Dry eye: natural treatment to soothe irritation

Having dry and irritated eyes can cause a lot of discomfort which often worsens at night. It is what happens in the dry Eye Syndrome, more and more frequent, a type of chronic dryness that affects the ocular surface and that, in the long term, can cause visual problems and damage to the cornea and conjunctiva.

Symptoms of dry eye syndrome

The symptoms of dry eye syndrome are:

Eye irritation itching or stinging, as if a speck of dust had gotten into us.The eyes feel fatigued, what is known as eyestrain.Great light sensitivity. Hence, people who constantly have dry eyes are often advised to wear sunglasses.tearing Paradoxically, despite having dry eyes, the syndrome is often accompanied by tearing.

Dry eyes occur when eye glands do not secrete enough tears, or when the quality of the tear is lower. In the latter case, it usually happens that the fat content of the tear is reduced.

This happens very frequently in older people, since with age the eyes dry outbut this problem also happens in younger people.

Most frequent causes of dry eye

There are many external factors that can irritate the eye such as the use of computer screens, smoking, environmental pollution, working in a sick building, wearing contact lenses, taking certain medications or some ophthalmological interventions such as laser surgery.

However, the constitutional factors may be the most important, and this includes dry eye syndrome, which is very common and which sometimes associated with fibromyalgia.

home remedies for dry eyes

To hydrate dry eyes, soothe irritation and itching, and prevent dryness from further deteriorating the surface of the eye, some natural remedies and habits can be very useful:

Warm eye compresses: The compresses calm the itching, but they also help us to clean the eyes. With gauze or cloth soaked in hot water we can do a careful washing of the eyes, especially the two extremes. If instead of hot water, we use a chamomile or tea infusionwe can improve the effectiveness of the compress.Eye drops for dry eyes: There are many preparations, natural and not so much, to treat dry eyes. In general we will say that, if we have to use them with a certain regularity, we opt for a simple eye drops, plant-based and preservative-free, as eye irritation can sometimes be aggravated by contact with them. The plants most used as eye painkillers are the eyebright, cornflower, witch hazel, tea or chamomile.To blink: Blinking performs a kind of washing of the eyeball, and if we carry out any activity in which we have to strain our eyes, such as working with the computer, we can take the precaution of close your eyes for a while, like 15-30 secondsbefore continuing to work.Moisturize the eyes: The first moisturizer is the tears that our eyes secrete. Tea compresses (the used tea bag can be applied to the eyes) or chamomile can be useful, although the most suitable plant to moisturize dry eye is eyebright. There are commercial eyebright-based preparations as eye drops. It may also be helpful to wash with witch hazel , of which there are also eye drops and preparations that you will find in herbalists and pharmacies. Another solution is to put artificial tears: there are many suitable eye drops.A diet rich in omega-3: The contribution of good quality fats can help the tear have a more adequate composition. The virgin olive, sunflower or flax oilsthe consumption of raw and local nuts (so that the oils do not go rancid), or fresh oily fish, if a vegetarian diet is not followed, can provide us with these essential oils for our health.