Even when you aren’t shedding tears of joy or sorrow, your eyes remain moist. This is because the eye continuously releases mucus and moisture to keep itself clean and to keep all possible risks of eye infections at bay.
Dry eye syndrome is a condition that causes the eyes to feel dry, itchy, and gritty. It is rather uncomfortable as you feel that something is constantly stuck in your eye. This happens because the eye is unable to produce enough moisture or tears.
There are many environmental elements that can cause this condition, your air conditioning, heating or staying outdoors in a dusty area for too long. It is not necessary that this condition will persist and grow into a chronic complication, but if ignored it may do just that. In some cases, the eyes are easily treatable by using over-the-counter eye drops.
It is a fairly common occurrence and more than 26 million Americans are a target for the dry eye syndrome. If you are affected by this, you are likely to feel a burning sensation, itching, soreness, red eyes, photophobia, and dryness.
Here are a few reasons why dry eyes should not be ignored.
1. Soreness
Dry eyes are an irritating condition and may force you to keep touching the eye or rubbing it to ease the itching in the eye. This can lead to red eye and your eyes will start to appear bloodshot and red. This causes a burning sensation, so bad that you wouldn’t want to open your eyes, blinking at this stage also becomes a bit uncomfortable, and keeping your eye shut becomes painful. Such a condition should not be neglected and you should immediately consult an optometrist for treatment.
2. Blurry vision
It is not always an allergic reaction that will go away by adding artificial tears to your eyes. Dry eye syndrome, whatever its cause may be, can result in a chronic illness. The constant soreness and itching of the eyes can cause your vision to blur and this is an indication of the worst. This can affect your eyesight severely.
3. Inflamed cornea
The cornea is the outermost layer of the eye and acts as a shield for the eye to protect the sensory system from the environment. Dry eyes can seriously harm the cornea and cause keratitis sicca, which is serious inflammation. It can also lead to the inflammation of the cornea and the conjunctiva, which is a condition known as keratoconjunctivitis. A dry eye can cause severe and chronic problems such as Dysfunctional tear syndrome, which causes the tears to become less in quantity.
Bottom Line
Dry eyes can leave an open space for germs and infections that can adversely affect your overall eye health and compromise your eyesight in the long run. Tears protect your eyes from antibodies that can harm your eyesight. The inflammation of the cornea is as bad as any other part of the body. The best way is to get it checked immediately and add artificial tears to treat the inflammation.
