A lot of different factors can make a difference in how your eyes feel. Things like staying up late, exposure to harmful indoor or outdoor light sources, and going for a swim have the potential to leave your eyes itchy and dry. However, dealing with these causes is usually easy, just calling for common-sense precautions.

For millions of people in the United States, chronic dry eye problems aren’t so easy to cope with. If you have chronic dry eye disease, the scratchy, burning feeling is constant, no matter how much rest you get or how carefully you avoid environmental triggers. For people with this condition, coping with symptoms can be a real challenge.

For dry eye care you can trust, turn to cornea specialist Clifford Salinger, MD and the rest of the team at VIP Laser Eye Center. We offer treatment for new and existing patients from our conveniently located offices in Palm Beach Gardens, Stuart, and Port St. Lucie, Florida. Here’s what you should know about coping with your chronic dry eye condition.

About chronic dry eye

Your eyes naturally produce a layer of constant fluid, keeping themselves lubricated and clean. If you don’t produce enough natural tears, or if the composition of your fluids is unusual, you feel sensations of burning and itching in your eyes.

Several factors can cause chronic dry eye, including:

• Illness
• Aging
• Certain medications
• Hormonal changes

If you have chronic dry eye disease, you’re dealing with more than just an occasional irritation of your eyes. This condition causes daily discomfort on a long-term basis, and, if not treated, can even cause serious damage to your eyes.

Treatments to try at home

If your eyes are persistently itchy or uncomfortable, you can try some at-home treatments and easy lifestyle changes to determine if they can resolve your problem. The best at-home options for you depend on your symptoms and medical history, so ask the experts at VIP Laser Eye Center for a recommendation.

Things to try include:

• Soothing your symptoms with a warm, damp compress
• Trying over-the-counter products like artificial tears
• Taking a break from using contact lenses
• Investing in quality sunglasses
• Swapping out problematic medications
• Quitting smoking and avoiding second-hand smoke

You also could try gentle massage to stimulate tear production, but be sure to discuss this with your doctor and use a proper technique so you don’t apply too much pressure and risk eye damage.

Effective professional options

If at-home treatments aren’t effective in soothing your dry eye symptoms, it’s time to turn to the professionals. At VIP Laser Eye Center, we’re ready to help you put together an effective treatment plan.

We may recommend:

• Medications to increase your tear production
• Prescription eye drops to reduce inflammation
• Treatment with LipiFlow®, a device that removes blockages from your tear glands
• Meibomian gland expression, a type of massage that unclogs your oil glands for healthier composition of your tears

In serious cases, minor surgery can help unblock your tear drainage and keep your eyes lubricated.

To talk with the VIP Laser Eye Center team about your uncomfortable and frustrating chronic dry eye symptoms, reach out to us today.