Dry Eye Care

Not only is dry eye painful, it can damage the delicate tissues of your eyes and impair your vision. The expert team at Center for Advanced Eye Care in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce, Florida, offers a variety of conservative and surgical dry eye treatments for patients of all ages. For excellent dry eye care, call the office or request an appointment online today.

Dry Eye Care Q&A

What is dry eye care?

Dry eye is a condition that occurs when a decline in the quality or quantity of your tears causes insufficient moisture in your eyes.

Without proper lubrication, your eyes can sting or burn. If left untreated, a dry eye can lead to a host of problems, including inflammation, infection, and abrasions on the surface of your eyes. Dry eyes can also affect your vision, making it difficult to perform daily activities like reading.

The Center for Advanced Eye Care team provides personalized dry eye treatment that can improve your comfort and enhance your quality of life.

How do I know if I need dry eye care?

You may need dry eye care if you experience ongoing symptoms like eye pain, redness, or irritation. Other signs and symptoms of dry eye include:

A stinging or burning sensation in your eyes
A scratchy, gritty feeling like something is in your eye
Eye pain that prevents you from wearing contacts
Strings of mucus around your eyes
Watery eyes
Blurred vision
Tired eyes

Usually, people begin experiencing dry eye symptoms as they age. Certain medications, such as antihistamines, as well as injuries and medical conditions like thyroid disease can also cause dry eye.

What does dry eye care entail?

First, the Center for Advanced Eye Care team performs a comprehensive eye exam. They may measure your tear production and take tests to evaluate the surface condition of your eyes.

Then, your expert ophthalmologist creates an individualized dry eye care plan. If an underlying health issue is causing dry eye, they address that first. For example, if a medication is causing your dry eye, your ophthalmologist may recommend a different type that doesn’t cause that side effect.

Nonsurgical approaches to dry eye care may include using over-the-counter artificial tears, increasing the humidity at home or work, and applying a warm compress over your eyes. The Center for Advanced Eye Care team may also prescribe medications in the form of eye drops, ointments, or pills.

If conservative treatments don’t sufficiently relieve your symptoms, your ophthalmologist may recommend a procedure like inserting punctal plugs or surgically closing the drainage tubes in your eyes.

For effective relief from dry eye, call Center for Advanced Eye Care, or request an appointment online today.

Dry Eye Care

Dry eye occurs when the eyes aren’t sufficiently moisturized, leading to tearing, itching, redness and pain from dry spots on the surface of the eye.

People usually begin experiencing dry eye symptoms as they age, but the condition can also result from certain medications, conditions or injuries.

Dry eye is not only painful, it can also damage the eye’s tissues and impair vision. Fortunately, many treatment options are available.

Non-surgical treatments for dry eye include increasing humidity at home or work, and use of artificial tears or moisturizing ointment. If these methods fail, small punctal plugs may be inserted in the puncta to limit tear drainage, or the drainage tubes in the eyes may be surgically closed. Prescription drops are now available to help increase both the quantity and quality of the tears (Restasis®).