What You Should Know About Dry Eyes
Eyes are primarily lubricated by tears produced by tear glands located in your upper eyelids. Natural tears make your eyes feel cool, comfortable, refreshed, and help prevent infection of your eye and eyelids.
Blinking spreads a film of tears across the surface of your eyes. The tears move to the inside region of the eye and through the tear drainage ducts into the nose and throat.
If there are not enough lubricating tears on the surface of your eyes, you may experience dry eye symptoms such as dry, red, itchy, burning or watery eyes, irritation and pain. Tear related problems are the most common medical reason people visit eye doctors.
Lubricating eye drops may temporarily relieve dry eye symptoms. Five minutes after placement, 80 percent of eye drops drain away from your eyes down into the nose and throat.
Eye drops dilute natural tears, can cause eye irritation, and may make dry eye symptoms worse!
Common Causes of Dry Eye Symptoms:
Environment
Sunny, dry, or windy weather, heater, air conditioners and high altitudes increase the evaporation of tears from the surface of your eyes. You may experience dry eye symptoms while viewing television, computer screens, or while reading.
Tear Drainage
If you have too much tear drainage, or too little tear production, you may experience dry eye symptoms or related symptoms in the nose, throat and sinuses.
Contact Lens Wear
Wearing contact lenses increases tear evaporation and related dry eye symptoms. Dryness may result in protein deposits on the lens, eye irritation, pain, infection, or sensitivity to contact lens solutions. Dry eye symptoms are the number one reason people stop wearing contact lenses.
Aging
Tear production gradually decreases with age. At age 65 the tear glands produce about 40 percent of the lubricating tears they produced at age 18. Decreased tear production may cause eye irritation and excess tearing or watery eyes.
Medications
Should your doctor prescribe any topical eye medications or lubricating eye drops, and lacrimal occlusion may increase their effectiveness.
However, tear production may be reduced if you take certain medications including decongestants, antihistamines and diuretics. If you are taking any medication, ask your doctor if it contributes to your dry eye symptoms.
Can Dryness Damage your Eyes?
Yes. When left untreated. Severely dry eyes may lead to chronic infection of you eye and eyelids, corneal ulceration, scarring, permanent vision loss, or even loss of your eyes.
Lacrimal Occlusion
for Long Term Relief
“Lacrimal occlusion” is the partial blockage of your tear drainage ducts to preserve lubricating natural tears on the surface of the eyes. This procedure may provide you with long-term relief from dry eye symptoms. For many people, lacrimal occlusion can reduce or even eliminate the need for lubricating eye drops.
The lacrimal occlusion test will help determine if you will benefit from lacrimal occlusion.
With this test, your doctor will place small dissolvable plugs into your tear drainage ducts. The plugs last 4 to 7 days, during which time you may notice that your eyes feel cool, comfortable and refreshed, and a reduction of other symptoms.
Your positive response to this test and the return of your symptoms after the plugs dissolve, will help you doctor recommend with confidence that lacrimal occlusion with non-dissolvable lacrimal plugs will benefit you.
Lacrimal Plugs
Lacrimal Plugs are small, non-dissolvable lacrimal plugs which may provide long term relief from dry eye symptoms. Your eye doctor can insert these plugs in a matter of seconds during an office visit. After placement, the plugs cannot be seen, won’t rub out or scratch your cornea, usually are not felt, and are removable by your doctor.
Why Suffer
Any Longer?
Worldwide, more that one million people have been treated with dissolvable and non-dissolvable lacrimal or punctum plugs. Join the growing number of people who have chosen lacrimal occlusion to overcome their dry eye symptoms.
Symptoms:
Dryness of the eye
Mucous discharge
Redness
Sandy or gritty feeling
Itching
Burning
Constant or occasional tearing
Watery eyes
Light sensitivity
Eye pain or soreness
Lid infections
Sties
Tired eyes
Contact lens discomfort
Contact lens solution sensitivity
Frequent use of lubricating eye drops
Related Conditions:
Sinus congestion
Nasal congestion
Runny nose
Post-nasal drip
Bronchitis
Allergies or hay fever
Frequent colds
Dry throat or mouth
Headaches
Asthma
(Information provided by Dr. Steven Tuttle, an optometrist with Castle Valley Eyecare in Castle Dale and Price.)
Utah Teens Still Not Buckling Up
Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for teens in Utah. Wearing a seatbelt is one of the best ways to decrease injuries and deaths in motor vehicle crashes, yet from 2000-2004, only 33% of vehicle occupants 15-19 years old killed in traffic crashes in Utah were restrained.
“Teen drivers represented only 7 percent of the licensed drivers in Utah in 2005, yet they were involved in 27% of all motor vehicle crashes and 18% of all fatal crashes,” said Gary Mower, spokesperson for the Utah Department of Health Violence and Injury Prevention Program.
Each year, motor vehicle crashes account for an average of 40 deaths, 330 hospitalizations, and 5,400 emergency department visits for Utah teens ages 15-19 years. These teen crashes also result in $13 million each year in hospital and emergency department treatment costs.
In 2006 the UDOH and all 12 local health departments began a coordinated statewide campaign to increase teen seatbelt use. As part of this campaign, staff conducted seatbelt observation studies in targeted communities across the state. The studies show that only 67 percent of teens buckled up, compared with the overall state rate of 89 percent. Overall seatbelt use was higher in urban counties at 73 percent then in rural counties at 62 percent.
Teens cite many reasons for not buckling up, including: forgetting; it’s “uncool”; peer pressure; they’re uncomfortable; traveling only a short distance; and a feeling of invincibility. If during 2000-2004, all vehicle occupants 15-19 years old had worn seatbelts, an estimated 58 Utah teens wouldn’t have lost their lives.
Recently, Utah’s Teen Driving Task force, which brings together driver license officials, emergency responders, hospitals, law enforcement, public health, public safety, school officials, lawmakers and transportation officials, created a toolkit for use in Utah high schools. The toolkit is designed to provide information and tools needed to conduct educational interventions in high schools and local communities.
“It is only when all Utahns fully realize the dangers on the road and work together to help teens stay safe on the road that we will see the number of deaths and injuries drop,” said Mower.
UDOH recommendations to increase teen seatbelt use include:
• Increase enforcement of existing seatbelt use laws
• Implement policies at high schools making parking privileges
• Contingent on student seatbelt use, maintaining a clean driving record, and/or attending a safe driving presentation.
• Continue to improve Utah’s Graduated Driver License requirements for beginning drivers
• Expend education campaigns targeting drivers ages 15-19 years
• Increase parental oversight of teens to supplement formal driver education training.
For more information on teen driving safety tips or to see the 2006 Seat Belt Observation Results, visit http://www.health.utah.gov/vipp/motorVehicleSafety/overview.html |
