Treatment for Dry Eyes Caused by Refractive Surgery

Refractive surgery such as LASIK is used to limit or eliminate the dependency on glasses. Unfortunately, sometimes refractive surgery and dry eyes come hand in hand. You can't have one without the other! So, what do you now that you've had refractive surgery and dry eyes have become a constant plague? There are a variety of options available to help treat dry eyes both naturally and medicinally. Here are some common treatments for dry eyes caused as a result of refractive surgery.

Natural Treatment for Dry Eyes Caused by Refractive Surgery:

If you have had LASIK or other refractive surgery on your eyes and you now find yourself looking for a natural treatment for the dry eyes you have a few good options. First, you can wear a pair of wrap around sunglasses during the summer and winter to prevent the air from drying out your eyes when outside. Another possible treatment for dry eyes that are caused by refractive surgery is adding moisture to the air in your home to keep your eyes moist. This can be accomplished by using a humidifier which adds water droplets to the air in the room where you spend the most time, or you can place a pan of cool water underneath the radiator in your home to create moisture or humidity in the room. Both ways will help keep your eyes moist so that the side effects of the refractive surgery and dry eyes that are bothering you will be minimal.

Medicinal Treatments for Dry Eyes Caused by Refractive Surgery:

Medications for dry eyes range from basic over the counter fixes such as Visine or another brand of liquid tears to prescription strength medications such as Restasis. Visine or liquid tears are an easy to use quick fix for dry eyes that are refractive surgery induced. A few drops of Visine into the eyes as needed will alleviate the symptoms caused by dry eyes including scratchiness, burning, and even redness which often occurs as a result of dry eye.

For chronic dry eye which occurs as a result of refractive surgery and does not seem to go away after a few months, your doctor may prescribe a stronger medication to help you make more tears. Restasis is a doctor prescribed eye drop medication that reduces inflammation in the eyes which results in the production of more tears to alleviate dry eyes.

Surgical Treatments for Dry Eyes Caused by Refractive Surgery:

In most cases, dry eyes that are the result of some type of refractive surgery will usually go away on their own in time. If the dry eye condition persists, and there is no relief from over the counter liquid tears or medications that are prescribed by the doctor then you may need to have corrective surgery to eliminate the dry eye problem. Some possible surgical options could include closing tear ducts slightly to reduce the amount of tears that are flushed away from the eyes.