The main characteristic of “dry eyes” or
dysfunctional tear syndrome is the inability of tears to fulfill their
role protection and regeneration of the eye surface as a whole
(hydration is one of those aspects). The ocular surface in such
configuration cannot defend itself from dryness due to the air and other
aggravating factors that destabilize the tear (or lachrymal) film such
as smoke, heat, pollens, dust, pollution, etc). This may result in
either a deficiency in quantity or quality - in some cases both - and
sometimes a dysfunctional lid activity (reduced blinking or insufficient
closure as in lagophtalmos).
There, even in the mildest forms one could notice:
Visual discomfort, photophobia, burning, foreign body
sensation, stinging, conjunctival and corneal irritation, irritation,
stretching of the eye surface, irregular sight,
and in the moderate to severe form on could observe
the following as well:
Ulceration, punctuate superficial keratitis, extreme
pain, extreme photophobia, vision loss, central ulcerations, corneal
staining and opacity.
The range of severity of dry eyes is quite large
since it ranges from the mildest forms needing less than 3 drops a day
to sight threatening conditions.
Clinical
Signs:
Abnormality of the quantity produced (less than 1,2
μl/min) or the quality of the tearfilm, a reduced break-up time (BUT)
using a fluoresceine test (less than 10 seconds).
Some test are able to demonstrate a dry eye state
better than others, here are some of them:
Schirmer, flouresceine tests, bengal rose test and
lissamine green test.
Symptoms: foreign body sensation, watery eyes
(increased lachrymal secretion), burning sensation, blurry vision,
stretching sensation of the ocular surface, red eyes, diminution of the
lachrymal pool, superficial punctuate keratitis, filaments, marked
bulbar conjunctival in the lid slit area, conjunctival hyperemia,
papillary hypertrophy.
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In the meanwhile have a look
at our page on preservatives in eyedrops:
http://preservative.free.fr/
or this one:
Preserve our Eyes not our Drops!
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