What Happens If You Don’t Treat Dry Eye?
October 29th, 2019
Dry eye may seem like a harmless if annoying, problem to have. Sure your eyes are itchy and red all the time, but you can still see, so if you can deal with it, right?
The unfortunate truth is, that dry eye is a progressive disease. For sufferers of dry eye, that means it will only get worse without treatment. Here’s what a bad case of untreated dry eye may look like.
Chronic Conjunctivitis
If your eyes stay unlubricated for too long, the damage can inflame your conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is a layer of clear cells that covers the white of your eye.
This causes conjunctivitis, although this conjunctivitis is not the same as pink eye. This is different from conjunctivitis caused by bacteria, which usually has stronger symptoms.
Dry eye conjunctivitis causes redness, light sensitivity and foreign object sensations in the eye. It compounds the symptoms already brought upon by dry eye and can worsen them.
Trouble Opening Your Eyes
The discomfort and sensitivity brought on by chronic dry eye may cause you to squint or blink hard. Combined with blurry vision, this can make simple tasks like reading difficult.
It can make other tasks like driving downright dangerous.
Contacts
Contact lenses need moisture to work properly. If your eyes are unable to produce enough quality tears, then wearing contacts isn’t a good idea.
In fact, it may even endanger your vision. Contacts may stick to your eyes if they are dry. This makes them extremely hard to remove and could cause abrasions and damage your eyes.
Corneal Ulcers
Corneal ulcers are painful sores that can develop on your cornea. If your eye does not have a protective coating of tears, dirt or airborne particles can scratch your eyes.
This allows bacteria to collect and cause an infection. If left untreated, it can eventually develop into an ulcer.
If ulcers are not treated with antibiotics, they enlarge, spread, and cause scarring that blocks vision. People have gone partially or, in some cases, completely blind due to this.
Dry Eye Treatment
If you don’t want to deal with these issues because of untreated dry eye, you can treat your dry eye. It can be as easy as making a few lifestyle changes, or several treatment options combined.
As always, your first priority should be preventing the problem in the first place.
You could increase the moisture in your home with humidifiers. , You could also reduce irritants with an air purifier.
In some cases, dry eye can be easily treated by staying well hydrated. You can figure out your dry eye prevention plan by scheduling an appointment at Laser Eye Center.
If your eyes need further treatment, you can look into gland expression therapy. This treatment unblocks oil glands in your eyes, so your tears will be healthier.
You may need to have punctal plugs inserted to stop tears from draining too quickly. Whatever the case is, dry eye is not an unsolvable problem and it is a problem worth solving.
Schedule a dry eye appointment at the Laser Eye Center in Huntsville, AL now! Don’t let your dry eye symptoms stand in your way of living your life any longer!
