Dry Eye Syndrome – a  Treatable Condition

What is Dry Eye Syndrome?

Dry eye related discomfort or dry eye syndrome is one of the most frequent complaints heard by eye doctors.  Dry eye treatment is very successful in relieving a patient’s symptoms of dry eyes.

Symptoms of Dry Eye Syndrome

The symptoms of dry eyes are varied. The list below is by no means all-inclusive; however, patients that suffer from dry eyes usually experience a number of the following symptoms.

Dry Eye Syndrome – a Common Medical Problem

Often referred to as keratitis sicca or keratoconjunctivitis sicca, dry eye syndrome is caused by insufficient and/or poor quality tears.  Dry eye syndrome is a medical condition that is not covered by vision insurance; however, its diagnosis and treatment are covered by major medical insurance in the same way that red eyes and sore throats are covered.

There are three main components of human tears.  The bulk of human tears are produced by the lacrimal gland.  The oily component of tears is produced by the meibomian glands and the third component, the goblet cells, keeps all of the components mixed up.  When one of the parts of this mixture becomes unbalanced, patients become symptomatic.  There are numerous reasons as to why these glands may not be doing their part.

Insufficient tear production and/or poor tear quality are the most common causes of dry eye syndrome.  Inflammation of the lacrimal gland is the most common cause of insufficient tear volume.

Meibomian Gland Dysfunction

Meibomian gland dysfunction, inflammation of the glands at the eyelid margin, contributes to poor tear quality. 80% of dry eye disease is caused by meibomian gland dysfunction. IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) was recently FDA-approved for the treatment of dry eye disease. Studies show patients often experience 6 months to 2 years or more of relief after 3 to 4 treatments spaced 2 to 4 weeks apart.

Some Medications Cause Dry Eyes

Medications frequently cause ocular dryness.  The medications most commonly causing dry eyes are antihistamines, oral contraceptives, and decongestants.  Hormonal changes also contribute to insufficient and poor-quality tears.

Who is at Risk for Dry Eye Syndrome?

Dry eye syndrome is very common.  It is estimated that between 10% and 30% of the general population experiences dry eyes, resulting in up to 90 million affected individuals in the United States.  The incidence of dry eye syndrome is higher, however in those over age 40 and in women.

Systemic Causes

Some systemic disorders such as Sjögren syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and acne rosacea make a person more likely to experience ocular dryness.

Refractive Surgery

Refractive surgery procedures such as PRK, LASIK, and LASEK disrupt the neural feedback loop and are common causes of dry eyes.  Poor tears can cause both decreased visual acuity and discomfort for refractive surgery patients and need to be addressed during all phases of their care.

Contact Lenses

Patients often report their eyes do not seem to be dry until they wear contact lenses.  Contact lenses don’t cause the dryness. However, a patient with dry eyes will experience discomfort because their eyes cannot support the presence of the contact lens.  Typically, soft contact lenses are 30 to 70% water.  Contact lenses essentially work like a sponge in the eye.  Patients with borderline dry eye symptoms are often contact lens intolerant.  Contact lenses rely on our eyes to produce enough tears to hydrate the contact lenses allowing them to float on a cushion of tears.

Using Scleral Contact Lenses to Treat Dry Eye Syndrome

Patients with moderate to severe dry eyes often experience considerable pain and foreign body sensation. Scleral contact lenses, often called PROSE lenses, are used to protect the cornea from drying out. The scleral lens rests on the white part of the eye and vaults over the cornea. The lens traps tears between the lens and the cornea keeping the cornea moist. Many vision plans cover this form of treatment and call them medically necessary contact lenses.

Dry Eye Related Contact Lens Intolerance

Contact lens-related discomfort occurs when there are not enough tears to both hydrate the lens and lubricate the eye.  Often a contact lens intolerant patient can wear contact lenses for a few hours but their wearing time decreases when in the presence of smoke, air conditioning, wind, and low humidity, etc.

How is Dry Eye Syndrome Diagnosed?

Dry eye syndrome is diagnosed in the office by considering the clinical presentation, patient’s complaints, and diagnostic testing.  Determining the cause of the dryness whether it is insufficient tear production, poor tear quality or a systemic disease is critical to improving your comfort.

