I couldn’t stay long in front of the computer. After an hour , I started to have headache and it seems like I have to vomit. I have prescription glasses actually but I seldom use it because I’m not comfy with it but when headache starts to attacked me this week, I’m forced to wear eyeglasses. The disadvantage I see on staying for so long in front of the computer is that I blink insufficiently thus causing mild dry eyes.

I realized that dry eyes usually happens to women. It occurs as a part of the natural aging process possibly due to hormone fluctuations, especially during menopause; as a side effect of many medications, such as antihistamines, antidepressants, certain blood pressure medicines, Parkinson’s medications and birth control pills; or because you live in a dry, dusty or windy climate.

Dry eye syndrome is an ongoing condition that may not be completely curable (depending on the cause), but the accompanying dryness, scratchiness and burning can be managed. Lubricating eye drops may alleviate the dry, scratching feeling but I refrain from doing so because many artificial tears actually cause dry eye due to preservatives in the eye drops.

I’ve mentioned before that I may consider getting LASIK if ever my sight gets worse. But with dry eyes , LASIK is not recommended. I am aware that dry eyes may disqualify me for the surgery, at least until the problem is resolved. Dry eyes increase risk for poor healing after LASIK, so most surgeons will want to treat the dry eyes first, to ensure a good LASIK outcome. This goes for other types of vision correction surgery, as well. This is what I learned from visiting the site of Stahl Eye Center.

Stahl Eye Center conducted detailed studies on Restasis for Lasik patients. Restasis is only prescription medication FDA approved to treat the underlying cause of some dry eye. The eye center doctors aregraduates from top universities such as UCLA, John Hopkins, and Yale. If you’re in US, you may locate them in New York , Manhattan and Long Island. For the Stahl Eye Center doctors’ information, it’s available at http://www.StahlEyeCenter.com/new_york_eye_doctors.html.

We couldn’t prevent dry eye syndrome because most of the cases are due to the aging process. However, there are some things that we can do to reduce the prevalence and to ease the discomfort.

1. Artificial tears and lubricating gels. There are a number of eyedrops and ointments that can be used to enhance or stimulate tear production available in the pharmacy.

2. Avoid excessive air movement. Don’t go outside in windy conditions. Inside, switch off or turn down fans, etc. Avoid hot, dry environments.

3. Take frequent breaks. When watching TV, reading or working at a computer, take frequent breaks.

4. Use hot compresses and eye massage. Massaging your eyelids and treating with hot compresses can be very effective.