Dry Eye

Eye Watering and Excessive Tearing: Dry Eye

Oddly enough, if you are prone to excessive eye watering or tearing, you might actually have a condition called dry eye. Dry eye occurs when the eyes do not produce sufficient tears or the tears evaporate too quickly. There are two types of dry eye:

• Evaporative Dry Eye, accounting for 86% of all dry eye: caused by blockage to the eyelid glands (meibomian glands) which leads to a shortage of oil on the surface of the tears and quicker-than-normal tear evaporation
• Aqueous Dry Eye, accounting for 14% of all dry eye: occurs when the lacrimal glands do not produce enough tears

Symptoms of Dry Eye

Tears are necessary to help lubricate, protect and nourish our eyes. Without a steady flow of tears, eye irritation will result.

• Watering/tearing
• Itching
• Stinging
• Redness
• Light sensitivity
• Eye fatigue
• Blurry vision

Without proper treatment, inadequate tears can make daily activities frustrating, affecting your personal and professional life; activities like reading, watching TV, driving or working on the computer.

Treatment for Dry Eye

For some patients, over-the-counter or prescription eye drops will provide relief for dry eye symptoms. However, if these are ineffective you may need to have an eye doctor assess your situation and determine the root cause of your dry eye. Knowing the reason for your dry eye symptoms is the only way to successfully treat this condition. Our San Francisco dry eye specialists may recommend:

• Punctal plugs to prevent tear drainage from the eyes
• RESTASIS® eye drops to increase tear production
• LipiFlow® Thermal Pulsation System treatment to unblock the eyelid glands

If you are suffering with dry eye symptoms, contact us today to schedule an eye exam and learn about your options for relief.