My eyes always run and feel gritty!

Many people experience a sensation of grittiness in their eyes or dryness. Dryness of the eye has a variety of causes but they can be divided broadly into two groups.

There can be an insufficiency of tears due to evaporation or the quality of tears may be poor because the all the components in tears are not in perfect balance.  We’re also realising that there is another third component, inflammation.

An example of a condition which affects the quality of tears is blepharitis  , This is because the glands which secrete oils into tears get blocked. The eye can produce tears as part of a reflex but these tears often don’t successfully stay on the ocular surface and can simply overflow without doing a  good job of lubricating the surface of the eye.

Treatment of Dry Eye

Most dry eye can be treated with simple over the counter lubricating eye drops but some people need and want a personalised treatment plan for the causes of their dry eye. The good news is that there are lots of  options. For instance, it may be that you need antibiotics, prescription-only lubricants or evaluation / treatment of the immune response. Anti-inflammatory treatments target the immune system located in the  surface of the eye.

An example of tear insufficiency may be dryness due to tear evaporation such as in cold or windy weather or staring for long periods without blinking when working on a computer. Simple treatments work too, so try this first: blink more frequently when using a computer monitor or wearing glasses in windy weather.