Dry air and serious air pollution in winter, coupled with the fact that many people face the computer for a long time every day, read and play games with cell phones or ipads, and especially overuse their eyes at night, have gradually increased the number of dry eye patients.
1.Definition of dry eye
Dry eye is a general term for a group of diseases caused by tear film instability and/or ocular surface damage due to abnormalities in the quantity or quality of tears or fluid mechanics, which leads to eye discomfort symptoms and visual dysfunction.
The incidence of dry eye in China is about 21%-30%, in which women are higher than men and the elderly are higher than young people. The main risk factors are: old age, women, high altitude, diabetes, pterygium, air pollution, eye drops abuse, use of video screen terminals, corneal refractive surgery, allergic eye disease and some systemic diseases, etc.
2.Dry eye classification
(1) Classification according to the structure and function of tear film on the eye surface
Aqueous deficiency dry eye
Dry eye with excessive evaporation
Mucin deficiency dry eye
Dry eye with abnormal tear dynamics
(2) Classification according to the severity of dry eye
Mild, moderate and severe dry eye
3.Who are more likely to get dry eye disease
(1) Computer workers. Staring at the fluorescent screen for a long time, lack of normal blinking.
(2) Menopause, pregnancy, lactation and women taking oral contraceptives. Dry eye symptoms can occur due to changes in hormone levels.
(3) Contact lens wearers. Contact lenses are floating on tears, and wearing contact lenses will accelerate the evaporation of tears.
(4) Three quarters of people over the age of 65 have dry eye syndrome.
(5) Drivers, workers who stay up late.
(6) Some disease factors. For example, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, thyroid abnormalities, asthma and lupus erythematosus; long-term systemic oral antidepressants, patients on blood pressure lowering drugs.
(7) Living or working environment: with air conditioning, smoke and dust, higher temperature or drier air.
(8) prolonged use of a certain eye drops, because eye drops generally contain preservatives, these preservatives on the eye surface epithelial cell damage can also cause damage to the tear film, but also easy to form dry eye.
4.Treatment
Dry eye treatment mainly focuses on reducing the symptoms of dry eye, avoiding damage to the cornea, and maintaining a smooth and clear surface of the eye.
(1) Remove the cause and treat the original disease
Such as blepharitis, vitamin A deficiency, conjunctivitis, conjunctival scars, allergies, autoimmune diseases, and other diseases, and actively treat them.
(2) Non-pharmacological treatment
Hot compresses and massage can stimulate tear secretion. Wear wind-blocking or moisturizing glasses to lower the room temperature and increase the humidity to reduce the evaporation of tears. Embolization of tear ducts or electrocautery to block and reduce tear drainage can also increase the amount of tears. In severe cases of dry eye, in addition to the above treatments, it is sometimes necessary to cover the eyeball or apply eyelid sutures to avoid damage caused by excessive dryness of the eye.
(3) Medication
For mild dry eyes, artificial tears can be ordered (there are drops, creams, gels, etc.; there are also preservative-free products that can be ordered when wearing contact lenses) and lubricating creams can be ordered at bedtime. For moderate dry eyes, the frequency of artificial tears can be increased, and topical anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs can be used. Severe dry eye can be treated with systemic hormone therapy and autologous serum therapy on top of local treatment.
(4) Chinese medicine treatment
Chinese medicine treatment: Chinese medicine classifies dry eyes into four types of symptoms – lung-yin deficiency, liver-heat deficiency, qi-yin deficiency, and evil-heat retention.
Chinese medicine characteristic treatment: Chinese medicine ion introduction, thunder fire moxibustion, acupuncture, Chinese medicine fumigation, etc.