Can LASIK Fix My Dry Eye?

April 5th, 2019

LASIK is a surgery that corrects refractive errors like farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatism. Unfortunately, this isn’t a procedure that will fix your chronic dry eye.

In fact, if you want LASIK, your dry eye needs to be under control before you can get it. LASIK tends to temporarily make dry eye symptoms worse.

If you have dry eye that isn’t under control, you could suffer complications. If you have dry eye but you want LASIK, there are treatment options! Keep reading to learn more about how to get your dry eye under control!

Changing Your Habits

Many lifestyle choices can increase your risk of chronic dry eye. If you already have dry eye, your lifestyle can make it worse.

Smoking, for example, is a clear cut and dry habit that you should stop immediately.

It leads to many eye problems such as glaucoma and retinal issues, as well as other diseases. The smoke itself can irritate your eyes and cause traditional dry eye symptoms.

Another common habit that causes dry eye is too much screen time. When you’re looking at your phone or one of your computer monitors at work, you forget to blink.

Now, you may think you’re blinking but screen use causes your blink rate to decrease. Living in the digital age means you can’t get through life without using screens.

But if you have to use screens, you can use them safely. Follow the 20/20/20 rule! This is easy to follow and can increase your productivity by giving your eyes a well deserved rest.

The 20/20/20 rule goes like this: every 20 minutes find something to look at for 20 seconds that is 20 feet away.

This reminds you to blink and allows muscles in your eyes that focus to stretch. Your eyes will thank you!

Adapting Your Environment

Climate and air quality have a strong effect on vision. By controlling these two things in your home, you can cut out factors irritating your eyes. With dry eye, controlling climate and air quality can help if your tears evaporate too fast.

Consider buying appliances that help change your homes climate. Using air conditioning allows you to keep your windows closed during the summer.

Yes, you’ll be cooler but you’re also preventing allergens from getting inside! Another way to adapt your environment is investing in humidifiers.

Having a humidifier increases the moisture in your home and keeps your eyes hydrated. Air purifiers will cut down allergens and irritants in the air.

When you have to dust, do so with a damp cloth instead of a duster. This removes dust particles without dispersing them into the air.

Dry Eye Treatments

If preventing the causes of dry eye is not enough, the problem may lie in the way that your eyes produce tears. If your eyes don’t produce enough tears, you can try medications.

These can help stimulate tear production. Another way to treat dry eye is using punctal plugs. These plugs block the drainage canals in the eye.

Using punctal plugs can help keep tears in your eyes for longer, allowing nutrients in. If your tears don’t have enough oil in them, you may need gland expression therapy. Gland expression therapy helps produce the oil that your tears are missing.

Ready to treat your dry eye and get on the road to LASIK? Schedule an appointment at the Laser Eye Center in Huntsville, AL today!