It is important that you see your eye doctor for your yearly exams to check your vision, as well as the health of your eyes. One problem you may be having is dry eyes. If so, make sure you visit your eye doctor now so you can get your treatment started.

Dry Eye Syndrome

Every time your eyes blink, tears spread across the cornea of each eye. This lubrication is important, as it removes foreign matter, reduces the risk of eye infections, and keeps the corneas clear and smooth. Once the tears go over your corneas, they flow into drainage ducts located in the corner of each eyelid. The tears then leave the drainage ducts and flows down the back of the inside of your nose.

If your eyes are constantly dry, this means they are not producing enough tears, or the tears may be evaporating quickly. If you do not visit your eye doctor to have this problem treated, it could lead to scars on your cornea, eye pain, and you may even have some vision loss. In some cases, you may have inflammation of your corneas.

The cause of dry eye syndrome may be due to your age, medications you may be taking, or environmental conditions, such as living in a dry climate or being exposed to smoke.

To treat this problem, you can use eye drops that you can purchase over the counter.  If your problem is much worse, the eye doctor may suggest ointments, prescription eye drops, and warm compresses over your eyes. If the problem persists, the eye doctor will likely suggest a surgery called punctal occlusion.

Dry Eye Syndrome and Contact Lenses

If you wear contact lenses, you will have even more problems with dry eyes. This is because it will cause your contacts to dry out, which will result in red and irritated eyes. To take care of this problem, your eye doctor can prescribe special contact lenses that are made for this purpose. These contact lenses have water and a gel substance added to them when they are manufactured. This makes the lenses moist so they feel better on your eyes. Your eye doctor can give you much more information about these lenses.

If these lenses do not help, your eye doctor will likely tell you to stop wearing them and get glasses instead.

If you do not get treated for dry eye syndrome, the front surfaces of your eyes can become damaged, which will impair your vision. For more information about the eyes, click here to investigate.