Is it normal to feel constant pain with dry eyes? Does it keep getting worse with years if you don’t go for more serious treatments instead of just eye drops?

Dry eye symptoms are some of the most common complaints that bring patients to eye doctors, especially in older patients. Post-menopausal white women whose ethnic background is northern European (blonde, often blue eyes) are at the highest risk profile. While it sounds like a trivial problem, dry eye or tear film insufficiency can certainly be an irritating, even painful condition, that can get to the point of requiring multiple repeated application of topical lubricants (artificial tears) throughout the day. It can also compromise the quality of vision to a noticeable degree under certain conditions.

Dry eye is frequently associated with autoimmune problems such as Lupus or arthritis, so a visit to a rheumatologist may be a good idea if your symptoms are more than just mild to moderate. If you are becoming too dependent upon using artificial tear-type drops, the next step may be to use ocular medicines in drop form that can "reactivate" the lacrimal glands to produce better quality and a greater volume of tears. There are many fine eye doctors who have become experts in dry eye management in recent years.

Sadly, it does tend to get worse with age if not evaluated and treated properly.

_Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic