoxins cause low-grade inflammation which adversely affects the tear glands, turning down tear production.

Since the eyelids are difficult to clean, the exotoxin-induced inflammation can cause significant damage to the eyelid and tear glands.

Our Blepharitis clinic offers a deep clean of the lid margin precisely and safely which will almost immediately improve your symptoms. More importantly, this can help you avoid the long-term inflammatory damage to your tear glands, preventing chronic dry eye syndrome.

Watery Eye Assessment & Management

Watering eyes are common and often get better on their own, but treatment may be needed if the watering affects your daily activities.

Causes of watering eyes:

It’s normal for your eyes to water in smoky environments or if you’re outside in the cold or wind.
An eye injury or something in your eye, such as an eyelash or a piece of grit, can also make your eyes water.
An allergy or infection (conjunctivitis)
Blocked tear ducts (the small tubes that tears drain into)
Conjunctival folds – wrinkling of the transparent layer on top of the white of the eyes, blocking tear drainage
Your eylid dropping away from the eye or other eyelid problems
Dry eye syndrome – this can cause your eyes to produce too many tears
Bell’s palsy a temporary weakness to one side of the face
Some medicines and cancer treatments
Babies often have watering eyes because their tear ducts are small. It usually gets better by the time they’re 1 year old.

Identifying the main cause of watery eye symptoms is what directs the initial treatment plan.

Following a detailed assessment we can generate an action plan which can include:

Using specific artificial tears during the day
Perform lacrimal duct syringing (unblocking the tear duct)
Keeping the lids in good condition
Referral to an Ophthalmologist for an opinion