Dry Eye is a medical condition caused by changes in the production of your tears, either in quantity or quality. Tears are composed of different layers that work together to keep your eyes comfortable and protected. If anything changes the balance of these elements, your tears may evaporate too quickly, causing your eyes to feel dry and irritated.
Many people suffer from dry eye, in fact it one of the most commonly reported conditions reported to doctors. Although there is typically there no cure for dry eye, there are a variety of treatment optionss to both soothe the symptoms and help you feel more comfortable.
There are two major types of dry eye:
The lacrimal glands don’t produce enough of the watery or mucous component of tears. This makes it harder for your eyes to stay moist and maintain a healthy surface.
This type of dry eye affects the lipid (oil) layer of the tear film–the outermost layer which stabilizes the tear film of the eye. People who suffer with MGD, have tear film which has less oil, so their tears evaporate more quickly. MGD is the most common type of dry eye; more than half of dry eye sufferers have this type.