How is Dry Eye Syndrome Treated?

Treatment is often accomplished through numerous different courses of action.  Artificial tears containing active ingredients such as carboxymethylcellulose and polyvinyl alcohol are helpful in mild cases of dry eye syndrome.  Moderate to severe cases are often treated with a combination of artificial tears, punctal occlusion, and medication.

There are numerous treatments available to patients with dry eyes.  The treatment, of course, depends on the cause of the dryness.

Dry Eye Treatment May Involve A Multi-pronged Approach

If symptoms persist then other treatments are initiated such as artificial tears, the use of medications that promote tearing such as Restasis, punctal plugs to prevent the tears that are produced from being drained into the nose.  Increasing the omega-3 fatty acids in one’s diet can also reduce dry eye symptoms. Fish oil capsules are the most effective way of increasing omega-3 fatty acids; however, not all fish oil capsules are equally effective at increasing the bodies omega-3 levels.

Address Underlying Conditions

The first course of action is to address any underlying factors that are contributing to the symptoms. Some of the systemic causes of ocular dryness include acne rosacea, medications, and endocrine imbalance.  Infections of the eyelids such as blepharitis and meibomitis must also be treated before any other treatment is initiated.  Often treatment of the underlying conditions still leaves patients symptomatic and additional treatment is required to provide relief.

Artificial Tears

Artificial tears containing active ingredients such as carboxymethylcellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, glycerin, castor oil, polyethylene glycol or polyvinyl alcohol are used in mild cases of dry eyes.  Not all artificial tear brands work the same or work in all patients.  More severe cases require additional treatment.

If you find yourself using your artificial tears three or more times a day you should use a preservative-free tear.  Most patients find that artificial tears do help, however, the effect is only temporary, lasting only 10-15 minutes.  Most of these patients will experience significant relief with punctal occlusion.

Punctal Occlusion

In our experience, significant dry eye relief is achieved with punctal occlusion.  The puncta are the small openings found on the edge of the upper and lower eyelids next to the nose.  Tears drain out of the eye through the puncta into the nose, this is why your nose runs when you cry.  If you aren’t producing enough tears then you don’t want the tears that you are producing to be drained away.  Punctal occlusion is painless and performed in the office, taking only a couple of minutes.

Dietary Changes

Numerous studies have shown that increasing our dietary intake of Omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in oily fish, such as salmon are very beneficial.  Western diets almost never provide enough omega-3 fatty acids to provide a therapeutic benefit, therefore dietary supplementation is almost always required. There is also some degree of controversy over what source of omega 3 fatty acids is the most effective.

Medications

Using Restasis for Dry Eye Treatment

Pharmaceutical manufacturers have focused a significant portion of their considerable resources into dry eye medications.  Restasis is the first of many medications being developed for dry eye patients.  We have found Restasis to be helpful in patients when the underlying cause of their symptoms is insufficient tear volume due to inflammation of the lacrimal gland.  Restasis does not provide immediate relief, a therapeutic benefit is usually noted in 2-4 months.

Xiidra a New Dry Eye Treatment

The newest dry eye treatment available is Xiidra. Xiidra is unlike our other dry eye treatments. It is not only a new drug but it is also the first medication of its type. While relatively new it has become a helpful option used by dry eye specialists to treat dry eyes.

Contact Lenses Changes

Merely changing the type of contact lens is very rarely enough to provide sufficient, consistent relief.  Careful selection of the contact lens material can often be beneficial and is one of the many treatment options available to us. Scleral contact lenses can also help patients with severely dry eyes by trapping a layer of tears to protect the cornea.

Successful Dry Eye Treatment

There is no silver bullet to dry eye treatment; however, management almost always results in significant improvement in comfort.  Symptomatic relief usually involves a multifaceted, systematic approach depending on the severity of your symptoms.

At Total Eye Care, we have years of experience treating patients with dry eyes. If you would like to put an end to your dry eye discomfort please call us our Colleyville office at 817.416.0333 or call our Keller office at 817.431.4900.