What is dry eye?
The medical term for dry eye is keratoconjunctivitis sicca or keratitis sicca. The tears are produced by goblet cells lining the conjunctival outer coat as well as the larger lacrimal gland under the eyelid.
The tear is composed of three layers. From outer to inner the top layer is oily to prevent evaporation of the tears, under the lipid (oily) layer is the aqueous layer, and the inner most layer is called the mucin layer (which supplies nutrients). Dry eye occurs due to insufficiency in your tear production.
Dry eye can occur during menopause and post-menopause, dryness due to the forced air of winter heating system, and more. Typical patients will experience burning eyes, a feeling of a foreign substance in their eye and/or dryness when they blink. Other patients complain of chronic or excessive tearing. Excessive tearing is not quality tears, its called sympathetic tearing. When you are injured, crying, or have dry eyes, the sympathetic tears occur. You can still be diagnosed with dry eye if you have sympathetic tearing.
A tear production test (called Schirmer’s) is performed in the office to evaluate the quantity of tear production along with an examination by your Middlesex Eye Physicians ophthalmologist. A variety of treatment options are available.
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