Do you suffer from Dry eyes

 Dry eye syndrome


Dr. Shibu Varkey, MS, DO, DNB, FRCS(UK)

Consultant Eye Surgeon

Maxivision Superspeciality eye hospitals

India


Redness, irritation, foreign body sensation in the eye, these are the most common complaints in the eye clinic. While these symptoms can be caused by a lot of diseases the most common by far is dry eye syndrome 

Dry eye syndrome was a rare disease about a decade ago but with increasing usage of computers and smartphones it is on the increase.

Increasing pollution in the urban areas and excessive usage of air conditioning also contributes to dry eye syndrome

When a person uses computers or smartphones continuously for long durations of time the tears in the eye gradually evaporate. 

Normally a person blinks about 20 times in a minute but during computer and mobile phone use, the blink rate decreases to once or twice in a minute.

This reduces the replenishment of the evaporated tears and causes dry eye syndrome.

Air conditioning also removes moisture from the skin and eyes and leads on to dry eye syndrome.

The pollutants present in automobile exhaust are also toxic to the tear film of the eye. Hence two wheel riders who dont use protective goggles or use helmets without visor are at risk to develop dry eye syndrome.

People using computers and mobile phones must be careful to follow the 20 20 20 20 rule. This means they should hold the device 20 cms from the eye and should take a break of 20 seconds every 20 minutes and look at any object 20 feet away. And should blink 20 times every minute

Air conditioning should be frequently switched off and should never blow directly on to face whether in cars or at home or in the office.

Lubrication eye drops like "Lubrex"  are available over the counter without any prescription and can be used to lubricate the eyes. But be careful that you are not given any antibiotic or steroid eye drops without advice of an eye doctor.


Sometimes dry eye syndrome can be due to certain diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disturbance, diabetes.

Therefore it is important to check for the presence of any of these diseases by consulting with a doctor.


Dry eye syndrome can also occur as a side effect of certain medicines mainly medicines used to treat depression, sedative tablets and also certain medicines used to treat high blood pressure.

If this is the cause then the alternative medicines should be prescribed.


Dry eye syndrome in small children who spend long hours watching TV or playing games on mobile phone is more dangerous because the constant hand rubbing of the eyes in small children leads to disease called keratoconus which can produce glass power and eventually thinning and bulging of the cornea leading to blindness.

This condition is on the rise nowadays mainly because of excessive  TV and mobile phone usage.


See how a lifestyle flaw is leading on to a major health problem mainly in the young adults who are the future of this country

Please enjoy TV and mobile phone and use computers judiciously so that our eyes are not damaged and we can have a healthy nation.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How can I get rid of glasses

 Procedures for removal of glasses (Refractive surgery) are generally classified as cosmetic procedures.  But are they truly cosmetic or curative? Take the case of a person with high glass power, the first action on waking up in the morning is groping around for the glasses, a person with minus power can atleast see the time on the alarm clock by the bedside, but persons with plus glass power can neither see the alarm clock nor the wall clock clearly. The extreme situation would be that of the person who reaches for glasses even to see dreams with clarity. So in a nutshell spectacle dependency has direct effect on functionality and hence quality of life and freedom from spectacles is more curative than cosmetic. The options that are available for achieving freedom from glasses are LASER based and LENS based surgical procedures. LASIK has become a household term, not only in families with girls of marriageable age but also as a requirement for jobs which specify clear vision without gla
Read more

DIABETIC END ORGAN DAMAGE

  1. The first 10 years of diabetes are the most important.  2. Complications of diabetes usually start after 10 years of onset of diabetes.  3. First to be affected are eyes and it leads to blindness.  4. Kidneys, joints, feet, skin, heart, brain are also affected leading to stroke heart attack etc.  5. Most important and effective way to control sugar level is EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE.  6. without exercise medicine and dieting are not effective.  7. Every year the diabetic person should get checked for any organ damage and not wait till blindness or stroke or heart attack occurs  8. Your optimal blood sugar level should be decided by your level of organ damage.  9. MAIN AIM OF ANY DIABETES TREATMENT SHOULD BE TO PREVENT ORGAN DAMAGE AND NOT TO ACHIEVE ANY MAGIC NUMBER OF BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL.  These are just guidelines.  1. If you are a person who is already walking but sugar is not controlled then increase walking by  2km or 30 mins or 2400 steps till the sugar reaches normal level.
Read more

When should my cataract be operated?

Many patients are baffled by the conflicting opinions of eye doctors. The reason being the different methods of cataract surgery and the confidence levels of different eye surgeons. In the olden days cataract used to be removed in - toto through a large cut on the eyeball and the cataract was required to mature into one solid mass for this.  The modern technique is to use a micro puncture into the eyeball to extract the gel like soft immature cataract using an ultrasonic device called phacoemuslification. So why should one prefer the second method? It is because it requires only a micro puncture and not a large cut on the eyeball because of which healing and recovery are very quick. This reduces the number of days of rest and loss of activity from the traditional 40 days to 4 days. Further the new method is ideal for diabetics and people with cardiac problems who are on blood thinner tablets, as phacoemuslification can be done without injection and so blood thinner tablets need not be
Read more