I'm trying hard to put eye drops in, so why are my eyes still dry?

When eye discomfort occurs

Some people choose to close their eyes and rest to reduce the time they spend using their eyes.

More people choose eye drops to relieve dry and tired eyes.

But it seems that it doesn't work

But in fact, the treatment of dry eyes

It’s not as simple as just putting in eye drops!

01. What is dry eye?

Dry eyes are a chronic ocular surface disease caused by multiple factors. It is caused by abnormalities in the quality, quantity and dynamics of tears, which leads to tear film instability or imbalance of the ocular surface microenvironment. It may be accompanied by ocular surface inflammation, tissue damage and nerve abnormalities, causing a variety of eye discomfort symptoms or visual dysfunction.

Mild dry eyes will make the eyes very uncomfortable, feel like there is a foreign body in them, and cause fluctuations in vision, affecting normal life and work. Severe cases can cause corneal ulcers or even perforation, leading to blindness. Therefore, dry eyes must be detected, intervened and treated early.

02. Why are eye drops useless?

Dry eye is divided into five types, including aqueous deficiency, lipid abnormalities, mucin abnormalities, tear dynamics abnormalities, and mixed types.

Among them, lipid abnormality type dry eyes account for the majority. This type of dry eyes lacks not water, but... oil. Therefore, no matter how much eye drops are used, due to the lack of the lipid layer on the surface of the tear film, the tears evaporate too quickly and still cannot relieve dry eyes.

03. If you suffer from dry eyes, do not use medicine randomly

①Avoid preservative damage

Most eye drops on the market contain preservatives. Long-term and large-dose use of such eye drops will inevitably affect the secretion of tears. The normal moisturizing and repair functions of the eyes will be affected. Over time, the original intention of keeping the eyes moisturized is to aggravate the dry eye symptoms, which is not worth the loss.

②Avoid using the wrong medication

When you feel dry eyes, you put eye drops in your eyes as a daily routine. However, "dry eyes" is not as simple as drinking water when you are thirsty. Instead, it should be treated according to the cause. For example, it may be "dry eyes" caused by inflammation, or it may be related to bad living and eye habits, or it may be related to autoimmune diseases. It is a common but easily overlooked ophthalmic disease. Chen Xiangxi, Ph.D., associate chief physician, secretary of the Cornea and Ocular Surface Group of Aier Eye Hospital Group, and deputy director of the Ocular Surface and Corneal Disease Department of Aier Eye Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University (Aier Eye Hospital Group Hubei General Hospital), reminds: Don't be careless about dry eyes. You must go to the hospital for examination to clarify the cause and condition, follow the doctor's advice for comprehensive treatment, use symptomatic eye drops, and use them reasonably according to their correct usage and dosage. If you buy eye drops on your own, because of the different formulas and types, you can't prescribe the right medicine for the right disease, but it may delay or aggravate the condition.