Dry eyes? Don't abuse eye drops!

Dry eyes refers to what is medically known as "conjunctivitis sicca", also known as dry eyes. It is not a single disease, but a group of diseases caused by several completely different causes and characterized by dry eyes and less tears. When people experience dry, sore, or tired eyes, the first thing they think of is probably not to seek medical attention, but to run to the pharmacy to buy eye drops. Patients with dry eye syndrome are often misdiagnosed as having infectious conjunctivitis or keratitis and are treated with large amounts of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory eye drops. However, this not only fails to alleviate the dry eye symptoms, but causes new damage to the eyes.

Dry eyes are a common eye symptom in daily life. There are many causes. The most common one is conjunctival sicca, which is commonly known as dry eye syndrome. In addition, if you overuse your eyes, this may also cause this phenomenon. When dry eyes occur, do not abuse eye drops. We know that there are many types of eye drops, including antibacterial drugs and hormone-containing drugs. There are many causes of dry eyes. If you do not use symptomatic eye drops, it will not only fail to have a therapeutic effect, but may also increase the risk of eye diseases. Therefore, in this regard, it is necessary to make a timely diagnosis and then use symptomatic eye drops for treatment.

Types of eye drops

1. Antibacterial

Since dry eyes are caused by tear secretion disorders and not bacterial infection, long-term use of antibacterial eye drops is not only ineffective, but will also irritate the ocular surface which lacks tear protection, leading to an imbalance in the local flora of the eye, making some bacteria resistant, and possibly causing secondary infection, damage to the cornea, and even corneal ulcers, affecting vision.

2. Containing hormones

This type of eye drops is effective in relieving local congestion such as eye swelling. The eyes will feel very comfortable when they are first used, but once used for a long time, it may cause increased intraocular pressure, optic nerve atrophy, etc., and eventually lead to glaucoma, impaired vision or even blindness. Once this damage occurs, no surgery or medication can improve the already degraded or blinded vision. Therefore, eye drops containing hormones are generally prescription drugs. Patients are not allowed to purchase them on their own, and must strictly follow the doctor's instructions when using them.

3. Eye-improving and nourishing

Although nutrients such as vitamins and amino acids are added, the corneal epithelium on the eye surface has a strong shielding effect against external foreign matter. Therefore, whether these nutrients can be absorbed and utilized by the eye tissue through the cornea remains to be further studied and determined. However, whether it is nutritional eye drops, antibacterial eye drops, or hormone-containing eye drops, they often contain preservatives. Long-term use will seriously damage the conjunctival goblet cells, making it impossible to secrete mucin normally. Once the tears lack mucin, it will be difficult to attach to the ocular surface to form a tear film, thus leading to dry eye syndrome.

4. Artificial tears supplement

Artificial tears are currently the main method for treating dry eyes. However, many patients do not follow the doctor's orders when taking medications, or use them when their eyes are uncomfortable, but not when they are comfortable; or they increase the frequency and dosage of medications without authorization. The former is not conducive to the persistence and uniformity of the tear film on the ocular surface, and the latter may cause damage to the ocular surface. I am like eye drops, the drier the eyes are.