Are you suffering from the discomfort brought upon by dry eyes? Looking for quick relief? Our Calgary optometrist has the at-home remedies you need to know to help alleviate the symptoms caused by dry eye syndrome in this week's article. Read on to find out more.
Dry eye syndrome is a very common eye condition that is even more prevalent in arid or dry climates like that of Calgary. It occurs when our eyes are unable to produce enough tears to lubricate themselves sufficiently enough. The main symptoms experienced by those afflicted with dry eye syndrome include:
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Your Calgary optometrist is extremely well equipped to alleviate or relieve the symptoms you may be experiencing due to dry eye syndrome. But sometimes it isn't possible to make it into your favourite eye clinic to see them. Lucky for you, there are three simple and easy at-home dry eye remedies you can try to use to provide yourself with the relief you need.
The easiest at-home remedy for dry eyes involves simply drinking more water. By doing so, you'll keep your entire body — eyes included — more hydrated. You'll want to be proactive with this at-home remedy though, as you don't want to wait until you're thirsty to fill up on H2O. You should be tracking your daily consumption of water with the goal of hitting 8-10 glasses per day. If water just isn't your jam, you can drink other liquids to remain hydrated, so long as they don't have caffeine or alcohol (or too much sugar) in them.
Want an easy way to tell if you're hydrated enough? Check your urine. If it's a pale yellow or colourless, that usually means you're sufficiently hydrated.
This would have been the easiest at-home dry eye remedy were it not for the difficulty we face in remembering to do so. With how much we stare at our phones now when we're home, our natural inclination to blink frequently is being disrupted. Same too when we're at work and on a computer all day. Because dry eye syndrome is all about not producing enough tears for our eyes in order to properly lubricate them, and blinking helps spread our tears across our eyes to keep them lubricated, doing so more often can help with dry eyes.
Looking for a way to increase your blinking at home? Try the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes look away from your phone or TV and focus on something that is at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Need dry eye syndrome relief Calgary? My Optometrist Calgary is home to the Advanced Dry Eye Clinic, where we have numerous dry eye syndrome treatment options to fit your specific needs.
Warm compresses are a great at-home remedy for dry eyes. Our tears are made up of oil, water, and mucus, with all three being needed to make sure our eyes remain healthy and work the way they should. A main cause of dry eye syndrome is your eyelids being inflamed, which can lead to the glands along the edges of your eyelids that produce oil becoming clogged.
A warm compress can free up the clogged oils that are causing your dry eye symptoms while also alleviating the discomfort associated with them. Just soak a small washcloth with warm water and place it over your eyes for at least a minute. With the washcloth on, gently push down the corner of your eyelid to try and get more of the clogged oil out of them. If using your warm compress for a prolonged amount of time, be sure to wet the washcloth frequently so it remains warm, which will make it more effective.
Should none of the above at-home dry eye remedies work to relieve your symptoms, My Optometrist Calgary and our Advanced Dry Eye Clinic can help get you the relief you need. We have a multitude of treatment methods to help those with dry eye syndrome, including artificial tears, prescription eye drops, and punctal plugs. Contact us today to find out more.
Need an eye exam Calgary? My Optometrist Calgary has you covered. Contact one of our My Optometrist Calgary clinics at either 403-256-0606 (Health First Optometry), 403-291-0923 (Sunridge Vision Centre), or 403-443-2040 (Three Hills Optometry).
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