Self-care
Did you Know?
One of the symptoms of dry eyes is watery eyes.
One of the most common eye related complaints is dry eyes. Symptoms of dry eye include sandy and gritty sensations, burning sensations, and watery eyes. How do dry eyes cause watery eyes? The eyes have a mechanism called reflex tearing and it occurs when something irritates the eye, such as if you were poked in the eye. If the eyes get dry enough that the eye thinks it’s being irritated, then the eyes will create reflex tears. Unfortunately those reflex tears are a different composition than the tears that naturally keep your eyes moist.
What can I do about dry eyes?
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There are four steps everyone could take to help fight dry eye:
- Artificial tears (lubrication drop): This can be bought over the counter from your local pharmacy. There is no medication in these drops but they do mimic the composition of your natural tears. The best way to use these drops is to use it regularly. A good comparison is with how we use lotion on our skin regularly to prevent dry, cracked skin. It is easier to prevent dryness than to chase after it. By the time your eyes feel dry, the best time to put in these artificial tears was probably an hour ago. You can start with using one drop a day regularly, and if that is not enough then increase to two drops a day and then keep increasing as needed if your eyes still feel dry. These drops can be used up to 6 times a day and in some cases certain people do need even more, but would have to use preservative-free artificial tears to avoid further irritation of the surface of the eye.
- Warm compresses: In our upper and lower eyelids, we have oil glands called Meibomian glands which give off an oil to help keep our eyes moist and stop the tears from evaporating too quickly. Very often these oils get stuck and solidify to become more like a butter consistency. A good daily routine to help the oil is to take a towel and wet it with some warm-hot water (but not too hot!) and then place it over your eyes with your eyes closed so it rests on your eyelids. Keep it there for a good 10 minutes, but make sure it stays warm-hot because it is the heat over time that “melts” the “butter” back down into oil. If you don’t like using a towel, anything that retains heat like a heat pack can work. Think of it as a spa treatment for yourself!
- Omega-3 supplements or eating more fish: Omega-3 has been proven to help dry eyes and it is good for health in general too. If you’re overwhelmed by the ridiculous amount of choices of omega-3 on the shelves today, try the Jamieson Omega-3 Select which is one of their cheaper and generic products that still has a good composition of Omega-3’s with high EPA and DHA made from fish oil. If you are allergic to fish, then try flax seed oil and don’t forget to double check that these supplements won’t interfere with any medications you may be currently taking too.
- Blinking more: This one may sound obvious, but it is human nature that we blink 3x less than usual on average when we’re very focused on a task such as watching TV, driving, using computers, reading, etc. Our average blink rate goes from 22 blinks a minute down to 7 blinks a minute and this could be all day long for some people! So next time you are watching TV or at your computer, don’t forget to blink and remember that you don’t have to blink harder, you just have to blink more.