DRY EYE

• People with dry eyes may experience irritated, gritty, scratchy or burning eyes; excess watering; and blurred vision. Advanced dry eyes may damage the front surface of the eye and impair vision
• Dry eye is a disease of the eye surface caused by underproduction or changes in the lacrimal fluid, when the eyes does not produce tears properly, or when the tears are not of the correct consistency and evaporate too quickly

Aqueous deficiency dry eye

• Also known as kerato Conjunctivitis Sicca (KCS) is a disorder in which the lacrimal glands fail to produce enough of the watery component of tears to maintain a healthy eye surface

Evaporative dry eye

• May result from inflammation of the meibomian glands, also located in the eyelids

Other causes

• Inflammation of the surface of the eye, the lacrimal gland, or the conjunctiva
• In thyroid disease when the eye protrudes forward
• Enviornmental factors ( dry room air, smoke, working on computer screens)
• Blepharitis
• Sjogrens syndrome
• Vit A deficiency

Symptoms

• Stinging or burning of the eyes, sandy or gritty feeling
• Episodes of excess tears following very dry eye periods
• A stringy discharge from the eye
• Pain and redness of the eye
• Episodes of blurred vision
• Heavy eyelids
• Eye fatigue

Signs

• Tear film signs- the presence of stringy mucous and particulate matter
• Conjunctival signs- It becomes lustreless, mildly congested, conjunctival xerosis
• Corneal signs- punctate epithelial erosions

• Usually a clinical diagnosis is made

Tear film tests

• Tear film break-up time (BUT) -Values less than10 seconds imply an unstable tear film
• Schirmer-I test -Normal values of Schirmer-I test are more than15 mm
• Vital staining with Rose Bengal -detects even mild cases of KCS

• Supplementation with tear substitutes
• Topical cyclosporine (0.05%, 0.1%)
• Treatment of the causative disease
• Avoid triggers
• Advised to blink regularly, while reading or staring at a computer screen for long periods
• Eye exercises – 20 -20-20 rule. The rulesays that for every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, a person should look at something 20 feet away for 20

Ayurvedic Treatment

Internal medicines

• Patoladi Gritha
• Maha tikthaka Gritha

External procedures

• Aschotana - Jeevaneeya Gritha , Doorva gritha
• Nasya - Anu taila
• Sirodhara - Ksheerabala taila
• Tarpana - Jeevaneeyagana Gritha
• Putapaka 1 day