Dry eye disease is increasing dramatically in the United States and other first world countries. It’s even affecting children and teens whose screen time on smart phones, tablets, or computers increases every year.
The meibomian glands in our eyelids produce the oil layer of our tears which prevents tear evaporation. Blinking on a regular basis is what pumps the oil into the tears. Without the oil, our tears evaporate and we get those uncomfortable dry eye symptoms and fluctuating vision. Often times our eyes become watery as the lacrimal glands produce more water volume that ends up running down our face.
When spending a lot of time on our devices, our blink rate slows down, and without the pumping action associated with our eyelid blink, the meibomian glands aren’t able to push enough of their oil into our tears. The glands become clogged up and begin to die. This is a serious problem because once the glands are gone, we will have severe dry eye problems the rest of our life.
If you would like to learn more about how we evaluate the health of our patient’s meibomian glands and use other diagnostic technologies for dry eye, just CLICK HERE.