Dry Eye

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Dry eye disease is an eye condition in which your eyes produce excessive tearing.  Although the name “dry eye disease” may be misleading, it makes more sense when you examine the two types of

tears your eyes produce.

Our eyes produce two types of tears:  lubricating tears and reflex tears.  Reflex tears are primarily water that appears as a defense mechanism to help protect the eyes.  They appear when you get something in your eye, when you slice onions, etc.  Sometimes your eye produces such a volume of reflex tears that they overflow your eye and run down your cheek.  The second type of tears, lubricating tears, are oily and nourish and protect the front of the eye.  When you do not produce sufficient lubricating tears, you develop dry eye disease, even though you may still produce large quantities of reflex tears.

Diagnosing dry eye disease is performed with a series of examinations and tests.  These tests document the signs of dry eye disease and assess the presence of deficient tear production. 

The most common treatment for dry eye disease is to use artificial tears that help to replace the natural lubricating tears.  Another product, Restasis® comes in drop form and helps the eye produce tears by reducing the inflammation which causes dry eye disease.

Another treatment for dry eye disease is punctal occlusion.  Tears are secreted onto our eyes and become part of the tear film. The tear film drains away from our eyes through a drainage channel.  In punctal occlusion, your eye doctor inserts a small plug in one or more of these channels to slow the drainage of tears.  By slowing the drainage, more tears stay on your eyes, relieving dry eye symptoms. The procedure is simple and painless and can be performed in-office in just a few minutes.