Suffering from dry eye can be more than just mildly annoying. It is often a chronic condition that can cause significant discomfort and visual disturbances that interfere with your daily activities. Dry eye syndrome occurs when your eyes don’t produce enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly. This leads to discomfort, blurry vision, and sometimes even long-term damage to the surface of the eye. Our team is dedicated to identifying the root cause of your symptoms and tailoring a treatment plan to your needs.
Dry eye isn’t a one-size-fits-all condition. There are two main types of dry eye, and understanding them is key to effective treatment:
This type occurs when your tears evaporate too quickly due to issues with the meibomian glands in your eyelids. These glands produce the oil layer of your tears, which prevents them from drying out. Common causes include:
This type happens when your eyes don’t produce enough tears. It’s often linked to underlying health conditions or aging. Causes include:
At Eye Associates of New York, we use the latest diagnostic techniques to determine the type and severity of your dry eye. Our comprehensive evaluation includes:
Once we understand your specific condition, we’ll recommend treatments designed for you. These may include:
Don’t let dry eyes interfere with your daily life. Contact Eye Associates of New York today to schedule your comprehensive dry eye evaluation and take the first step toward clearer, more comfortable vision.
If you are experiencing persistent dry eye symptoms, it is essential to make an appointment with our office for a comprehensive eye exam and care. We’ll evaluate your symptoms, review your overall health history and discuss if any of your current medications might be contributing to the condition. We will also examine your eyelids, evaluate your blink dynamics and inspect the cornea of your eyes. In some cases, environmental factors can put you at risk for dry eye. Diagnostic testing to measure the quantity and quality of your tears will be recommended and performed as needed.
The treatment for dry eye depends on the severity of the symptoms and the presence of any underlying conditions. However, in all cases, the overall objective remains the same. Treatment must restore a sufficient amount of tears to relieve eye discomfort, minimize dryness, and protect eye health.
While artificial tears and soothing ointments work well in many situations, more advanced or unresponsive cases often require other approaches to care. Additional treatment options can include anti-inflammatory eye drops or tablets, medications to boost tear production or unblock oil glands, eye inserts that work like artificial tears, procedures to conserve tears and prevent them from draining away, special contact lenses, intense pulsed light therapy and eyelid massage.
