Dry Eye Therapy in New Brunswick

What Causes Dry Eyes?

Dry eyes usually occur when you either don’t produce enough tears, or the tears you do produce are of poor quality. Tears are essential for nourishing, protecting, and maintaining your eyes’ health and comfort. With dry eyes, there are gaps in the tear film that leave your corneal nerves exposed. This causes pain and irritation, especially while blinking.

While dry eyes are chronic, there are many reasons why they may develop in the first place. These include:

• Environment: Hot, dry houses during the winter, dry, air-conditioned homes in the summer, windy or smoky environments, and arid climates can cause dry eyes.
• Medication: Medications like antihistamines, antidepressants, decongestants, diuretics, and hormone replacement therapies have side effects that cause dry eyes.
• Age: Changes to our eyes as we age include reduced tear production that leads to dry eyes.
• Gender: Dry eyes are more common in women, especially those experiencing hormonal changes due to pregnancy, menopause, or birth control.
• Skin and eyelid disorders: Inflammatory skin disorders like rosacea, infections, and inflammatory eyelid disorders can block the eye’s meibomian glands responsible for producing oil that keeps the eyes from drying too quickly.
• Systemic disorders and other diseases: Autoimmune diseases like Sjögren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, scleroderma, and diabetes are often linked to dry eyes.

Individuals who wear contact lenses, spend a lot of time working on digital screens, or have had laser eye surgery may also experience dry eyes as a side effect.