Hey I'm 15 and I have dry eyes help me

[ths14]

Hey do you guys know any remedies for dry eyes ever since I was 11 my eyes started burning and watering every time I went to a place with air conditioning that wasn't my house and its annoying because everytime at school its hard to look at people in the eyes and they always ask me if I'm crying and its annoying and I cant even play freaking sports because my eyes feel terrible in the gym because of the air conditioning and also outside they burn and water because of the wind so my life is ruined because of this if anybody has a remedy help me plz btw drops,warm compresses dont work so yeah and my parents say that im crazy and making it up but I can obviously feel it

[Hokucat]

Have your parents taken you to see an ophthalmologist (eye doctor)? The doctor can help diagnose what is causing your dry eyes, and then will recommend the appropriate treatment. There are many different reasons people have dry eyes, and the treatment can be different depending on the cause.

In the meantime, buy some thicker eye drops or gel for dry eyes at the store. These would stay in your eye longer and are thicker than regular eye drops, but cannot be used if you wear contact lenses. Some popular ones are Systane Ultra, Refresh Celluvisc, and Genteal Severe Eye Gel

There's a lot going on for a 15-year-old in high school with all the studying, sports, and social activities. One of my kids is around your age, it's quite demanding. So ask your parents to take you to the eye doctor to have it checked out soon, ok?

[ths14]

Yep I went to the eye doctor and he recommended me some drops but they dont work they like make my eyes sensitive and I can feel the air more and they water

[farmgirl]

Hi ths14 and welcome to the forum:

First of all a message to your parents. Please realize that what your child is suffering is a REAL condition that can be very debilitating and make no mistake he/she IS suffering. I have read that there are more pain receptors in the eye than anywhere in the body. Although it might seem counter intuitive excessive tearing can be a sign of dry eye. I am not a doctor but usually it means that the glands that produce oils which combine with the tears to keep them from evaporating are not functioning well. As a result the tears evaporate too quickly and that causes reflex tears which are not effective, they are just watery.

If you would like a good idea of what he/she is describing let some soap go into your eye the next time you shampoo your hair then imagine feeling like that for the whole time every time you are exposed to excessive air movement like in a mall or large building, on a bus or airplane or as stated the gym or even when you go outside. Believe it or not going to Costco is a killer for me and planes just torture without moisture chamber glasses.

The following is a quote from a dry eye website regarding excessive tearing.

Causes
The proper balance of oil, water, and mucus must be maintained to allow tears to lubricate and protect your eyes. Deficiency in any of these components can lead to eyes becoming dry and irritated. If high-quality tears are not produced at a steady rate, the surface of your eyes becomes irritated and your eyes will tear excessively in an attempt to lubricate them. This is why excess tearing can occur from dry eyes.

He/she needs to see a dry eye specialist, not just a regular doctor or opthamologist. The treatment can vary depending on the cause but this is not something to take lightly. Here is a link to the low down on dry eye:

https://nei.nih.gov/health/dryeye/dryeye

In the meantime ths14 I urge your parents to invest in a pair of moisture chamber glasses for you (safety glasses) with a gasket which will seal the air movement from your face. which you can wear when outside or in the gym. Motorcycle shops often sell them or they can be ordered online. The problem is that you need to make sure there is a good fit so that there are minimal air leaks around the gasket so you really need to be able to try them on. My favorites are the Wiley X brand or 7eye. They will probably be dark glasses but you can get clear ones that will allow you to play sports indoors.in the gym if sun glasses are too dark. You may have to resort to online to find those. Racket ball goggles would work in the gym.

You are probably not going to like this next bit of advice but it is very important. Limit you time on devices such as cell phones, tablets,computers, video games and TV and when you do use them take regular breaks like 10 min off for every 20 min on and use the voice feature when texting. These devices are very hard on your eyes because you tend not to blink much when staring. You can download a blink reminder on your computer. Also turn the backlight down on your devices when you do use them.

Another important piece of advice is NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, get lasik done on your eyes. That appears to me to be the leading cause of debilitating dry eye on this forum.

If you put anything in your eyes make sure it is non preserved and NEVER put anything in your eye, gel or otherwise that is preserved with BAK (Benzalkonium chloride). Personally I don't like gels because they make it look like you are seeing through a haze. Besides that I am now non tolerant of pretty much anything that I put in my eyes. If it is making you worse then.... don't use it.

I hope this helps you because you have a very long life ahead of you and the sooner you get a handle on this the better. Keep looking and don't give up until you are comfortable....cheers....F/G

[ths14]

thxxxxxxxxxx

[ths14]

Hey farmgirl do you think my cause of dry eye is being on the computer like 10 hours every single day and over time it made my eyes really irritated? the doctor said that I produce oil so im not sure

[heamjaa]

Hi ths14

Computer usage does really lessen one's blinking. I'd suggest the all too common 20-20-20 rule, which is for each 20 minutes take a 20 second break focusing on something 20 feet away, although for me I usually lengthen the breaks.

Why don't you try cold compresses, I think heat just exacerbates the symptoms.

I hope you do feel better.

[Hokucat]

That was really great detailed and complete information farmgirl wrote for you and your parents!

I had the best luck finding eye doctors to help treat my dry eyes when I went to those who were highly recommended. It can be helpful to read on-line reviews, get recommendations from friends and relatives, or even post on this forum to see if anyone has recommendations for doctors in your area or state, in order to find a doctor who has a good track record for treating your condition.

I give you a lot of credit reaching out in this forum to get help. You will get better, it may just take some time to find the right thing or combination of things that work.

[farmgirl]

Personally ths14, yes I do believe that your problems could have originated from, among other things, excessive computer usage. You could well produce oil but if the glands are getting clogged it will not be quality oil, or not enough. I would suggest that you severely limit your computer, video game, tablet, phone and TV usage to the absolute minimum, taking big breaks, like 10 min every 20 min when you do need to do something on a device. Try it for the next month and see if it makes a difference. I predict that we will see more and more young people suffering from dry eye as a result of addictions to devices. I believe that it has to do with the oil glands clogging up from incomplete blinking (in the world according to me).

Once the inflammation starts it is difficult to get a handle on it so you need to take this very seriously.

Try to get fitted for safety/moisture chamber glasses to protect your eyes when outside and maybe like heamjaa said try cold compresses.

If drops don't help don't use them. The less you put in your eye the better. If it helps, by all means use them but if it doesn't then don't or try something else. Before I became sensitive to everything, I preferred the systane ultra non preserved. I used the little vial until it was gone. They recommend using it once but you can recap it and use it all as long as it doesn't sit for more than a few days and you don't touch the tip.

Keep us posted on how you are doing....cheers...F/G

[pythonidler]

Man, it's depressing to hear about young people getting dry eye (myself included - I'm only 30). This is a quiet epidemic that has received FAR less attention than it deserves.