Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling dry and your eyes dry? If so, maybe you've got dry eye. With the development of society and the progress of science and technology, computers and smart phones have long been integrated into our lives, many people work and live without computers and mobile phones, and some people even have to work in front of computer screens for more than ten hours a day. Eyes staring at computer screens or mobile phones for a long time, stimulated by light and reduced number of blinks, will easily get dry eye.
Dry eye is currently the most common ocular surface disease affecting vision and quality of life, and there have been "office syndrome" and "dry corneal conjunctiva" in the past
Dryness" and "dry eye" and other different names [1]. Therefore, the real medical name for dry eye is actually dry eye.
Dry eye has become a global epidemic disease, and big data statistics show that more than 20% of people aged 30 to 40 have dry eye, and the prevalence rate in people over 70 years old is as high as 36.1% [2]. Today, we will take a look at how to hydrate with dry eye disease, and how to choose eye drops?
Source: Station Cool Helo
1. What is dry eye?
Dry eye, also known as dry corneal syrjunctival disease, is an umbrella term for a variety of disorders in which any cause causes abnormal or abnormal tear quality or quantity, resulting in decreased tear film stability, accompanied by eye discomfort and/or lesions of the ocular surface tissue. The causes of dry eye fall into two main categories: decreased tear production due to disruption of the lacrimal glands or dysfunction (Sjögren syndrome, lacrimal gland obstruction) and increased loss of tear evaporation. In general, the incidence of dry eye increases with age, with a higher prevalence in women than in men.
If you don't know if you have dry eye, let's see if your eyes have any of the following symptoms. With dry eye, the eyes will feel dry, there is a foreign body feeling, burning and itching, photophobia, pain and conjunctival congestion will occur, and it will also lead to blurred vision, easy fatigue of the eyes and increased secretions.
Second, how to choose eye drops?
There are many drugs for the treatment of dry eye, mainly topical drugs to lubricate the eye and promote repair, and artificial tears are preferred, which is suitable for various types of dry eye. The main components of artificial tears are sodium hyaluronate, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, and polyacrylic acid, which can help replenish moisture and lubricate the eye surface [3]. Artificial tear fluids come in the form of liquids, gels, and ointments, all of which are over-the-counter medications. Preservative-free artificial tear fluid is often recommended because some patients with dry eyes have an inflammatory response to preservatives. It is worth noting that artificial tears can relieve the symptoms of dry eyes, but it does not cure dry eyes.
Sodium hyaluronate eye drops are classic artificial tears for the treatment of dry eye, sodium hyaluronate because of its large number of negatively charged anions, can absorb a lot of water, lubricate the eye surface, has excellent water retention. It can also bind to fibronectin to promote the connection and extension of corneal epithelial cells, facilitate the repair of corneal epithelial cells, and promote wound healing.
In addition, there are eye drops that promote tear secretion such as diquafosso sodium, eye surface repair such as recombinant bovine alkaline fibroblast growth factor eye drops, and vitamin A as the main component of eye drops such as vitamin A palmitate eye gel, etc., they are mainly used for adjuvant treatment of corneal protection, not the main drug for the treatment of dry eye, studies have shown that the use of drugs for the treatment of dry eye in hospitals is basically in line with the overall trend, but there are 3 kinds of artificial tears that are not completely reasonable, resulting in the use of artificial tears with a tendency to abuse, At the same time, it is also easy for patients to develop drug resistance and increase the difficulty of clinical treatment [3].
A reasonable starting dose of artificial tear fluid is one drop per eye, 4 times a day. Symptoms often improve after a few days of treatment, but it can take up to 3 to 4 weeks for symptoms to improve significantly. If the patient's symptoms are still present, the frequency of artificial tear use can be increased depending on the degree of symptoms, and even once an hour. If the frequency of use exceeds 4 to 6 times a day, it is recommended to use a formula without preservatives. When eye drops do not adequately relieve symptoms, a higher viscosity artificial tear gel or ointment may also be used, but patients should be informed that the gel, especially the ointment, can cause temporary blurring of vision, so it is best used at bedtime.
In addition, dry eye is mostly a chronic condition that requires long-term treatment unless there are specific precipitating factors that can be eliminated.
In addition, there are other treatments, such as other topical medications, oral medications, contact sclera lenses, and lacrimal occlusion surgery, which are not commonly used and should be managed under the guidance of an ophthalmologist [4].
Third, in addition to eye drops, how to hydrate dry eye?
At present, it has entered the autumn, and the autumn climate is dry, and people are prone to lack of water, so it is also the high incidence of dry eye disease. Here are 5 ways to hydrate dry eyes.
1. The body should be replenished with enough water
The moisturization of the eyes needs to be maintained by the secretion of tear fluid by the tear glands, and every time we blink our eyes, the tears will cover the surface of our cornea like a curtain of water. However, when the human body is dehydrated, the lacrimal glands secrete tear fluid will also decrease, so to alleviate dry eye, it is first necessary to replenish enough water in the autumn. From a health point of view, we need to drink about 1500-2000ml of water every day, which can be divided into 8 cups and divided into about 200ml each time, and can also be drunk according to their own situation. With enough water in the body, the lacrimal glands can maintain normal secretion, which is the premise of relieving dry eye.
2. Avoid excessive use of eyes
The eyes should avoid staring at the computer screen or mobile phone for a long time, and should remove the eyes from the screen from time to time to see the green scenery, and pay attention to blinking more.
3. Apply warm compresses to the eyes for fumigation
Local heating can improve or restore the secretion function of the lacrimal glands, and hot towels, hot compresses, heating steam covers, etc. can be used to make the eyelid temperature reach 40-45 ° C each time and maintain for 10-15 minutes.
4. Eyelid margin cleaning
Eyelid edge cleaning can reduce the accumulation of harmful substances, which is also an important measure to alleviate dry eye disease, according to the specific situation to apply the appropriate concentration of baby shower gel, or contain hypochlorous acid, tea tree oil and other anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-parasitic effect of the eye special wipes and cleaning solution to clean the eyelid edge.
5. Eat more eye-protecting foods
Many foods have more or less eye protection effects, such as carrots, kelp, corn, spinach, kiwifruit, goji berries and pork liver, etc., which can be eaten according to their own conditions [2].
In short, social informatization is becoming more and more developed, making the incidence of dry eye disease higher and higher, which seriously threatens our eye health, but as long as we develop good eye habits and master the prevention and treatment methods, we can avoid the occurrence of dry eye disease. Patients with a high risk of eye infection, such as contact lens wearers and those with a history of diabetes, should consider going to the hospital ophthalmology department, especially those who find infectious symptoms such as unilateral conjunctival congestion and purulent discharge during examination. If the patient's eyes are red, irritating, or painful for several days, or if the symptoms do not improve after 3 to 4 weeks after the application of artificial tears, they should go to the ophthalmology department of a regular hospital.
Editor-in-Charge: Haziza
【Source: People's Daily client】