Lao Wang has always felt that his eyes are dry and hard to open recently. Occasionally, his eyes still feel burning or tingling, just like his eyes are like sand. He is always jealous and itchy, and cannot help rubbing his eyes.
It’s really uncomfortable. Lao Wang recently went to the hospital for examination. The doctor said it was a symptom of dry eye.
Some glands on the surface of the eye secrete tears all the time. At the same time of blinking, the eyelids will gently spread tears evenly on the surface of the eye, forming a layer of [tear film] to moisten the eyes.
Dry eye may be caused by insufficient amount of tear secreted by eyes, abnormal tear composition, or uneven and untimely formation of tear film.
However, dry eye is quite common among the middle-aged and elderly.
Why are middle-aged and elderly people more prone to dry eyes
1. Chronic inflammation
Chronic inflammation of the surface tissue of the eye often coexists with dry eye and forms a vicious circle. There are glands and cells that secrete tear in the surface tissue of the eye, and inflammation will affect its function.
Among them, meibomian gland dysfunction is very common in the middle-aged and the elderly. As the meibomian gland opens at the edge of the eyelid, serious patients can see a row of blocked oil particles there. The meibomian gland is responsible for secreting the oil layer in tears, and the reduction of [oil] in tears will accelerate the evaporation of tears and reduce the retained [water] accordingly.
2. Decrease of secretory function
As you age, the glands that secrete basic tears every day will also [age]. In addition, the obvious changes in hormone levels in women after menopause will also lead to insufficient amount and different composition of tears secreted.
3. Impact of other diseases
Middle-aged and elderly people often suffer from ocular surface-related diseases, which can change the normal structure of the ocular surface and lead to tears not being smeared on the ocular surface in time or evenly. Common diseases include eyelid eversion, trichiasis, conjunctival relaxation, eyelid fissure spot, pterygium, etc.
4. Bad eye habits
Use your eyes for a long time and with high intensity, such as watching TV programs or the stock market on your mobile phone from morning till night, making sweaters for your grandson all the time, or mahjong Hu for dozens of rounds without rest. Similar activities need to keep your attention focused, your eyes blink less, and it is easy to aggravate dry eyes.
5. Drug abuse
Many middle-aged and elderly people like to buy eye drops by themselves, which makes them uncomfortable, even for several months. However, some antibacterial, anti-inflammatory ingredients or preservatives in it may have quietly hurt your eyes.
And some eye drops of ingredients, is not disorderly drip!
In the middle-aged and elderly patients with dry eye, the above pathogenic factors often exist at the same time and affect each other.
What about dry eyes?
We can solve the problem step by step from simple to complex.
Step 1 Change your habits first
- When looking at things, close your eyes and rest every half hour to ensure sufficient lighting brightness. More outdoor activities, adhere to exercise, enhance immunity; With a pair of suitable glasses, I feel that I can’t see clearly. I must wear glasses and don’t force my eyes. Pay attention to eye hygiene, and avoid places with large dust, lampblack and poor sanitary environment. Do not rub your hands or wipe your eyes with paper towels. Abstaining from alcohol, smoking and staying up late, keeping regular and adequate sleep; Humidifiers can be used in air-dried rooms.
2. Throw away suspicious eye drops and drop artificial tears appropriately.
Many eye drops on the market are not suitable for long-term use and may aggravate the disease. If you improve your eye habits and your symptoms do not improve, you can drop artificial tears appropriately.
Artificial tears can not only make up for the shortage of tears in the middle-aged and elderly people, but also wash out some inflammatory factors produced by eye surface cells and improve symptoms.
3. See a doctor in time and make a clear diagnosis.
It is better to let the doctor help you judge whether you have dry eye, and if so, what other factors need to be dealt with.
- Meibomian gland dysfunction: For such patients, proper hot compress on eyelids can make oil secretion smooth. In addition, you can also massage the meibomian gland in the hospital. Or use cotton swabs for eyelid cleaning under the guidance of doctors. Usually, eye makeup should be used as little as possible. Remove after makeup. As the disease is closely related to bacterial infection and inflammation, Antibiotics and anti-inflammatory therapy should be used when necessary. Other inflammation: Blepharitis or conjunctivitis, etc. The eyeball is in close contact with the external environment for a long time. Therefore, inflammation of ocular surface tissue is very common. At this time, It may also be necessary to cooperate with anti-inflammatory or antibiotic treatment. Surgical ocular surface diseases: If there are other ocular surface diseases, Consult your doctor, See if surgery is needed. The purpose of surgery is often to restore normal ocular surface tissue structure and further improve the stability of tear film. Of course, sometimes scar on the lower eye surface will still be left after surgery, and dry eye has many factors. It is impossible to rely solely on surgery and other treatment methods are needed.
The treatment of dry eye is a very personalized process. In other words, patients with the same symptoms may have completely different pathogenic factors and different treatment priorities.
However, middle-aged and elderly patients are often affected by many factors, so they must know how to see a doctor in time and seek the most suitable treatment plan for themselves.
Responsible Editor: Haitang