subject: Four Reasons Why You Should Use Eye Drops [print this page] Our eyes are amazing organs and are truly wondrous in how they work. Irritations can cause dry eyes and this is often painful. Artificial tears are one method of temporarily relieving this condition. Pollution, wind blowing in your eyes, chemical fumes, and foreign objects can all be the cause of the dry eye condition.
There are times when the eyes are not producing enough liquid to keep the eyes healthy. When this situation occurs, over the counter temporary relief is fine until you can get an appointment to see the optometrist or ophthalmologist. They will need to perform a comprehensive examination in order to search out the 'why' of the problem. Once the reason for the condition is determined, treatments can begin to correct the condition.
The eye doctor will most likely perform a few tests to determine if your eyes are just temporarily out of order or if there needs to be a 'fix' applied to relieve your discomfort. Most often a patient history is taken. During the history, your doctor will need to know about any medications you are taking. There are medications that can cause dry eyes and the type of medicine or amount of dosage may need to be adjusted.
There are several causes for dry eye. The eyelids and corneas will be examined to determine if there have been any damages done or if there could be defects that are causing your problem. Sophisticated machinery in the doctor's office can determine your blink rate to ensure your eyes are distributing the tears uniformly across the eye surfaces. The doctor may do a special test with dye that will observe how the tears flow across the eye surfaces. These dyes can assist in making apparent any eye damage or problems that are caused by the dry eye condition.
Anyone who has suffered discomfort in their eyes will emphatically state that this is one of the most uncomfortable irritations that can happen to your body. Treatment often will focus on the symptoms and try to alleviate the sensations that are so uncomfortable such as stinging and burning. At this juncture of the treatment the doctor will try to determine exactly what is causing this problem in your eyes. The doctor will seek out different treatments to solve the problem in the long term. If the problems are chronic, there may be other areas of the body that are not functioning correctly.
The eyes are definite indicators of whole body health. One of the methods of diagnosing diabetes is through the changes that take place in the eyes. An eye doctor can tell by the shape of the cones and rods in the eye if a person's pancreas is functioning properly.
There are several other diseases that can be detected by examining the eyes, so when there are problems with dry eyes, it may be just more than a minor irritation that can be solved by using over the counter eye drops. If the dry eye condition is not resolved by using artificial tears or eye drops, then the next step is to see your eye doctor and make sure that your body is functioning as it should.
