Dry eyes from using the computer too much, is this severe?

[romeodakins]

I used the computer too much and I didn’t realize what I was getting into. Now I have dry eyes and it’s been like this for a month and a half. I’ve been using over the counter drops 3 times a day, morning evening, night, and doing warm compresses for about 5 minutes every morning and night and it’s not helping much. I want to cure my dry eyes. I was wondering how severe this problem is. I heard dry eyes is permanent. This just really makes me sad, like I just ruined my life. Can anyone help me? Usually during the weekdays I don’t use the computer much and I feel pretty good. Then on the weekend like on Friday, my eyes feel fine. Usually I have nothing to do at home so I’m stuck using the computer or just sleeping on the couch. On Saturday my eyes start feeling a little dry again then at night it’s really really dry and it’s super irritating.

[jstrmereel]

romeodakins,

Are you saying your dry eyes go away when you are not on the computer???

My dry eyes persist all day everyday, but are much more severe in my air-conditioned work environment where I am on a computer all day.

You may have a mild dry eye that gets worse on the computer.

I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a "temporary severe dry eye."

Anyone know?

Matt

[romeodakins]

I experience dry eye sometimes throughout the day. Like sometimes outside it just gets really dry, it could be because of the winter wind. Sometimes I don't notice it, but when I'm at home and doing other stuff that isn't watching tv or computer, I feel fine.

[gormz]

You should download f.lux for your computer or maybe buy some computer glasses to help. F.lux is free and it seems to help me a ton. Another thing to consider is taking breaks every 15-20 minutes when youre on the computer and just look away from it for a minute or two.

Have you been to an optometrist/ophthalmologist to see what the problem is exactly?

[romeodakins]

Yeah I already have flux and I went to the eye doctor. They said my vision is fine but she sees a little bit of dryness. Then she recommended to do warm compresses by wetting a towel with hot water and putting it over my eyes for 5 minutes when I wake up and before I sleep. And also to use Refresh Tears which I have been using. It hasn't been helping much, and by helping I mean it's not really fixing my dry problem, it's still there for the past month.

[Evan1]

Sounds like what I've been struggling with for a year. It started with eye pain when using computers, ipod, TV. I could barely get any computer work done before getting huge eye pain. As a result, my business was stagnating, and I was losing money. I thought I was going to have to find a new career. I was stressing out, big time.

Some ophthalmologists I saw told me it was dry eye. I didn't believe them because my eyes didn't feel dry. It just hurt like hell when using computers. But eventually, I started noticing that I did have really dry eyes when I woke up, and that yes, my eyes do feel dry.

Anyway, I finally got a real diagnosis. With treatment, things are a lot better. I can finally get through a full day of work again. It still hurts a bit, but it's much better.

You can get better too. What you need to do is get a diagnosis and treatment. Then you can start feeling better and get on with your life.

And don't let any doctor tell you that your diagnosis is "dry eye" and "here are some drops". That's not enough. Make sure they find the cause of the dry eye, and if they don't, then change doctors. I went through 4 ophthalmologists myself.

By the way, my diagnosis is sebhorriec blepharitis. Basically I just clean my eyelids with the special wipes I was prescribed, and use some special milky looking eye drops several times per day.

[romeodakins]

So how would I get a diagnosis? Do they just ask me questions and I answer them?

[Katewest]

Evan- why did he give you that diagnosis? What were the symptoms? Also, what are these rx wipes called?

[Evan1]

So how would I get a diagnosis? Do they just ask me questions and I answer them?

Make sure you're going to an ophthalmologist (not optometrist). They'll ask questions and do some tests. They may tell you "it's dry eye, case closed". If you hit the wall, try asking things like:

"What's causing the dry eye?"
"Can I get a more specific diagnosis?"
"What tests can we do to find the root cause?"

On this site, Rebecca has a list of question to ask the doctor. I think it's under the Articles tab. I can't access it now for some reason.

Eye pain can be a symptom of more serious diseases. They should also ask you about other non-eye symptoms you might have, like joint pain, skin problems or other dry parts, and possibly refer to you a rheumatologist. If you're lucky like me, you'll get a chance to spend all your money on an MRI and other tests, and find out you have another problem.

Evan- why did he give you that diagnosis? What were the symptoms? Also, what are these rx wipes called?

Kate, he squeezed my eyelids and said the meibomian glands top lids were not producing enough oil, he said it was a bit thicker than should be.

He also took an eye lash to look under a microscope, and said there was a "sleeve", like a coating of something around the follicle or something like that.

He said he was dandruff in my lashes. I can't see it.

TBUT 5 seconds

I also made them do a schirmer's test to rule out sjorgren's. It was 20 mm, which is good.

So I think that was enough for a general blepharitis diagnosis. Maybe he could also tell it was sebhorriec blepharitis from that too, or perhaps he just added that to the diagnosis because I told him I have sebhorriec dermatitis on my face.

The srubs are OCuSOFT lid scrubs original formula. The drops are called Endura.

[romeodakins]

It's been a while and I'm still experiencing the same problems. I do see that some people on this forum are having excessive tearing which doesn't seem that bad to me because everytime I yawn and tears come out it feels so good, my vision restores for a few seconds after yawning. Then like a minute later, it's back to normal so I always try to yawn. Does this open up any more suggestions for me?

[Evan1]

Kinda depends on what you got. If you got a diagnosis, let us know, and you might get some suggestions specific to that.

[romeodakins]

I'm looking to get one later this week. Is there anyway to increase tear production?

[Evan1]

Your problem is probably linked to decreased production of 1 of the 3 layers of tears. First you gotta find out which layer, then the underlying cause, then treat the underlying cause.

As for a quick fix to just make more tears, the only one I know is pulling out nose hairs with tweezers. That always brings a tear to my eye :P

[romeodakins]

How do I find out which layer it is and how do I know if the problem is decreased tear production or if the problem is that my eyes don't produce quality tears? What kind of questions should I ask my doctor? I'm going again tomorrow and I want to create a list to ask the doctor.

[romeodakins]

Your problem is probably linked to decreased production of 1 of the 3 layers of tears. First you gotta find out which layer, then the underlying cause, then treat the underlying cause.

As for a quick fix to just make more tears, the only one I know is pulling out nose hairs with tweezers. That always brings a tear to my eye :P

Hey, I went to the doctor and I found out the problem. I think I have Blepharitis. The doctor said my pores are clogged up so there's no oil in my eyes so when I use drops or yawn to get tears, the tears evaporate really quick and don't stay in my eyes. I do notice this happening more now. When I use drops, they feel fine for a few minutes and back to dry. I read Blepharitis is not curable. Why is it not curable, once I do warm compresses it opens up my pores again right? Why would it just clog up again by itself once I stop treating it. I hate myself right now. I have to do all this stupid stuff every day like put drops 4 times again, wash my eye lids with baby shampoo and water and put warm compresses on my eyes 3 times a day. All this annoying stuff to just treat my eyes; not even cure it. I have to do all this crap for the rest of my life.