Recent reports have suggested that up to half of all American adults might suffer from dry eye conditions. It’s made them some of the most common eye conditions around.
Some of these people have what are called aqueous deficient eye conditions. These are eye conditions in humans that prevent their eyes from making enough tears.
But there are also other people who have what is called evaporative dry eye. This is a condition that causes the tears that your body makes to dry too quickly.
If you have either of these different eye conditions, you should make an appointment with an eye doctor ASAP. You should also figure out the best course of action to take as far as treating them goes.
Today, we’re going to talk more about evaporative dry eye. We’ll break down what it is, how you can tell that you have it, and what you should do to treat it.
Continue reading to see how to squash evaporative dry eye once and for all.
What Is Evaporative Dry Eye?
Studies have shown that evaporative dry eye is actually the most common dry eye condition. It’s a condition that leads to all of the quality tears that your body produces evaporating before your eyes can put them to good use.
More often than not, those who suffer from evaporative dry eye have blockages in the oil glands that sit right on the edges of their eyelids. When they’re not working the way that they’re supposed to, these oil glands—which are called meibomian glands—release oil that sits on the surface of your eyes and stops your tears from evaporating.
But when these glands are blocked up, your eyes don’t get the right amount of oil delivered to them. This typically leads to the tears in your eyes evaporating and it leaves your eyes feeling way drier than they should.
What Are the Symptoms of Evaporative Dry Eye?
If you ever have evaporative dry eye, it’s not going to be very difficult for you to tell. Your eyes are going to feel very uncomfortable at times, and in some cases, you might even struggle to keep them open because of the pain that you feel.
There are also going to be other symptoms that will present themselves. Check out a few of the symptoms of evaporative dry eye below:
- Blurred vision
- Light sensitivity
- Stinging sensation
- Extreme eye fatigue
If you wear contact lenses, you might also find that you’ll have trouble putting them in and keeping them in when you’re dealing with evaporative dry eye. Bottom line: Of all the different eye conditions you might encounter, this will be one that will definitely take the biggest toll on your life and put you in an almost constant state of discomfort.
What Causes Evaporative Dry Eye?
There are a whole host of things that can cause evaporative dry eye to set in. First and foremost, something as simple as not blinking enough could lead to evaporative dry eye. If you spend all day staring at a screen and don’t blink enough while you do it, you might find yourself dealing with evaporative dry eye before long.
Some other things can also cause evaporative dry eye. This includes:
- Certain skin conditions like psoriasis and rosacea
- Leaving contact lenses in for too long
- Taking some medications like anti-depressants, anti-histamines, and decongestants
- Allergic reactions
- Eye injuries
Since there are so many things that can lead to evaporative dry eye, there is a decent chance that you’ll have to deal with it at some point. It would help to explain why so many American adults have evaporative dry eye.
What Are the Best Treatment Options for Evaporative Dry Eye?
The good news for those with evaporative dry eye is that it’s not something that you’ll have to live with forever. There are treatments that you can try to get rid of evaporative dry eye quickly.
If you suspect that you might have evaporative dry eye, you should talk to your eye doctor about it. They’ll be able to check you for the different types of dry eye to see if you have evaporative dry eye.
If you do, they can then make suggestions on how you should go about treating it. They might tell you that you have to treat another health condition to stop evaporative dry eye from having an impact on you. Or they might tell you that you have to treat it by doing something like:
- Putting eye drops into your eyes for a few days
- Investing in a humidifier for your house
- Changing the way in which you clean your contact lenses
As long as you listen to your eye doctor, you should be able to clear up your dry eye condition and go back to living your life like usual.
What Might Happen If Evaporative Dry Eye Is Left Untreated?
There are, unfortunately, some people who don’t ever get around to seeing an eye doctor for their evaporative dry eye. These people sometimes suffer from the consequences of putting off a trip to their eye doctor’s office.
In a best-case scenario, leaving evaporative dry eye untreated is going to cause you to suffer from additional pain and discomfort in your eyes. You’ll be itching and scratching your eyes almost all the time in an effort to get some relief.
And remember, this is going to be in a best-case scenario. In a worst-case scenario, you might run the risk of getting certain eye infections when you don’t get treatment for evaporative dry eye. You could even end up going blind due to an infection caused by evaporative dry eye.
For this reason, you shouldn’t leave evaporative dry eye untreated for any longer than you absolutely have to. The faster you’re able to treat evaporative dry eye, the lower your chances of dealing with serious complications with your eyes.
Seek Treatment for Evaporative Dry Eye Today
If you have evaporative dry eye, it’s going to make it challenging for you to function, both at home and at work. It’s why you should get help with it and find out how to treat it right away.
Make an appointment with your eye doctor if you think that you might have evaporative dry eye or one of the other eye conditions in children and adults. It’ll stop further damage from being done to your eyes and give you access to the relief that you’re looking for.
Look for more great health-related tips and tricks by reading through some of our blog articles!