Are your eyes dry? Read on for some dry-eye relief.

Many options for treating your dry eyes.

If your eyes sting, burn or feel gooey, tire easily, are sensitive to light, tear, or blur at the end of the day, chances are that you have dry eye. It is officially called keratoconjunctivitis siccca (can you say that 5 times?!). It occurs when tear glands don’t produce enough fluid or there’s an imbalance in your tear’s ingredients–water, oil, and mucus. Dry eye is more common as you get older, and women are especially vulnerable due to the hormonal changes associated with menopause. Other culprits sometimes include diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and some medicines, including blood pressure medication, sleeping pills, antihistamines, birth control pills and antidepressants. Finally, if you’ve had LASIK or a similar procedure, you’re at risk for dry eye.

So what’s the first remedy that you should try? Non-preservative artificial tears such as Refresh Plus or Systane Ultra. They’re available over the counter and we also stock them here at Tri-City Optometry.  If these don’t help than come in to see us (or your eye doctor). Cortisone drops can also ease inflammation, and a cyclosporine emulsion can improve tear production in some people. In serious cases, a simple procedure can plug the ducts that drain moisture off the eye.