Is it Easy to Manage Dry Eyes at Home?

One of the questions that we get from patients with dry eye is whether or not they can use over the counter treatments in order to find some relief from their symptoms. Depending on the severity of your dry eye, there may be a few things that you can do from home or it may be best to just get it treated while you’re at our office. Let’s take a closer look at what things to know about dry eye syndrome and at-home treatments.

Allergies

If your dry eye syndrome is caused by allergies or the weather (like if there is smoke in the air) then it’s usually pretty easy to treat at home. Typically, if you can get your allergies under control, then you can kick your dry eye symptoms to the curb as well. If you need some prescription strength allergy drops, contact our office and we can try to help you out or point you in the right direction.

Dry Environment

One of the good things about living back east is that our air is so humid that our eyes typically don’t dry out because of the environment that we are in. If, however, you are taking a trip to the dessert this summer for some R&R, you may want to bring a little humidifier with you to help your eyes and skin acclimate to the different environment.

Give Over-the-Counter Drops a Try

You can’t knock it unless you try it, right? If you haven’t tried over-the-counter eye drops, you can certainly give them a try. Typically, you can pick up a generic version at your grocery store or pharmacy for just a few dollars. If they help, great. If they don’t, you didn’t invest a lot into them anyway.

Typically, dry eye syndrome is caused by clogged tear ducts. When there is too much oil in your tear ducts, it can cause your eyes to tear excessively or hardly tear at all; both of which can lead to chronic dry eye. If you have tried some of these at-home remedies without success or if you don’t know what’s causing your dry eye, then come into our office and let us help you out. To learn more, contact us at our Springfield office today and call us at (413) 782-0030