Eyedro. Why though?

In my 8 years working as an Optometrist I have always felt that dry eye is a condition that often gets overlooked. A typical eye test just doesn’t allow enough time to properly explain the sequence of events that lead to dry eye, along with what to do to effectively alleviate symptoms.

Most people believe that if their vision is blurred they must need glasses, or that they are “getting old”. However, more and more these days I have noticed that people are coming in to get their eyes tested and their vision is blurred because they suffer from the condition.

Here’s the thing; dry eye doesn’t just give you discomfort, it can cause your vision to fluctuate; meaning things can sometimes appear clear but then after staring for a few seconds, things will become blurry.

Here’s the other thing; you don’t have to just put up with it. There are lots of things that can be done to help, but you need to be motivated for these things to help. As they say “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and neither was your tear film! badum tss! You need to consistently put in drops, use a warm compress and keep your eyelids clean for at least a few months to really feel an improvement.

In this day and age, where very few people don’t have an oral hygiene routine, isn’t it weird that we don’t have an ocular hygiene routine? When we regularly clean other parts of our body that have mucous membranes, why do we wait until we get symptoms before we give our eyes some vital TLC?