Dry eyes are caused by a lack of adequate tears. Tears are a complex mixture of water, fatty oils, and mucus. This mixture helps make the surface of your eyes smooth and clear, and it helps protect your eyes from infection.
For some people, the cause of dry eyes is an imbalance in the composition of their tears. Other people don't produce enough tears to keep their eyes comfortably lubricated.
There is quite a cross-over of symptoms from different causes regarding eye issues. I'm very disappointed my doctor did not consider and test me for dry eye syndrome. I feel like my treatment was incomplete because he concluded that all of my problems resulted from one cause.
For anyone interested, I've listed below some warning signs of clinical dry eye from the Mayo Clinic website.
Signs and symptoms, which usually affect both eyes, may include:
* A stinging, burning or scratchy sensation in your eyes
* Stringy mucus in or around your eyes
* Increased eye irritation from smoke or wind
* Eye fatigue
* Sensitivity to light
* Eye redness
* A sensation of having something in your eyes
* Difficulty wearing contact lenses
* Periods of excessive tearing
* Blurred vision, often worsening at the end of the day or after focusing for a prolonged period
If you have one or more of these symptoms for more than several days, and/or the severity is anything beyond mild, you should consider seeking medical council. I waited entirely too long to address my problems, which probably compounded them. Nonetheless, I am finally getting some relief. I hope the above information can help others.
additional resources: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dry-eyes/DS00463/DSECTION=symptoms
http://www.dryeyecenterofkentucky.com/site/dry-eye-syndrome.htm
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/dry_eye_syndrome/page4_em.htm
http://www.eyehealthweb.com/dry-eye-medications/
