Dry Eye and MGD
What are the symptoms of dry eye?
Dry eye typically causes burning, grittiness or a sandy feeling, tired eyes by the end of the day, redness, blurring that clears when you blink, and difficulty with wind, air conditioning and long screen use. Confusingly, it can also cause watering. Symptoms are usually in both eyes and vary through the day.
The usual pattern
Symptoms are often mild on waking and worsen through the day, particularly with concentration on a screen or book. Air conditioning, ceiling fans, dusty or harmattan conditions and long drives make them worse. Vision may blur intermittently and clear with a firm blink, which is a characteristic sign that the tear film is unstable.
Where meibomian gland dysfunction dominates, mornings can be worse, with heavy sticky lids, crusting at the lashes and a burning sensation on waking.
What makes it more likely
- Long screen use, which reduces the blink rate
- Age, and hormonal changes around and after menopause
- Contact lens wear
- Certain medicines including some antihistamines, blood pressure tablets, antidepressants and acne treatments
- Eyelid conditions, previous eye surgery and incomplete lid closure
- Autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren syndrome
- Dry, dusty, windy or air conditioned environments
When to be assessed
See an ophthalmologist if symptoms persist beyond a few weeks despite lubricants, if vision is affected, if one eye is much worse than the other, or if there is pain, marked redness or discharge, since those suggest a different problem.
When to seek urgent assessment
- Significant eye pain rather than discomfort
- Reduced vision that does not clear on blinking
- A red eye with light sensitivity or thick discharge
- A white spot on the cornea, or symptoms in a contact lens wearer, which needs same day assessment
Frequently asked questions
- Why do my eyes water if they are dry?
- An irritated surface triggers a reflex flood of watery tears that lack the oil needed to stay on the eye, so they spill over. Treating the dryness usually reduces the watering.
- Will drinking more water cure it?
- Staying hydrated helps generally, but dry eye is mostly a problem of tear quality and eyelid glands, so it needs specific treatment.
Concerned about these symptoms?
Arrange an eye examination with our consultant ophthalmologist in Garki, Abuja.
Care at Standard Eye
Related answers
- Why are my eyes watering?
- What is meibomian gland dysfunction?
- What treatments are available for dry eye?
- Can screens cause dry eyes?
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