Dry Eyes and Contacts - What Causes this Painful Condition?
Dry eyes and contacts often go hand in hand causing discomfort and irritation in the eye. 'Dry Eye' is a condition caused by a lack of adequate tears and is a result of a lack of one or more factors that make up tears. It often occurs in contact lens wearers and can affect both soft and hard-lens wearers. Some eye diseases and medicines can also cause dry eye.
Dry eyes and contacts can be a vicious cycle as the lens will only aggravate the condition and the lack of sufficient lubrication to the eye will make the wearing of contact lenses uncomfortable. How do you know if you have dry eyes? The symptoms of dry eyes may include one or more of the following:
* A sensation that something is in the eye.
* Tearing and/or burning in the eye.
* A dry feeling in the eye - it may feel hot or sandy.
* The eyes may be red.
* Dry eyes and contacts may cause symptoms to become worse at the end of the day or in drafty, dry, smoky, or dusty conditions or after long periods at the computer.
Dry eye is caused by any condition that causes insufficient tear production. The tears may also evaporate too quickly to keep the eye moist. The combination of dry eyes and contacts can cause a type of keratitis. Keratitis is a condition in which the cornea becomes inflamed. Sometimes changing the type of contact lens and how it fits over the eye may resolve the problem without too much trouble.
Dry eyes and contacts may lead to drying of the cornea or 'desiccation'. In this case soft contact lens wearers are usually affected. The condition occurs because soft lenses absorb water from the surface of the eye. This causes the eye to dry out. Once it becomes dry a loss of cells in the cornea results. Switching to another type of lens can help reverse the condition.
If you have dry eyes and contacts are the cause, your doctor may prescribe artificial tears to help lubricate the eyes. Restasis eyedrops help your eyes to make more tears. You should not use regular eye drops unless they also contain artificial tears. Frequent use of ordinary drops can actually make the problem much worse over time.
If you wear contacts you can't use all types of artificial tears while wearing them. Take the lenses out first and wait at least fifteen minutes before putting them back in. You can also use contact lens re-wetting drops if your dry eye is fairly mild. Learn as much as you can from your eye doctor about the relationship between dry eyes and contacts so that you can either eradicate the condition or learn to manage the health of your eyes properly.
