Causing various complications 'Dry eyes', what about prevention?

Sep 02, 2024

If you have dry eyes, you should be prescribed artificial tears suitable for your personal condition and used while keeping the number of doses.

Photo courtesy = Kim Ophthalmology Hospital

The cornea is the tissue located on the outermost surface of the eyeball and is the first organ that allows the eye to pass and refract light. As it is located at the forefront of the eye, it is always exposed to the external environment and is sensitive to social and environmental changes such as fine dust, ultraviolet rays, and increased use of electronic devices. Corneal diseases are easy to leave because they are not intractable, but they can cause other serious eye diseases, so you should always pay attention to prevention and manage them.

Dry eye disease is an inflammatory disease of the eye surface that occurs when the absolute amount of tears is insufficient or the quality of tears is poor, and it cannot stay on the eye surface for a long time and evaporates quickly, and symptoms include congestion, foreign body sensation, appearance, and itching. Increased use of air-conditioning and heating devices, increased use of electronic devices such as computers and smartphones, wearing contact lenses, and performing myopia correction such as smile LASIK and LASEK are known to be factors that worsen dry eyes.

According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, as of 2023, the average number of dry eye patients in Korea is about 2.5 million. As it is a common symptom that many people experience, they tend to regard it as insignificant, especially as they are younger, dry eyes are often recognized as a mild disease and left unattended. According to a survey by the Korean Ophthalmology Association, more than half of the survey population do not recognize dry eyes as an eye disease requiring treatment, as they say they buy artificial tears at pharmacies without a doctor's prescription.

If dry eyes are simply regarded as uncomfortable and left unattended, it can develop into a chronic disease. It can cause complications such as conjunctivitis, keratitis, conjunctival stones, corneal ulcers, and vision loss, and in severe cases, it can lead to blindness, so caution is needed.

In order to improve dry eyes, it is most desirable to practice lifestyle habits that help with eye health, prevent eye diseases through regular ophthalmic examinations, and treat them in a timely manner.

One good habit to practice in daily life is to keep your eyelids clean. Eyelid cleaning using eyelid sanitizer opens up clogged oil glands on the eyelids along with hot packs to facilitate waste discharge. You can apply eyelid sanitizer to a cotton swab or gauze and wipe off the eyelashes and the upper and lower edges of the eyelid somewhat strongly. It is recommended to perform it once or twice a day to clean the eyelids and remove the oil component of the eyelids to prevent inflammation of the eyelids.

In addition, when using a computer or smartphone for a long time or reading a book, the number of times you blink decreases, causing dry eyes, so it is helpful to rest your eyes or look into the distance periodically. This is because when you blink, the upper and lower eyelids meet, applying tears to the entire eyeball and wiping the eyeball surface. In addition, when fine dust or yellow dust is severe, it is recommended to refrain from going out and wear glasses or sunglasses to reduce eye irritation and wear contact lenses within a maximum of 10 hours a day.

Most important of all is regular eye examinations and timely treatment for individuals. Although the symptoms of dry eyes can be alleviated by administering artificial tears, it is important to prescribe eye treatments suitable for individual conditions by medical staff and use them while keeping the recommended number of doses. In addition, if there is no change even after using artificial tears for more than 3 months, you should visit an ophthalmologist and find the exact cause. If the symptoms are not improved only by eye drops due to inflammation of the mybom gland, an Intense Pulled Light Therapy (IPL) procedure that melts the sebum accumulated in mybom gland is another treatment.

Koh Kyung-min, a specialist at the Corneal Center at Kim Ophthalmology Hospital, said, `While the number of patients visiting the ophthalmology clinic is increasing recently due to dry eyes, they often do not know the seriousness of dry eyes.' As moist and healthy eyes improve the quality of life, it is important to receive appropriate treatment according to the condition of your eyes and to continuously manage them through regular eye examinations.'