Having dry eyes is a very common problem

Teary and red eyes, blurry vision and an itch that makes you want to rub your eyes all the time. These are just a couple of symptoms of dry eyes. Unfortunately, quite a lot of people suffer from this. Eye expert Viviane de Vries explains what the causes are and, more importantly, what you can do about it.

Dry eyes are very annoying.

Tears

“Your eyes become dry when they don’t produce enough tears or if these tears are of insufficient quality,” the optometrist explains. “If you want to prevent or fix it, the first thing you need to do is discover the cause. Depending on the cause, dry eyes can be accompanied by other problems like itchiness, a burning sensation, tears and redness.”

Causes

According to De Vries, there are multiple causes, from air pollution to working in a space with air conditioning. Dry eyes can also be caused by staring at a computer screen for extended periods of time. When you’re focused on your work, you often forget to blink often enough. The same goes for watching television. As we’re getting older, the quality of our tear film becomes less as well. Besides this, women suffer from dry eyes more often than men because hormones play a big role too. Especially during and after the menopause nearly every woman has problems with this at some point. Medication or certain illnesses can have an influence as well.

Go to the next page to read about tips to prevent and fix dry eyes.

Page 1 of 2