Can Dry Eye Disease Be Cured?
We wish we could tell you all that dry eye can be cured or managed forever without symptoms. It isn’t as easy as that. Multiple factors cause dry eye— combine that with lifestyle, environment, and the natural aging process, and you have even more variables. The trick is to determine the root cause and treat that accordingly.
Below is a shortlist from temporary annoyance to nearly permanently managed.
1. Temporary – For some people, it’s a matter of lifestyle and environmental factors that led to the Dry Eye Disease (DED) diagnosis.
For you lucky ones, it’s just a matter of lifestyle modifications, such as dietary changes, altering behaviors, and short-term use of eye drops to restore a healthy tear film to your eyes.
Though it can’t technically be cured, it may be possible to manage it so it doesn’t return.
2. Easily managed – Maybe you’ve delayed getting a diagnosis and had Dry Eye symptoms for a while. It may have worsened, and your regular eye drops may not be helpful.
We’d recommend our nine tests to determine what is causing the problem with your eyes.
For 80% of our clients, Meibomian gland dysfunction is the root cause.
With treatment, DED can be managed with visits as little as every six months to 3 years.
3. Managed with some interventions – Hormones, certain medications, irritating contact lenses, vitamin deficiencies, and autoimmune and other diseases can lead to DED.
A person may need to take medications or alter their protocols with an eye doctor to get better results.
Punctual plugs may be the answer for certain people. These come in dissolvable and removable and can help regulate the tear ducts.
Prescription eye drops may be helpful.
4. Managed with more profound interventions – For patients with structural issues in the eyelids, surgery may be required to keep the eyelids shut effectively enough for the eyes to retain moisture. A corneal ulcer is another serious condition that requires a longer healing time and more extensive treatments.
For the lucky few, managing DED is temporary. It may not come up again if the patient can develop greater awareness around triggers and minimize those. With proper care and treatment, management for most people can be done every six months to 3 years.
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