Chronic Dry Eye: A Closer Look

Despite its prevalence, Chronic Dry Eye (known by doctors as keratoconjunctivitis sicca) is among the least understood eye conditions that affect large numbers of people. Many people mistake the dry eye symptoms for allergies, climatic conditions or just "eyestrain". While all of these may aggravate Chronic Dry Eye symptoms, they are not the cause.

Your eyes need a constant layer of tears — called the "tear film"— to maintain and protect the ocular surface. In Chronic Dry Eye, underlying changes to the health of the tear-producing glands can result in a change in the quantity and quality of the tears you make. This results in a tear film that can no longer provide enough nourishment or protection to the surface of your eye. This can lead to damage of your eye’s surface, which, in turn, can lead to the symptoms of Chronic Dry Eye.

The symptoms of dry eye vary

Different patients describe their dry eye symptoms in different ways: itching, irritation, light sensitivity, blurred vision and even too much tear production. Coping with any, or some of these symptoms is a challenge to millions of Americans. While many sufferers believe it is a condition that they must simply “learn to live with,” the truth is that untreated, Chronic Dry Eye can lead to more serious vision problems. Click here to read about some of the possible long-term effects of untreated Chronic Dry Eye.

Reference:
Schaumberg DA, Sullivan DA, Buring JE, Dana MR. Prevalence of dry eye syndrome among US women. Am J Ophthalmol. 2003;136:2318-326.