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The importance of tears and their composition:
Tear function is essential for eye health and vision. The function of the tears is to keep the eye moist and provide a primary layer of protection against injury, foreign bodies, microorganisms and other contaminants. Also, the tears are essential to create a smooth optical surface that allows for sharp vision. The tear layer consists of three components:
The aqueous component – responsible for most of the tear volume, washes particles and foreign bodies out of the eye and provides moisture. The watery component is secreted from the lacrimal glands located in the eye socket and the eyelids themselves.
The mucous (mucinous) component – allows for uniform distribution of the aqueous component on the eye, without the mucosal component the tear will not remain attached to the surface of the eye. This component is produced by goblet cells on the surface of the conjunctiva, the transparent membrane that surrounds the white of the eye and the inside of the eyelids.
The aqueous component and the mucous component form a kind of stable gel layer, which is covered by a thin layer of the fatty component.
The fatty component – spread over the mixture of the aqueous and mucous components, inhibits the evaporation of tears to the external environment, and creates a smooth optical surface that allows for sharp vision. This component is secreted by sebaceous glands called Meibomian Glands. These glands are found inside the eyelids, and open to the surface of the eye through dozens of openings located slightly inside the upper and lower lash line, on the border of the eyelids.
When there is a defect in the composition or quantity of one of the components of the tear duct, damage to the quality and stability of the tears may result, and the development of dry eye syndrome. In this syndrome, the injury to the tear duct causes permanent damage to the front of the eye area. The damage causes chronic inflammation which, in turn, causes a further reduction in the quality and stability of the tear duct, and a gradual worsening of the disease.
Most sufferers of dry eye syndrome also have an impairment in the amount of the aqueous component of the tears, and mainly, in the function of the mammary glands on the edge of the eyelid, due to a disease called blepharitis, or Meibomian gland disease – MGD.
In dry eye syndrome, the following symptoms are common:
feeling
burning eyes
blurred vision,
especially in reading
Itchy feeling
or of a foreign body in the eye
ocular discharge
Chronicity
eyes
Red and irritated
Pain in the assembly
contact lenses
excess
tears
Sensitivity and irritation in dry climates, wind and near air conditioners
Sticky eyes, especially in the mornings
Who suffer from dry eye syndrome?
Dry eye syndrome is especially common among women over the age of fifty, but can also occur in men and young people of all genders. There are several factors that can cause or contribute to dry eye syndrome:
Eye diseases and in particular blepharitis, problems with the position of the eyelids or closing the eye
Rheumatological diseases such as Schurgen's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis.
Habits: smoking, spending a lot of time in closed air-conditioned places, watching a lot of screens, unbalanced diet
Prolonged use of contact lenses
Performing refraction correction surgery (laser to improve vision) and in particular LASIK surgery
Various medications such as anti-allergies, diuretics, beta blockers to treat high blood pressure, psychiatric medications and sleeping pills.
Chronic use of eye drops, especially drops for the treatment of glaucoma.
How is dry eye syndrome diagnosed and treated?
The diagnosis of dry eye syndrome is a clinical diagnosis, that is, it is determined based on the patient’s symptoms and the findings of a slit lamp examination by an ophthalmologist. There are also a number of acceptable ancillary tests that aim to diagnose the factors contributing to dryness in the specific patient, in order to adjust a treatment plan.
The initial treatment of dry eye syndrome usually includes the use of tear substitutes. There are many types of these preparations in pharmacies, which are sold without the need for a doctor’s prescription.
Sometimes it is necessary to try several different types of drops until finding the type that is comfortable for the patient to use. As a rule, it is better to use drops that are without preservatives that may cause burning in the eye after prolonged use.
When the symptoms are not alleviated by drops, there are many other solutions specifically aimed at treating the factors that contribute to the syndrome in the specific patient. You can read about these treatments on the “Our Treatments” page.
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