The secret of dry syndrome you must not know

  Dry syndrome is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that mainly involves the exocrine glands. The main manifestations are dry eyes, dry mouth or other rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and it can also involve other systems causing multi-system and multi-organ damage. Dry syndrome is a global disease, more than 90% of which are women, and the onset of the disease is mostly in middle-aged and elderly people aged 40-60. In China, the incidence of dry syndrome is 0. 29% – 0. 72%.  Diet: Patients with dry syndrome should have a light, juicy and multivitamin diet, avoid spicy and stimulating, fried food, and avoid smoking and alcohol. At the beginning of or during the daily meal, moderate amount of liquid food or semi-liquid food should be chosen to increase the comfort of eating. Do not eat irritating foods to avoid aggravating oral discomfort. Choose to eat some sour snack foods in moderation to reflexively increase saliva secretion. Avoid choosing dry foods, such as animal liver and cookies, to avoid swallowing difficulties. Avoid eating too fast and too fast, chew and swallow slowly, and do not talk while eating to avoid choking when food enters the trachea. Drink more water to prevent oral infections and urinary tract infections. 2,000 – 2,400 ml of water should be taken daily, and dry foods such as antler and cinnamon should not be taken when taking tonic medicine. The Chinese herbal medicines such as maidenhair, sage and licorice are used to make water for tea to keep the mouth moist.  Dry eyes: Dry eyes are the most common clinical manifestation of dry syndrome. Often there is a foreign body and burning sensation in the eyes, or a curtain-like obscuring feeling in front of the eyes. Advise patients to avoid bright light stimulation and wear sun shades and umbrellas when going out. Insist on rinsing the eyes with saline to keep them moist, give patients eye drops or artificial tears if necessary, apply eye ointment before bedtime to protect the cornea, and reduce activities such as reading books, newspapers and TV to prevent visual fatigue. Once the infection occurs in the eye, anti-infection should be timely.  Dry mouth and dental caries precautions: Due to the reduction of oral saliva secretion and bacterial growth, it will lead to dry mouth and heavy dental caries. Therefore, for patients with dry mouth, ask them to moisten their mouth with liquid frequently and eat more food that promote saliva secretion, such as plum, mountain crumb and other acidic food. Brush and rinse with soft-haired toothbrush every morning and evening, pay attention to gentle movements, do not use toothpicks to pick teeth, and do not eat barbed food to avoid stinging the oral mucosa. Some patients with severe dry syndrome should do well in oral care and pay attention to prevent the appearance of oral mycobacterial infection. The appearance of dental caries is related to the reduction of saliva, so it is necessary to do a good job of dental care, regular dental examination, use fluoride, it is not recommended to keep the food containing sugar in the mouth for too long, often chewing gum can stimulate saliva secretion, it is recommended to use sugar-free chewing gum.    Precautions for dry skin: Dry skin in patients with dry syndrome is often accompanied by itching in severe cases and trauma due to scratching. Due to repeated scratching stimulation, local tissue hypertrophy, pigmentation and moss_ification appear. Patients should trim their nails frequently and do not keep long nails. For those with dry skin caused by sweat gland involvement, alkaline soap is prohibited and neutral soap is used. Patients should not dry their bodies completely after bathing, gently absorb the moisture from the body to maintain a certain humidity of the skin, and then apply a layer of moisturizer or body cream. It is important to change underwear, bed sheets and bedding regularly to keep the skin clean and fresh. Those with skin injuries should be cleared and changed according to the skin lesions, and antibiotics can be used appropriately in case of infection.