Essay On Dry Eyes

Teary eyes, dry eyes

I learned of a patient, when I was a resident, who came to their eye doctor complaining that she could no longer cry. The ophthalmologist took her quite literally and did a workup for tear function. He found that she did not make many tears and had a relatively dry eye. She did not make more tears when the eye was irritated. He told her to take artificial tears three or four times a day and come back to see him in one month. She immediately went home and committed suicide. The doctor had missed this woman’s plea for help with her depression. Apparently, her symptom of being unable to cry was to tell the doctor that she wanted to cry because she was depressed, but could not cry, because of her dry eyes. The added diagnosis of dry eyes may have increased her depression. This inability of her physician to see her depression may have been what pushed her over the edge.

I saw many patients with dry eyes. Most were very frustrated by their dry

Neuropsychiatric drugs like Librium and Valium decrease tear production. Many antihypertensive medicines, bladder control drugs and even multi-day underarm antiperspirants can cause dry eye symptoms. Your ophthalmologist can help sort out any medications that may contribute to dry eye symptoms. Often another drug can be substituted for the offending one. If not, the symptoms may be ameliorated by the usual treatments for dry eyes.

Treatment of dry eyes is based on replacement of the lost tears.

Artificial tears are sufficient therapy for the majority of dry eyed patients. Closure of the drainage tubes that carry tears from the eyes into the nasal passages, using either punctum plugs, thermal cautery, or laser burns, helps to keep tears in the eyes. RestasisR, a brand of Cyclosporine A, is a popular, but expensive, treatment.

It suppresses inflammation in the lacrimal (tear) glands, allowing them to make tears